John Banner
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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 A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcast ...
'' (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encountering evidence that the inmates of his stalag were planning mayhem, frequently feigned ignorance with the
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
, "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 to
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
parents in Stanislau,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). He studied for a
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
degree at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
, but decided instead to become an actor. In 1938, when he was performing with an acting troupe in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
,
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
annexed Austria to Nazi Germany. Banner emigrated to the United States, where he rapidly learned English.


World War II

In 1942, Banner enlisted in the
United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
, underwent basic training in
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
and became a supply sergeant. He even posed for a recruiting poster (before he became portly). He served until 1945. According to fellow ''Hogan's Heroes'' actor
Robert Clary Robert Clary (born Robert Max Widerman; March 1, 1926 – November 16, 2022) was a French actor mainly active in the United States. He is best known for his role in the television sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'' as Corporal Louis LeBeau (1965–197 ...
, who was a Holocaust survivor himself, "John lost a lot of his family" to
the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.


Acting


Broadway

Banner appeared on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
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.


Films

Banner appeared in more than 40
feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s. His first credited role was a German captain in ''
Once Upon a Honeymoon ''Once Upon a Honeymoon'' is a 1942 romantic comedy/drama starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Walter Slezak, directed by Leo McCarey, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Sound Recording (Stephen Dunn). ...
'' (1942), starring
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
and
Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
. He also played a
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
agent in
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
's ''
Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas ''Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas'' is a war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943. The film starred Philip Dorn, Anna Sten, and Martin Kosleck. The film was originally titled ''The Seventh Column''. It was directed by Louis King and i ...
'' (1943). His
typecasting In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...
did not please him, but these were the only roles he was offered. Banner later learned that his family members who remained in Vienna had all perished in
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
.


From the 1950s

Banner made more than 70 television appearances between 1950 and 1970, including the ''
Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...
'' (episode "Damsels In Distress", 1950), ''
Sky King ''Sky King'' was an American radio and television series. Its lead character was Arizona rancher and aircraft pilot Schuyler "Sky" King. The series had strong Western elements. King usually captured criminals and spies and found lost hikers, ...
'' (premiere episode "Operation Urgent", 1952), ''
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is a fictional American comic book jungle girl heroine, originally published primarily by Fiction House during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She was the first female comic book character with her own title, with her ...
'' ("The Renegades", 1955), '' Adventures of Superman'' ("The Man Who Made Dreams Come True", 1957), ''
Father Knows Best ''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by E ...
'' ("Brief Holiday", 1957), ''
Mister Ed ''Mister Ed'' is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which orig ...
'' (episode "Ed the Artist", 1965), '' Thriller'' (episode "Portrait Without a Face", 1961), ''
The Untouchables Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to: American history * Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness * ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley * ''The U ...
'' ("Takeover", 1962), ''
My Sister Eileen ''My Sister Eileen'' is a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney, originally published in ''The New Yorker'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a play, a musical, a radio play (a ...
'', ''
The Lucy Show ''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...
'', ''
Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...
'', ''
The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...
'', ''
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' is a 1961 American science fiction disaster film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, and starring Walter Pidgeon and Robert Sterling. The supporting cast includes Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, M ...
'' ("Hot Line", 1964), ''
Alias Smith and Jones ''Alias Smith and Jones'' is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973. The show initially starred Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, outlaw cousins who are tryin ...
'', ''
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by MGM Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who wo ...
'' ("The Neptune Affair", 1964), and ''
Hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...
'' ("The Investor", 1965). In the late 1950s, a still-slim Banner portrayed
Peter Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
's supervisor on a
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
anthology series about the composer's life. This followed a scene with fellow ''Hogan's Heroes'' actor
Leon Askin Leon Askin (; born Leon Aschkenasy, 18 September 1907 – 3 June 2005) was an Austrian Jewish actor best known in North America for portraying the character General Burkhalter on the TV situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes''. Life and career A ...
(General Burkhalter) as
Nikolai Rubinstein Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein (russian: Николай Григорьевич Рубинштейн; – ) was a Russian pianist, conductor, and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tc ...
. In 1953, he had a bit part in the
Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
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 Bavarro in the children's
science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...
TV series ''
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger'' is an American science fiction television serial originally broadcast in syndication from February to November 1954. The show lasted for only two seasons and, though syndicated sporadically, dropped into obscurity. ...
''. Two years later, he played a train conductor in the episode "Safe Conduct" of ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...
'', appearing with future co-star
Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an American actor. He was 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 ...
(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 ''The Young Lions'' (1948) is a novel by Irwin Shaw about three soldiers in World War II. Plot Christian Diestl is at first a sympathetic Austrian drawn to Nazism by despair for his future but willing to sacrifice Jews if necessary. Noah Acke ...
'' (1958),
Rudolf Höss Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving comm ...
in ''Operation Eichmann'' (1961, opposite Werner Klemperer as Adolf Eichmann), and
Gregor Strasser Gregor Strasser (also german: Straßer, see ß; 31 May 1892 – 30 June 1934) was an early prominent German Nazi Party, Nazi official and politician who was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934. Born in 1892 in Bavaria, Strasse ...
in ''
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
'' (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 James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...
. 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 Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...
, who had portrayed another prisoner-of-war camp chief guard named Sergeant Schulz in the 1953 film ''
Stalag 17 ''Stalag 17'' is a 1953 American war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen confined with 40,000 prisoners in a World War II German prisoner of war camp "somewhere on the Danube". Their compound holds 630 Sergeants representi ...
'', starring
William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
.


