John Banner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Banner
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Banner as Sergeant Schultz on Hogan's Heroes, 1965
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Johann Banner
January 28, 1910 Stanislau, Austria-Hungary
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| Died | January 28, 1973 (aged 63) Vienna, Austria
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| Resting place | Friedhof Mauer, Vienna, Austria |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1939–1972 |
| Spouse(s) | Christine |
John Banner (born Johann Banner, January 28, 1910 – January 28, 1973) was an actor from Austria who later became an American citizen. He is most famous for playing Sergeant Schultz in the TV show Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971). In the show, his character, Schultz, often pretended not to notice when prisoners were secretly working against the Germans. He would famously say, "I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing!" or just "I know nothing, nothing!"
Contents
John Banner's Early Life
John Banner was born on January 28, 1910, in Stanislau, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). His parents were Jewish. He first studied to become a lawyer at the University of Vienna. However, he soon decided that acting was what he really wanted to do.
In 1938, while he was acting with a group in Switzerland, Adolf Hitler took control of Austria. Because of this, Banner moved to the United States. He quickly learned to speak English very well.
Serving in World War II
In 1942, John Banner joined the United States Army Air Corps. He trained in Atlantic City and became a supply sergeant. He even appeared on a recruiting poster before he gained weight. He served in the army until 1945.
Another actor from Hogan's Heroes, Robert Clary, who survived the Holocaust, said that John Banner "lost a lot of his family" during the Holocaust. This was a very sad time when many Jewish people were killed. Banner later found out that his family members who stayed in Vienna had died in Nazi concentration camps.
John Banner's Acting Career
Starting on Broadway
John Banner acted in three plays on Broadway in New York City. The first was a musical show called From Vienna in 1939. He also acted in two funny plays: Pastoral in 1939 and The Big Two in 1947. When he first started, he wasn't very good at English. So, he had to learn his lines by listening to how they sounded, without fully understanding them.
Movies and TV Shows
John Banner appeared in more than 40 movies. His first movie role was a German captain in Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), which starred Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. He also played a Gestapo agent in Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943). He often played German characters, especially villains. He didn't always like being typecast in these roles, but they were the only ones he was offered.
From 1950 to 1970, Banner was in over 70 TV shows. Some of these included The Lone Ranger (1950), Adventures of Superman (1957), Father Knows Best (1957), and Mister Ed (1965).
In the late 1950s, when he was still slim, Banner played a supervisor in a Disneyland TV series about the composer Peter Tchaikovsky. In 1954, he had a regular role as Bavarro in the kids' science-fiction TV show Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
He also played Nazi villains in several movies. For example, he was a German town mayor in The Young Lions (1958). He played Rudolf Höss in Operation Eichmann (1961) and Gregor Strasser in Hitler (1962).
Hogan's Heroes Role
The comedy show Hogan's Heroes started in 1965. In this show, Banner played Sergeant Hans Schultz, the role he is most famous for. Banner said that before he met his French wife, Christine, he weighed about 178 pounds (81 kg). He joked that her great cooking made him gain weight to 260 pounds (118 kg), which helped him get the part!
Sergeant Schultz is a funny, clumsy, but kind German guard at a World War II prisoner-of-war camp. The prisoners secretly use the camp to plan sabotage and gather information. To get information, they often give Schultz food and candy. Schultz's main goal is to avoid trouble with his bosses. This often means he pretends not to see the prisoners' secret activities. When this happened, he would say his famous line: "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!" Later, it became "I know nothing. Nothing!" Another funny thing he would say was "Jolly joker!" when a prisoner made a joke about him. Schultz was a gentle person, and before the war, he was a toymaker.
The cast of Hogan's Heroes loved Banner, and so did the viewers. Banner, who was Jewish, explained his character in 1967 to TV Guide. He said, "Schultz is not a Nazi. I see Schultz as a good person in any time period." Banner appeared in every episode of the show during its six years on air.
In 1968, while Hogan's Heroes was still running, Banner acted with other cast members like Werner Klemperer and Bob Crane in a comedy movie called The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz.
After Hogan's Heroes
After Hogan's Heroes ended in 1971, Banner played a clumsy gangster named Uncle Latzi in a short-lived TV comedy called The Chicago Teddy Bears. His very last acting job was in an episode of The Partridge Family in March 1972. After that, he retired and moved to France with his second wife, who was from Paris.
John Banner's Death
John Banner died on January 28, 1973, which was his 63rd birthday. He passed away from internal bleeding while visiting friends in Vienna, Austria.
Selected Film and Television Appearances
Here are some of the movies and TV shows John Banner appeared in:
- 1942: Once Upon a Honeymoon – German Capt. Von Kleinoch
- 1943: Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas – Gestapo Agent
- 1950: The Lone Ranger (TV series) – Von Baden
- 1953: The Juggler – Emile Halevy
- 1954: Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (TV series) – Bovaro (in six episodes)
- 1956: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series) – Train Conductor
- 1957: Adventures of Superman (TV series) – Bronsky
- 1958: The Young Lions – German Town Mayor
- 1961: Operation Eichmann – Rudolf Höss
- 1962: Hitler – Gregor Strasser
- 1965: 36 Hours – Sgt. Ernst
- 1965–1971: Hogan's Heroes (TV series) – Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz (in 168 episodes)
- 1968: The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz – Weber
- 1971: The Chicago Teddy Bears (TV series) – Uncle Latzi (in 13 episodes)
- 1972: The Partridge Family (TV series) – Max Ledbetter (his final appearance)
See also
In Spanish: John Banner para niños
