Patricia Annette Olson (September 21, 1935 – October 14, 2007), known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Sigrid Valdis, was an American actress who played "Hilda" in the American

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

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 ...

''.

Early life and career

Valdis began acting in the late 1950s. She appeared in bit parts in films and guest starred in several television shows including ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels ...

'' and ''

Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Imperial Chee ...

''. She appeared in one episode of ''

'' as a different character before landing the role of

Hilda Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game ...

Colonel Klink The following is a list of characters from '' Hogan's Heroes'', an American sitcom television series which starred Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer and John Banner, and featured Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon, and Larry Hovis. It ran for s ...

's secretary, replacing

Cynthia Lynn Cynthia Lynn (born Zinta Valda Ziemelis; April 2, 1937 – March 10, 2014) was a Latvian-American actress. Early life Lynn was born in Riga, Latvia, as Zinta Valda Ziemelis. At age eight, she and her mother, Alisa, fled the country prior to th ...

("Helga") who played the role in the first season.

Personal life

Valdis was married twice. Her first marriage was to fashion businessman George Gilbert Ateyeh, with whom she had a daughter, Melissa. Ateyeh died in 1967. Valdis' second marriage was to ''Hogan's Heroes'' star

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 ...

on the set of the series on October 16, 1970. Co-star

Richard Dawson Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was a British-born American actor, comedian, game-show host and panelist in the United States. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Hero ...

served as Crane's

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be s ...

. Following the birth of their son Robert Scott Crane in 1971, Valdis retired from acting. In 1978, she moved from the Los Angeles area after Crane was murdered. In 1980, she moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, where in 1998 she joined the cast of her son's syndicated weekly sketch comedy radio show, ''Shaken, Not Stirred''. In 2004, she moved back to her childhood home in Westwood. Though no longer using her stage name, she later oversaw a tribute website to her husband, with a blog where she answered questions from fans of her husband and ''Hogan's Heroes''.

Death

Twice widowed, Valdis died on October 14, 2007, from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, aged 72. She had two daughters, Melissa Smith and Ana Sarmiento, and a son, Scott. She had three stepchildren from Crane's earlier marriage to Anne Terzian: Karen, Deborah, and Robert David Crane.

Filmography

References

External links

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Reference to Valdis
insideedition.com; accessed March 8, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Valdis, Sigrid 1935 births 2007 deaths Actresses from Bakersfield, California American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from California American people of Swedish descent Deaths from lung cancer in California Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women