John Banner

John Banner (born Johann Banner, January 28, 1910 – January 28, 1973) was an Austrian-born American actor, best known for his role as Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encountering evidence that inmates of his stalag were actively conducting anti-German espionage and sabotage activities, frequently feigned ignorance with the catchphrase, "I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!" (or, more commonly as the series went on, "I know nothing, nothing!").

Early years Banner was born on January 28, 1910, to Jewish parents in Stanislau, Austria-Hungary (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). He studied for a law degree at the University of Vienna, but decided instead to become an actor. In 1938, when he was performing with an acting troupe in Switzerland, Adolf Hitler annexed Austria to Nazi Germany. Banner emigrated to the United States, where he rapidly learned English. He married Elizabeth Raudnitz in Los Angeles, California on October 11, 1940.

World War II In 1942, Banner enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces, underwent basic training in Atlantic City and became a supply sergeant. He even posed for a recruiting poster.

According to fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Robert Clary, who was a Holocaust survivor himself, "John lost a lot of his family" to the Holocaust.

Acting

Broadway Banner appeared on Broadway three times: in a musical revue called From Vienna, which ran for two months in 1939; and in two comic plays, Pastoral, in which he had a leading role, but which had a very brief run in November 1939; and The Big Two, which ran briefly in January 1947. Early on, before he became fluent in English, Banner had to learn his lines phonetically.

From the 1950s Banner made more than 70 television appearances between 1950 and 1970, including the Lone Ranger (episode "Damsels In Distress", 1950), Sky King (premiere episode "Operation Urgent", 1952), Sheena, Queen of the Jungle ("The Renegades", 1955), Adventures of Superman ("The Man Who Made Dreams Come True", 1957), Father Knows Best ("Brief Holiday", 1957), Mister Ed (episode "Ed the Artist", 1965), Thriller (episode "Portrait Without a Face", 1961), The Untouchables ("Takeover", 1962), My Sister Eileen, The Lucy Show, Perry Mason, The Partridge Family, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ("Hot Line", 1964), Alias Smith and Jones, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Neptune Affair", 1964), and Hazel ("The Investor", 1965).

In the late 1950s, a still-slim Banner portrayed Peter Tchaikovsky's supervisor on a Disneyland anthology series about the composer's life. This followed a scene with fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) as Nikolai Rubinstein. In 1953, he had a bit part in the Kirk Douglas feature film The Juggler as the witness of an attack on an Israeli policeman by a disturbed concentration camp survivor.

In 1954, he had a regular role playing Bovarro in the children's science-fiction TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. Two years later, he played a train conductor in the episode "Safe Conduct" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, appearing with future co-star Werner Klemperer, (Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes), who played a spy. He also played Nazi villains in several later films - the German town mayor in The Young Lions (1958), Rudolf Höss in Operation Eichmann (1961, opposite Werner Klemperer as Adolf Eichmann), and Gregor Strasser in Hitler (1962). The year before the premiere of Hogan's Heroes, Banner portrayed a World War II German "home guard" soldier in 36 Hours (1964), starring James Garner. Although it was a serious role in a war drama, Banner still displayed some of the affable nature that became his defining character trait the following year in Hogan's Heroes. By coincidence, during the final moments of 36 Hours, John Banner's character meets up with a border guard played by Sig Ruman, who had portrayed another prisoner-of-war camp chief guard named Sergeant Schulz in the 1953 film Stalag 17, starring William Holden.

Hogan's Heroes The comedy series Hogan's Heroes, in which Banner played Sergeant Hans Schultz, the role for which he is most often remembered, debuted on the CBS Television Network in 1965. According to Banner, before he met and married his French wife Christine Gemenne on June 19, 1965, At the time of his death, he was visiting friends in Vienna.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1940 Spring Parade Cymbalist Uncredited 1941 Accent on Love Austrian Tenant Uncredited It Started with Eve Party Guest Uncredited Pacific Blackout Unknown character Uncredited 1942 Desperate Journey Conductor on Empty Troop Train Uncredited Once Upon a Honeymoon German Captain Von Kleinoch Seven Miles from Alcatraz Fritz Weinermann 1943 Immortal Sergeant Officer Uncredited Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas Gestapo Agent Uncredited The Moon Is Down Lieutenant Prackle Uncredited Tonight We Raid Calais Kurz Uncredited They Came to Blow Up America Gestapo Agent Uncredited This Land Is Mine German Sergeant Uncredited The Fallen Sparrow Anton 1946Tangier Ferris Wheel Operator Uncredited Rendezvous 24 Ernst Uncredited Nocturne Charles Shawn Uncredited 1947 The Beginning or the End German Laboratory Assistant Uncredited 1948 My Girl Tisa Otto To the Victor Jacques Lestrac The Argyle Secrets Winter 1950 Guilty of Treason Dr. Szandor Deste King Solomon's Mines Austin – Safari Client Uncredited 1951 Go for Broke! German Officer Uncredited The Star Said No Headwaiter at Mocambo's Uncredited 1953The Juggler Emile Halevy 1954 Crash of Moons Bavarro Executive Suite Henri (Stork Club Maître D') Uncredited 1955 The Rains of Ranchipur Rashid Ali Khan Uncredited 1956 Never Say Goodbye Oskar, the Baker The Power and the Prize Mr. Ruloff Uncredited 1958 The Beast of Budapest Dr. Kovach The Young Lions German Town Mayor Uncredited Fräulein Ulick, German Health Department Uncredited 1959 The Blue Angel Principal Harter The Wonderful Country Ben Sterner 1960 The Story of Ruth King of Moab 1961 Operation Eichmann Rudolf Höss 20,000 Eyes Kurt Novak One, Two, Three Krause / Haberdrasher Voice 1962 Hitler Gregor Strasser The Counterfeit Traitor Uncredited The Interns Dr. Duane 1963 The Yellow Canary Sam Skolman The Prize German Correspondent Uncredited 1964 Bedtime Story Burgermeister Uncredited Kisses for My President Vasiliovich Alexminitch Uncredited 1965 36 Hours Sergeant Ernst Furzen 1968 The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz Weber Star Spangled Salesman Chef Short 1970 Togetherness Hipolitas Mollnar

