Portrait of Werner Klemperer

Birthday profile

Werner Klemperer

Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (died 2000)

Born
March 22, 1920
Died
December 6, 2000
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1920

About Werner Klemperer

Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for which he twice won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1968 and 1969. Klemperer served in the United States Army during World War II, then began performing on the Broadway stage in 1947. He appeared in several films during his early acting career, such as The Wrong Man (1956), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and Houseboat (1958), and he had numerous roles on television shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956), Perry Mason (1957), Maverick (1957), Gunsmoke (1958), The Untouchables (1960), and Have Gun – Will Travel (1961), prior to his Hogan's Heroes role. Otto Klemperer was a first cousin of Victor Klemperer. Klemperer's first major film role was as a psychiatrist in Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956). Klemperer guest-starred in the first Brian Keith television series, Crusader, a Cold War drama that aired on CBS. The Klemperer family emigrated to the United States in 1933, settling in Los Angeles, where Otto Klemperer became conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1933–1939).

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Werner Klemperer timeline

  1. The Klemperer family emigrated to the United States in 1933, settling in Los Angeles, where Otto Klemperer became conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1933–1939).
  2. Klemperer's first major film role was as a psychiatrist in Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956).
  3. He was best known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for which he twice won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1968 and 1969.

The world when Werner Klemperer was born

Werner Klemperer was born in 1920. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1920

  • #1 song"Swanee" – Al Jolson
  • Top movieThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
  • Best-selling bookThe Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentBabe Ruth sold to the New York Yankees
  • Top headlineWomen win the right to vote with the 19th Amendment
  • Technology milestoneFirst commercial radio broadcasts
  • Defining fadFlappers and the Jazz Age
  • Notable inventionBand-Aid adhesive bandages
  • World population1.86 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • Sports championCleveland Indians (World Series)
  • U.S. population106.0M

1920 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Werner Klemperer's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19202026
Gas$0.30$3.45/gal
Average home$6,296$435,000
Average income$3,269$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population106.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.