List of Hogan's Heroes characters
The following is a list of characters from "Hogan's Heroes", an American sitcom television series which starred Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer and John Banner, and featured Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon, and Larry Hovis. It ran for six seasons on CBS from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971. Main. Colonel Hogan. Colonel Robert E. Hogan (portrayed by Bob Crane) – United States Army Air Corps Colonel Robert E. Hogan is the main protagonist of the series, senior officer among the prisoners of war at Stalag 13, and leader of a group of  prisoners who secretly sabotage the German war effort and help allies to flee Germany. Hogan commanded the 504th Bombardment Group, and was shot down and captured during a raid on Hamburg when Luftwaffe Colonel Albert Biedenbender (James Gregory) guessed Hogan's plan and developed a successful defense. Hogan graduated third in his military class, and seems to thrive on difficult if not impossible missions. He was described by Biedenbender as having "a flair for the overcomplex" because of the complicated details of the missions he plans. Due to Hogan's care in planning operations, the skill of his staff, and  Hogan's success at manipulating Klink and Schultz, Hogan's team is usually successful. Throughout the show, Hogan impersonates German officers, typically using aliases derived from his own name, such as "Hoganschmidt." He is a ladies' man, engaging in different relationships with Klink's secretaries, Helga and Hilda, and many of the civilian women he comes in contact with. Hogan's men are extremely loyal to their commander, as he is to them. In "Two Nazis for the Price of One", Hogan and his men are ordered back to London after they discover their operation is known by a Gestapo  general. When circumstances force Hogan to stay behind, the men all elect to remain with him, which visibly touches Hogan. Newkirk once disobeyed orders and explained the team's activities to an Allied general who was unaware of Hogan's real mission and chastised him for appearing to cooperate with the Nazis, with Newkirk telling the general he should "know how we all feel about Colonel Hogan" ("The General Swap"). When a British general praised Hogan's war efforts, Hogan was quick to state that he "has a good crew", crediting the men with the team's successes ("D-Day  at Stalag 13"). The character was named after the actor Robert Hogan by friend and series creator Bernard Fein. Colonel Klink. Colonel Wilhelm Klink (portrayed by Werner Klemperer) – Kommandant Oberst (Colonel) Wilhelm Klink is an old-line Luftwaffe officer of aristocratic (Junker) Prussian descent. He is shown to be inept, gullible, cowardly, overconfident, paranoid, insecure, and often clueless. He is a veteran aviator of the First World War and can be seen wearing an Iron Cross First Class, along with the 1939 clasp for a second award ("spange"), Ground Assault Badge of the Luftwaffe, and the Pilot's Badge. The  first class Iron Cross implies that he has also earned both the Iron Cross Second Class and the Honor Cross for service in World War I. After failing his entrance exams for law or medical school, he received an appointment to a military academy and graduated 95th in his class. Stuck at the rank of colonel for twenty years with an efficiency rating a few points above "miserable", he is the only member of his class still in the Luftwaffe who has not risen to the rank of general. As far as the Wehrmacht knows, no prisoner has ever escaped  Stalag 13 during Klink's command, a record he frequently touts. Klink always wears a monocle on his left eye, usually carries a riding crop, and walks with a slight stoop. Klink is for the most part portrayed as a vain, cowardly and muddling, career officer rather than a stereotypical evil German or ardent Nazi. Klink is easily manipulated by Hogan through a combination of flattery, chicanery, and playing on Klink's fear of being sent to the Russian Front or being arrested by the Gestapo. Klemperer reprised his role as Colonel Klink outside of the series twice: once in  a cameo in a 1966 episode of "Batman", and again in a 1993 episode of "The Simpsons". In the episode of "The Simpsons", Klink appears as the imaginary conscience of an unconscious Homer Simpson, who reveals the truth of Hogan's operations to a surprised Klink. Sergeant Schultz. Sergeant Hans Schultz (portrayed by John Banner) – Oberfeldwebel (equivalent to Master Sergeant during World War II) Hans Schultz is Klink's portly, inept, clumsy, dim-witted, yet affable Sergeant of the Guard. He displays two stripes at the cuffs of his tunic sleeves indicating the rank of Hauptfeldwebel, which is the equivalent  of a Company First Sergeant with the same pay grade as Oberfeldwebel; he wears a fictitious version of the Iron Cross (4th Grade). Schultz also has three other decorations from World War I (including the Wound Badge). Schultz seeks to avoid trouble at all costs, and generally prefers to ignore the prisoners' suspicious activities, a desire he expresses with his catchphrase, "I know nothing!" Hogan's crew often openly discusses or carries out their operations in Schultz's presence, and they usually get him to ignore (or even assist) them, either by bribing him (usually with food) or pointing out  how he himself could be implicated if he reports them to Klink. Schultz carries a Krag-Jørgensen rifle, though he never keeps it loaded, and tends to misplace it or even hand it to the prisoners when he is distracted. Schultz often seems to be less sympathetic to the Germans than to the Allies. On occasion, Schultz mentions how he is disgusted by the war and Hitler's regime, and much preferred the days when Germany was ruled by the Kaiser. Like Klink, Schultz is a veteran of World War I, and in civilian life was the owner of Germany 's largest toy manufacturing company. He has a wife and five children, whom he sees only on infrequent leaves. He is unfaithful, however, as he is seen dating women from the nearby town of Hammelburg who usually turn out to be either underground agents assisting Hogan and his men, or undercover Gestapo agents. Schultz is a bad gambler and possibly alcoholic, but above all loves to eat, particularly LeBeau's exquisite cooking. Corporal