Born - September 21, 1935
Died - October 14, 2007
When Sigrid Valdis (born Patricia Olson) joined the hit series at the start
of the second season, CBS touted their new find as a sex goddess. The network's
press accounts attributed the casting change to the series' new opposition
on NBC - The Manfrom U.N.C.L.E. To compete with U.N.C.L.E., Bing Crosby
Productions decided to add some sex appeal to Stalag 13. While Cynthia Lynn's
Helga exuded a wholesome form of sex appeal, Valdis was pure vamp. Valdis
whose real name is Particia Olsen, had worked as a model and a car salesman
before turning to acting. Film roles in Marriage on the Rocks (1965)
and Our Man Flint (1966) and guest spots on The Steve Allen Show
and Wild, Wild West were highlights of her career before Hogan's
Heroes.
While working on the series, Valdis became involved with Bob Crane. Crane
was married when the affair began, but in June 1970, he divorced his wife
of twenty years. In October of that year, Crane and Valdis were married. The
couple had a son, Robert Scott, the following year. She had a fourteen-year-old
daughter, Melissa, and he (Bob Crane) was the father of three children from
his first marriage. The couple was headed for divorce when Crane was murdered
in 1978. After Hogan's Heroes, Valdis abandoned her acting career.
[From http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-valdis18nov18,1,6720543.story?ctrack=2&cset=true]
By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer - November 18, 2007
Sigrid Valdis, who played Col. Klink's sexy blond secretary on "Hogan's
Heroes" and married the show's star, Bob Crane, has died. She was 72.
Valdis died of lung cancer Oct. 14 at her daughter Ana Sarmiento's home in
Anaheim, her son, Scotty Crane, said Friday."One of her last wishes in
her will was that the funeral have no press, so we didn't contact the press
[when she died], to honor her wishes," he told The Times.
Valdis played Hilda for five seasons on "Hogan's Heroes," the 1965-71
CBS situation comedy about Allied prisoners in a World War II German POW camp.
She and Crane were married on the TV show's set in 1970. Crane was found bludgeoned
to death in a Scottsdale, Ariz., apartment in 1978.
Scotty Crane, a Seattle record producer, said his mother and father had been
separated for a few months in 1977 "but had reconciled quite a while
before he passed away."
Bob Crane's murder remains unsolved; the actor's life and death were the
subject of director Paul Schrader's 2002 movie "Auto Focus," starring
Greg Kinnear. The film portrayed Crane as a sex addict who videotaped his
encounters.
Scotty Crane said his mother was "very against" the movie. "There
are a ton of untruths in it."
Knowing that the film was going to be made, he said, "was a strain for
her, and she was in and out of the hospital quite a few times" for stress-related
illnesses before the film came out. About two years after the movie was released,
she was diagnosed with lung cancer, he said.
Valdis was born Patricia Olson in Bakersfield on Sept. 21, 1935. She grew
up in Westwood and launched a modeling career as a teenager, working as a
runway and print model for Bullock's and other department stores. After graduating
from Marymount High School, she moved to Europe and then to New York City,
where she continued her modeling carer and studied acting with Stella Adler.
She appeared on television series including "Kraft Mystery Theater"
and "The Wild Wild West." Her film credits include "Two Tickets
to Paris," "Marriage on the Rocks," "Our Man Flint"
and "The Venetian Affair." Valdis retired from acting after her
son's birth in 1971, but she returned to it in 1998 when she joined the cast
of his syndicated weekly sketch comedy radio show, "Shaken, Not Stirred,"
which originated in Seattle.
"She was in almost every single weekly episode," her son said.
"She played a ton of bit parts," including the recurring role of
his mom. Valdis lived in Seattle from 1980 to 2004, when she moved back to
her childhood home in Westwood. In addition to her son and daughter from her
marriage to Crane, the twice-widowed Valdis is survived by a daughter from
her first marriage, Melissa Smith; and five grandchildren.
dennis.mclellan@latimes.com
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