Thursday, June 23, 2005
Fighting for Werner!
When Americans go to war we have many reasons. We fight for family, for God, for country, and for our buddies in the mud. But when it all comes down to it, we are really fighting for Werner Klemperer.
Werner was the son of the famed conductor Otto Klemperer, and he was a German Jew. His family slipped out of Germany as Hitler was taking over. When World War II broke out he joined the U.S. Army and seved in the Pacific theater.
After the war, this German exile became an accomplished actor. He won two Emmy awards and was nominated for a Tony. In the 1970s he took up his father's vocation and became an Opera and Broadway singer. Somewhere in their he got a law degree and was a respected attorney. Werner escaped the Nazis, fought against them, and lived a great American life.
But what is really great about Werner was his final triumph over the Nazis. He was the actor who played Col. Klink in "Hogan's Heros." What a country! He agreed to play the part only after the producers agreed that Klink would never get anything right.
This story tells you how great this country is. This is the American dream, the hope, and the triumph that we fight for. We fight for Werner.
Hat Tip: Impromptus.
Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia.
Werner was the son of the famed conductor Otto Klemperer, and he was a German Jew. His family slipped out of Germany as Hitler was taking over. When World War II broke out he joined the U.S. Army and seved in the Pacific theater.
After the war, this German exile became an accomplished actor. He won two Emmy awards and was nominated for a Tony. In the 1970s he took up his father's vocation and became an Opera and Broadway singer. Somewhere in their he got a law degree and was a respected attorney. Werner escaped the Nazis, fought against them, and lived a great American life.
But what is really great about Werner was his final triumph over the Nazis. He was the actor who played Col. Klink in "Hogan's Heros." What a country! He agreed to play the part only after the producers agreed that Klink would never get anything right.
This story tells you how great this country is. This is the American dream, the hope, and the triumph that we fight for. We fight for Werner.
Hat Tip: Impromptus.
Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia.