LeBeau. Corporal Louis LeBeau (portrayed by Robert Clary) – Free French Air Force Corporal Louis LeBeau is a skilled chef and occasional tailor. He is passionate about his  cooking and patriotism for France, and he often spites Germans and Nazis when they commit war crimes. LeBeau makes uniforms for the prisoners smuggled through their tunnels, and helps with disguising Hogan's men in Nazi apparel. LeBeau secretly trains the camp's guard dogs to ignore the prisoners, and is often seen using a hidden tunnel entrance located in the kennel. Though highly claustrophobic, he is used during missions to hide in small spaces such as the safe in Colonel Klink's office, boxes, crates, or a dumbwaiter. LeBeau also uses his talent as a singer to help the  crew in several episodes. In one first-season episode, LeBeau refers to being married. Except for that one instance, he appears as a stereotypical Frenchman, attracted to many of the women with whom he comes in contact during the series. LeBeau frequently uses his culinary skills to impress Klink's guests or get him out of trouble with his superiors. Hogan also uses LeBeau's culinary prowess to gain access to Klink's guests at dinners or banquets, or to bargain for extra privileges. LeBeau is frequently seen bribing Schultz with food for information. Both Schultz and Klink frequently refer  to LeBeau as "the cockroach", due to his small stature. Actor Robert Clary is a French Jew who, during the Holocaust, was held in the Ottmuth and Buchenwald concentration camps, and still has his serial number tattooed on his arm. As of 2021, Clary is one of two living Hogan's Heroes cast members, the other being Kenneth Washington. Corporal Newkirk. Corporal Peter Newkirk (portrayed by Richard Dawson) – Royal Air Force Corporal Peter Newkirk is the group's conman. As a skilled tailor, Newkirk is in charge of making or altering uniforms, civilian clothes, and other disguises as needed for  missions or for prisoners to move out of Germany. He also uses his skills as a pick-pocket, forger, lock picker, and safe cracker on many occasions, particularly to forge Klink's signature or open the safe in Klink's office. As a card sharp, Newkirk gambles with Schultz to learn about top secret information, and is often teamed with Carter in operations. Newkirk does numerous impersonations such as vaudeville personalities; he often impersonates German officers and can imitate the voices of Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill. Newkirk is a ladies' man, and often tries to initiate romance with the  women who appear in the series. Sergeant Kinchloe. Staff Sergeant James Kinchloe (portrayed by Ivan Dixon) – United States Army Air Corps Staff Sergeant James "Kinch" Kinchloe is primarily responsible for radio, telephone, and other forms of electronic communications. Although outranked by Carter, Kinch acts as second-in-command in Hogan's crew. It was a large step for a 1960s television show to have an African-American actor identified in such a manner. A talented mimic, Kinchloe easily imitates German officers speaking over the radio or telephone. Kinch is from Detroit, where before the war, he worked for a telephone  company. Kinch was also a boxer, having fought in Golden Gloves matches as a middleweight, and as such, is recruited to fight a guard from Stalag 13 in one episode. Kinchloe has remarkable ability when participating in undercover activities, but due to his skin color, his roles outside of the camp are limited. Ivan Dixon left the series after the fifth season, and was replaced in the cast by Kenneth Washington for season 6. No mention was ever made on-screen explaining Kinchloe's departure from Stalag 13, and his role as radio operator was filled by Sgt. Baker. Sergeant  Baker. Sergeant Richard Baker (portrayed by Kenneth Washington) – Following Dixon's departure from the show after season five, the series producers chose to create a new character rather than recast the part of Kinchloe. Baker, like Kinchloe, was an African-American radio expert who ran the underground communications center. However, with Kinchloe's departure, Newkirk is elevated to the role of Hogan's second-in-command (despite being subordinate to both Sergeants Baker and Carter by rank) during the sixth season. As with Kinchloe, Baker is able to contribute vital support to the missions assigned to him by Col. Hogan . Sergeant Carter. Technical Sergeant Andrew Carter (portrayed by Larry Hovis) – United States Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant Andrew J. Carter is a chemist and explosives expert in charge of ordnance and bomb-making. Prior to the war, Carter was a Boy Scout who had run a drug store in Muncie, Indiana. In the series, Carter shows a great talent in chemistry and explosives; he has a passion for making and producing formulas, chemicals, and explosive devices when needed. While bright and enthusiastic at his specialties, he is often clumsy and forgetful. The prisoners often joke that Carter is the most  German-looking among them, and he is often called upon to impersonate German officers, notably Adolf Hitler. Carter is a bachelor, and sometimes references his fiancée Mary Jane, whom he expects to marry after the war. Unlike the rest of the men, he is shown to be shy around women, and Newkirk and LeBeau often joke about his naïveté. Hovis did not want to remove his wedding ring to play the character, so to conceal it, Carter wears black gloves in most of his appearances. Although Carter is the ranking non-commissioned officer, he is never shown to exercise any  real authority over the other prisoners, and Kinchloe generally acts as second-in-command to Hogan. He is part Native American, as revealed when he receives a letter from one of his Sioux relatives, and is said to be from the fictional town of Bullfrog, North Dakota. (In reality, Hovis was born on a Yakama reservation in Washington.) In the pilot episode, "The Informer", Carter is a lieutenant who escaped from another prisoner-of-war camp, staying at Stalag 13 before continuing his journey to England, like many other Allies assisted by Hogan's crew throughout the series. By the  second episode, Carter is established as a major character and permanent member of Hogan's crew, and as such, Hovis was added to the program's main cast.