Born - October 19, 1946
Died - Not Yet!
In the sixth - and final - season of Hogan's Heroes, a newcomer joined Hogan's
ranks. Ivan Dixon had departed at the end of the fifth season to pursue other
avenues of show business, leaving Hogan minus one hero.Auditions for a replacement
character were held in both New York City and Los Angeles, and actor Kenneth
Washington atteneded one of the open calls.Regarding his success in landing
the part, he says, "I was one of the many who auditioned and I guess
God chose to smile on me."
Rather than recasting Dixon's role of Kinchloe, the producers chose to create
a new character, Sergeant Richard Baker. Baker, like his predecessor, ran
the underground communications center. As the two characters were radio experts
and both were portrayed by black actors, it seemed as though the producers
were trying to slip the change by viewers without notice. In fact, nothing
was ever mentioned on screen about Kinch's departure or Baker's arrival -
it was just business as usual at Stalag 13.
While Baker's arrival was not much heralded on screen, Kenneth Washington
was very warmly received offscreen. Werner Klemperer says, "We really
missed Ivan, but Kenny Washington was very nice. We all enjoyed working with
him." Washington is emphatic when he speaks of the cast's friendly treatment
of him. "Everybody was very nice, very receptive."
Like his costars, loyal viewers probably missed Ivan Dixon too, but they
reacted favoroubly to the addition of Kenneth Washington to the cast. "I
got a lot of fan mail, " reflects Washington. "Lots of mail, saying
'best of luck.' And folks who would come on the set were very supportive,
wishing me all good fortune. I didn't receive one discouraging letter or remark."