Television Year Title Role Episode(s) 1950 The Lone Ranger Von Baden "Damsels in Distress" 1954 Cavalcade of America Unknown character "Plume of Honor" The Public Defender Mr. Lambert Two episodes Rocky Jones, Space Ranger Bovaro Six episodes Adventures of the Falcon Coldroski "A Very Dangerous Bedfellow" The Whistler Van Loovan "Fatal Fraud" 1954–1955 Fireside Theatre Joe / Josef Novak / Amos Five episodes Captain Midnight Van Ronk / Goronov Two episodes 1955 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Morris Odvarka "The Cool One" Topper Ali / Henri Two episodes Damon Runyon Theater Sergeant Heinz "The Lacework Kid" The Adventures of Ellery Queen Buehler "Night Visitors" 1955–1956 NBC Matinee Theater Unknown characters Two episodes 1956 Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Brunner "The Renegades" Jungle Jim Wilhelm Camphausen "Wild Man of the Jungle" Alfred Hitchcock Presents Train Conductor Season 1 Episode 21: "Safe Conduct" Private Secretary Sandor "Cat in the Hot Tin File" Screen Directors Playhouse Prefect of Police "The Dream" You Are There Nazi News Dealer "Hitler Invades Poland (September 1, 1939)" The Adventures of Hiram Holliday Count Courtebiche "Monaco Hermit Crab" Navy Log Unknown character "The Pilot" 1957 The Gray Ghost Major Von Borcke "An Eye for an Eye" Father Knows Best Artist "Brief Holiday" Conflict Unknown character "Blind Drop: Warsaw" The Gale Storm Show Hans Schlosser "Swiss Miss" The Lineup Unknown character "The Bay Meadows Case"Letter to Loretta Hans "Louise" Adventures of Superman Bronsky "The Man Who Made Dreams Come True" 1958 Studio 57 Unknown character "A Source of Irritation" Telephone Time Unknown character "War Against War" Man Without a Gun Max Brenner "Headline" Cimarron City P. B. Minscher "I, the People" The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin Baron Carlisle "Grandpappy's Love Affair" Behind Closed Doors Prosecutor Hoxa "A Cover of Art" 1959 Shotgun Slade Corneilus "Barbed Wire Keep Out" Walt Disney's Disneyland Office Supervisor "The Peter Tchaikovsky Story" The Third Man Steiner "Castle in Spain" 1960 This Is the Life Carl Brandt "Red Tape" Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Dr. Molhaus "The Peter Hurkos Story: Part 1" Markham Police Commissioner Langres "The Cruelest Thief" My Sister Eileen Unknown character "Ruth Becomes a Waitress" The Roaring 20's Otto Bauer "The Velvet Frame" Michael Shayne Dr. Hess "The Poison Pen Club" Perry Mason A. Tobler "The Case of the Nine Dolls" Dante Baron Von Zenger "The Bavarian Barbarians" 77 Sunset Strip Carl Neuman "The Antwerp Caper" The DuPont Show with June Allyson Popper "Silent Panic" Five Fingers Saphani "Final Dream" 1960–1963 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Chief / Dr. Otto von Schwering Two episodes 1961 Thriller Professor Martin Vander Hoven "Portrait Without a Face" 1962 Outlaws Wint "The Dark Sunrise of Griff Kincaid" The Untouchables Franz Koenig "Takeover" The Dick Powell Show Vandever "Safari" 1963 The Wide Country The Doctor "The Quest for Jacob Blaufus" GE True Hipp "Black Market" Theatre of Stars General "Four Kings" The Donna Reed Show Cruikshank "Moon Shot" 1963–1964 The Virginian August the Head Waiter / Gus Schultz Two episodes 1964 Dr. Kildare Mr. Schultz "Goodbye, Mr. Jersey" The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Dutch Customs Inspector Season 2 Episode 19: "Murder Case" My Three Sons Chief of Protocol "What's the Princess Really Like?" The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour Guard Special Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Russian Chairman "Hot Line" The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Dr. Foster "The Neptune Affair" The Cara Williams Show Zinzer "Cara, Girl Genius" The Rogues Steiner / Fat Man Two episodes 1964–1965 The Baileys of Balboa Hans Five episodes 1965 Hazel Mr. Mueller "The Investor" Mister Ed Professor Meyerhoff "Ed the Artist" Kraft Suspense Theatre Martin Rutke "The Safe House" 1965–1971 Hogan's Heroes Sergeant Hans Georg Schultz / Wolfgang Brauner 168 episodes 1966 The Lucy Show Sergeant Schultz "Lucy and Bob Crane" 1967 The Red Skelton Show Sergeant Schultz "Freddie's Heroes" 1971 The Chicago Teddy Bears Uncle Latzi 13 episodes 1972 The Doris Day Show Bruno "The Crapshooter Who Would Be King" Alias Smith and Jones Otto "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" The Partridge Family Max Ledbetter "Who Is Max Ledbetter and Why Is He Saying All Those Terrible Things?" (final appearance)