John Banner as Sergeant Schultz
January 28, 1910 – January 28. 1973
Published obituary below:
John Banner, the portly Sergeant Schultz of the ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ television series, has died in his native Vienna, Austria, and will be buried there today, it was reported Thursday.
Banner’s wife, Christine, was at the side of the actor when he died shortly before midnight last Sunday, his 63rd birthday, in Sofien Hospital. Banner entered the hospital Saturday after he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage.
The couple had no children.
Banner and his wife recently bought a home in France and they were in Vienna awaiting a shipment of furniture when the actor was stricken.
Bob Crane, the star of “Hogan’s Heroes,” said he was saddened by the death of Banner and that the time they worked together “was six of the happiest years of my life. He was the man in real life that he played in the show.”
Banner established himself as an actor in pre-Hitler Germany, but he fled that country for the United States in 1939. Unable to speak English, he memorized his lines phonetically when he appeared in New York plays.
He later moved to Hollywood for a short time before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps, in which he served until 1945.
When he returned to Hollywood after World War II, he appeared in succession of motion pictures, including “The Blue Angel,” “The , Interns,” “The Story of Ruth,” and “The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz.”
Banner played romantic roles in his early career on stage and in movies and then moved to character parts. His comedy role in “Hogan’s Heroes,” which ran for six years, established him firmly with television audiences.