|
| Home |
Main |
The Show |
Multimedia |
Collectibles |
![]()
Leon Askin (September 18, 1907 June 3, 2005) was an Austrian actor best known for portraying the character "General Burkhalter" on the TV situation comedy Hogan's Heroes. Askin was born Leon Aschkenasy into a Jewish family in Vienna, the son of Malvine (Susman) and Samuel Aschkenazy.[1] Askin emigrated to the United States in 1940[1] and, after the war, went to Hollywood, invariably portraying foreign characters who speak English with a strong accent. Askin appeared as the Russian composer Anton Rubinstein in a Disneyland anthology episode of the life of Peter Tchaikovsky.[2] Fans of the television series Adventures of Superman recall his portrayals of an eastern European diamond smuggler in a black-and-white episode, and as a South American prime minister in a color episode. He appeared in 20th Century Fox's biblical epic The Robe as a Syrian guide named Abidor. In 1960, he appeared in the film Pension Schöller, and the following year was prominently featured in Billy Wilder's film One, Two, Three, co-starring with James Cagney. He gained wide recognition and popularity by appearing as the stern General Albert Burkhalter in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes in the late 1960s. Askin made a guest appearance on Daniel Boone in its 1969 episode "Benvenuto... Who?" as Roquelin. Between 1977 and 1979, he appeared in Steve Allen's PBS series, Meeting of Minds, portraying Martin Luther and Karl Marx. In 1979 he portrayed the character Mr. Hoffmeier of Hoffmeiers Bakery, judging a pie contest in an episode in the third season of Threes Company titled, The Bake-Off. In 1982 he had a brief appearance as a Moscow Anchorman in the film Airplane II: The Sequel. Askin died in Vienna on June 3, 2005, at the age of 97....(From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Askin)
Read more from Wikipedia
Other links and information
Visit Leon's official homepage - http://www.askin.at/
See the birthday wishes sent to Leon for his 95th birthday by several visitor's to the Hogan's Heroes Fan Club website.
Click here to see a collection of images sent in by Anita Askin-Wicher - wife of Leon Askin
A NEW BEGINNING IN VIENNA - an interview with Leon Askin By Karin Hanta
Leon Askin page on IMDB
Book(s) by Leon Askin
![]()
by Leon Askin C. Melvin Davidson - 1989
|
Hogan's Heroes Fan Club.com ©2001-2013 |
|
Read all about Hogan's Heroes from the most definitive guide to the show. |