''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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
in 1965. According to Banner, before he met and married his French wife Christine, he weighed ; he claimed her good cooking was responsible for his weight gain to , which helped him land the part. The character of Schultz is a bumbling, but ultimately lovable German guard at a World War II prisoner-of-war camp. The camp is used by the prisoners as a secret staging area for sabotage and intelligence gathering. To obtain nuggets of information from the commandant's office, the prisoners often bribe Schultz with food and candy. Schultz's main goal is to avoid any trouble with his superiors, which often leads him to ignore the clandestine activities of the prisoners. (On those occasions, he often used his
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
"I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!" As the series went on, this became simply "I know nothing. ''Nothing!''). The genesis of the line could be from Banner’s appearance on the TV crime drama ''The Untouchables'', in the episode "The Takeover" (1961), when confronted by a gangster, he nervously responds with his future classic line. Another signature phrase used was "Jolly joker!", when one of the POWs would make a joke at his expense. Schultz's gentle nature is exemplified by his occupation before the war: he is a toymaker. Banner was loved not only by the viewers, but also by the cast, as recalled by cast members during the ''Hogan's Heroes''
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
commentary. The Jewish Banner defended his character, telling ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' in 1967, "Schultz is not a Nazi. I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in any generation." Banner appeared in every episode of the series, which ran for six years. In 1968, during the series' run, Banner co-starred with fellow ''Hogan's Heroes'' actors Werner Klemperer, Leon Askin, and
Bob Crane Robert Edward Crane (July 13, 1928 – June 29, 1978) was an American actor, drummer, radio personality, and disc jockey known for starring in the CBS situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes''. Crane was a drummer from age 11, and he began his ente ...
in the Cold War comedy ''
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz ''The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz'' is a 1968 DeLuxe Color American comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Elke Sommer, Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer and Leon Askin. The screenplay concerns an East German athlete who defects to ...
'', starring
Elke Sommer Elke Sommer (; born Elke Baronin von Schletz, 5 November 1940) is a German actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in ''The Pink Panther (1963 film), The Pink Panther'' sequel ''A S ...
in the title role.


After ''Hogan's Heroes''

After ''Hogan's Heroes'' was cancelled in 1971, Banner starred as the inept gangster Uncle Latzi in a short-lived television
situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
, ''
The Chicago Teddy Bears ''The Chicago Teddy Bears'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS. The series was part of the network's 1971 fall lineup, premiering on September 17, 1971. Synopsis Unlike other shows set in Prohibition-era Chicago, ''The Chicago Teddy Bears' ...
''. His last acting appearance was in the March 17, 1972, episode of ''
The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...
''. He then retired to France with his Paris-born second wife.


Death

Banner died on January 28, 1973 – his 63rd birthday – following an abdominal
hemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...
. At the time of his death, he was visiting friends in Vienna.


Filmography


Film


Television


See also

*


References

Notes


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banner, John 1910 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century Austrian male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Austrian emigrants to the United States Austrian male film actors Austrian male television actors Austro-Hungarian Jews Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage Jewish American male actors Male actors from Vienna United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th-century American Jews