Entertainment
 

Robert Clary

From Hogan's Heroes

Robert Clary as Toulouse Lautrec in a 1959 play

Robert Clary (born March 1, 1926 as Robert Max Widerman) is a French-born actor of Jewish descent. He is mainly known for his role as Corporal Louis LeBeau of the Hogan's Heroes television sitcom.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Clary was born in Paris, France, the youngest of 14 children. At the age of 12, he began singing professionally. In 1942, during the German occupation of France, Clary and 14 members of his immediate family were deported to Germany, sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. He was the only one to survive. As he later related, his singing helped to keep him alive. When he returned to Paris, he discovered that not all members of his family had been sent to the death camps and had survived both the Nazi occupation and the war. Clary went back to singing. Discovered by Harry Bluestone, he was soon recording songs that made him popular in both France and in the United States.

In 1949, he moved to the U.S. He recorded some songs for the Capitol label. Clary appeared on American television, which included him performing a French comedy skit on The Ed Wynn Show in 1950. He soon met Merv Griffin, who introduced him to Eddie Cantor. His meeting with the later led to Clary getting a spot on The Colgate Comedy Hour as well as his meeting Cantor's daughter, Natalie Cantor Metzge, whom he would marry in 1965. His appearance there and at the La Vie En Rose nightclub in New York led to his appearances in several popular Broadway musicals, including New Faces of 1952 (which was later made into a movie in 1954), Seventh Heaven, Around the World in 80 Days, Irma La Douce and Cabaret. He also appeared in several Hollywood films, including The Tall Men, The Thief of Damascus, the film version of New Faces of 1952 and A New Kind of Love.

In 1965, he was cast as the French prisoner of war and cook of the Hogan's Heroes show, Corporal Louis LeBeau, which soon made him known internationally. After Hogan's Heroes, he appeared in several television soap operas, including The Young and the Restless, Day of Our Lives, and The Bold and the Beautiful, television shows like Fantasy Island and films like The Hindenburg and The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond.

In 1980, Clary started to talk about his experiences during the Holocaust via the Simon Wiesenthal's nationally acclaimed outreach program. Two years later he appeared in the film, Rememberance of Love, where he played himself going to a Jewish Holocaust survivors meeting in Jerusalem. He also did a documentary with PBS called Robert Clary A-5714, A Memoir of Liberation where he talked about his Holocaust experiences. In the 1990s, he made comments on his experiences during World War II for the History Channel when it was acknowledging the war's 50th Anniversary. He also hosted a cable television show.

In 1997, his wife, Natalie Cantor Metzge died. Clary retired from acting in 2001. Also in 2001, he published his autobiography, From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes. Currently he is giving lectures on his incarceration at Buchenwald and about the Holocaust in general.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Notable TV Guest Appearances

  • The E! True Hollywood Story playing "Himself" in episode: "Family Feud" 28 July 2002
  • Biography playing "Himself" in episode: "Bob Crane: Double Life" 8 February 2000
  • Masquerade in episode: "The Defectus" (episode # 1.4) 5 January 1984
  • Fantasy Island playing "Ipsy Dauphin" in episode: "Escape/Cinderella Girls" (episode # 1.3) 28 January 1978
  • Dinah! playing "Himself" in episode: "Episode dated 1 September 1977" 1 September 1977
  • The Cross-Wits playing "Himself" in episode: "Episode dated 4 October 1976" 4 October 1976
  • Love Thy Neighbor playing "Actor" in episode: "Four for Dinner" 22 June 1973
  • The Mike Douglas Show playing "Himself" in episode: "Episode dated 6 July 1971" 6 July 1971
  • Playboy After Dark playing "Himself" in episode: "Episode #2.16" (episode # 2.16) 12 May 1970
  • The Leslie Uggams Show playing "Himself" in episode: "Episode dated 12 October 1969" 12 October 1969
  • Love, American Style playing "Maurice" in episode: "Love and the Letter" (episode # 1.2b) 6 October 1969
  • The High Chaparral playing "Lucien Charot" in episode: "The Last Hundred Miles" (episode # 2.17) 24 January 1969
  • Everybody's Talking playing "Himself" in episode: "Episode dated 5 June 1967" 5 June 1967
  • The Hollywood Palace playing "Himself - Singer" in episode: "Episode #3.13" (episode # 3.13) 25 December 1965
  • Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre playing "Marcel Pleusteau" in episode: "Mr. Governess" (episode # 3.6) 10 November 1965
  • Pantomime Quiz playing "Regular Panelist" in episode: "Episode dated 22 April 1963" 22 April 1963
  • Pantomime Quiz playing "Regular Panelist" in episode: "Episode dated 15 April 1963" 15 April 1963
  • Pantomime Quiz playing "Regular Panelist" in episode: "Nina Foch vs. Michael Landon" 25 February 1963
  • Pantomime Quiz playing "Regular Panelist" in episode: "Sheila MacRae vs. Gordon MacRae" 18 February 1963
  • Pantomime Quiz playing "Guest Panelist" in episode: "Eartha Kitt vs. Robert Clary" 21 January 1963
  • Play of the Week in episode: "Highlights of New Faces" (episode # 2.10) 28 November 1960
  • The Rosemary Clooney Show playing "Himself" in episode: "Episode dated 20 February 1958" 20 February 1958
  • The Spike Jones Show playing "Himself" in episode: "Big Bands" (episode # 1.7) 14 May 1957
  • Appointment with Adventure playing "Actor" in episode: "Masquerade" (episode # 1.22) 28 August 1955
  • The Colgate Comedy Hour playing "Himself-Singer" in episode: "Episode #2.21" (episode # 2.21) 20 January 1952
  • The Ed Wynn Show playing "Himself-Singer" in episode: "Episode #1.19" (episode 1.19) 28 January 1950

[edit] Soundtrack

  • New Faces (1954) (performer: "Lucky Pierre", "Love Is a Simple Thing", "Alouette", "Raining Memories", "I'm in Love with Miss Logan", "Bal Petit Bal")

[edit] Bibliography

  • Clary, Robert. (2002) From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary. Madison Books. ISBN 1568332289.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://hh.wikia.com/wiki/Robert_Clary"