Leon Askin

Leon Askin (Born: September 18, 1907, Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), Height 6ft [1.83m]) was an Austrian-American actor who enjoyed a successful career in both theater and television. He is best known for his portrayal of General Albert Burkhalter in the hit sitcom "Hogan's Heroes," a role he played for six seasons from 1965 to 1971. Born Leo Aschkenasy in Vienna, Austria, in 1907, Askin developed an interest in acting at a young age. He studied at the Max Reinhardt Seminar, a prestigious acting school in Vienna, and began his career on the stage in the early 1930s. With the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany, Askin, a Jew, was forced to flee Austria in 1938. He emigrated to the United States, where he continued to work in theater. He also began appearing in films and television shows, often playing villainous roles due to his imposing stature and commanding presence. Askin's most famous role came in 1965 when he was cast as General Burkhalter in "Hogan's Heroes." The show, which chronicled the exploits of a group of American prisoners of war running a secret operation from a German POW camp, was a huge success, and Askin became a household name. After "Hogan's Heroes" ended in 1971, Askin continued to work steadily in television and film. He appeared in numerous guest roles on popular shows such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Rockford Files," and "Murder, She Wrote." He also had recurring roles on the soap operas "General Hospital" and "Santa Barbara." Askin's film credits include such movies as "The Dirty Dozen," "The Night of the Generals," and "The Boys from Brazil." He also continued to work in theater throughout his career, appearing in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Askin remained active in acting well into his later years. He published an autobiography, "Quietude and Quest: Protagonists and Antagonists in the Theatre, on and Off Stage as Seen Through the Eyes of Leon Askin," in 1997. He also received numerous awards for his work, including the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art in 1988 and the Silver Cross of Honor in 1994. Askin died in Vienna in 2005 at the age of 97. He is remembered as one of the most versatile and talented actors of his generation.

Known For: Acting

Born: Vienna, Austria, 1907-09-18

Died: 2005-06-03

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1952	Assignment: Paris	Franz (uncredited)	55
2	1953	Road to Bali	King Ramayana	63
3	1953	Desert Legion	Major Vasil	60
4	1953	South Sea Woman	Pierre Marchand	54
5	1953	China Venture	Wu King	73
6	1953	The Robe	Abidor	68
7	1953	Three Lives	Dr. Stein	0
8	1953	The Veils of Bagdad	Pasha Hammam	60
9	1954	Knock on Wood	Laslo Gromeck	66
10	1954	Secret of the Incas	Anton Marcu	58
11	1954	Valley of the Kings	Valentine Arko, Antique Dealer	48
12	1955	Carolina Cannonball	Otto	0
13	1955	Spy Chasers	Alex Baxis	70
14	1958	Der Schinderhannes		68
15	1959	The Peter Tchaikovsky Story	Anton Rubinstein	70
16	1959	The Last Blitzkrieg	Sergeant Steiner	52
17	1959	Der Mann im Manne	Ed Keller	0
18	1959	Rebel Flight to Cuba	General Cordobas	100
19	1959	Entscheidung	Lajos Morva	0
20	1959	Die Irre von Chaillot	Präsident	0
21	1960	Mistress of the World - Part I	Fernando	62
22	1960	Mistress of the World - Part II	Fernando	50
23	1960	Der Traum des Mr. Borton	Martin Borton	0
24	1960	Pension Schöller	Fritz Bernhardi	73
25	1960	Bis dass das Geld euch scheidet…	Anwalt Dr. Plauert	60
26	1960	Weit ist der Weg	Luiz	50
27	1961	Towarisch	Dimitri Gorotschenko	0
28	1961	Always Trouble with the Bed	Luigi Papagallo	55
29	1961	Blind Justice	Dr. Leupold	52
30	1961	One, Two, Three	Peripetchikoff	75
31	1962	Lulu	Medizinalrat Dr. Goll	68
32	1962	The Terror of Doctor Mabuse	Flocke	57
33	1962	Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace	Charles	55
34	1965	John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!	Samir	34
35	1965	Do Not Disturb	Langsdorf	56
36	1966	What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?	Colonel Kastorp	60
37	1967	Double Trouble	Inspector de Groote	50
38	1967	The Caper of the Golden Bulls	Morchek	56
39	1967	The Perils of Pauline	Commissar	35
40	1968	The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz	Oscar	34
41	1968	Guns for San Sebastian	Vicar General	70
42	1968	Lucrezia	Alessandro VI	20
43	1968	God's Police Patrol	Felix	20
44	1968	A Fine Pair	Chief Wellman	32
45	1969	The Maltese Bippy	Axel Kronstadt	54
46	1969	Death Knocks Twice	Peppe Mangano	43
47	1972	Hammersmith Is Out	Dr. Krodt	57
48	1973	The World's Greatest Athlete	Dr. Gottlieb	53
49	1973	Genesis II	Overseer	57
50	1973	Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls	Thor	55
51	1974	Perahim - die zweite Chance		0
52	1974	Verurteilt 1910	Regierungsrat Stukart	0
53	1975	Die gelbe Nachtigall	Jason	0
54	1975	Parapsycho: Spectrum of Fear		45
55	1977	The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula (Parts 1 & 2)	Haufman Berger	0
56	1981	Going Ape!	Zebrewski	43
57	1981	Frightmare	Wolfgang	45
58	1982	Airplane II: The Sequel	Moscow Anchorman	61
59	1985	First Strike		50
60	1985	Savage Island	Luker	35
61	1986	Odd Jobs	Don Carlucci	41
62	1994	Hitler Stole My Ideas		0
63	1994	Fear of Heights	Vater Gusenleitner	40
64	1994	OcchioPinocchio	Lo psichiatra	43
65	1995	Die Fernsehsaga – Eine steirische Fernsehgeschichte	alter Adler	0
66	1995	Deadly Love		20
67	1996	Glück auf Raten		0
68	1997	Leon Askin - (Über)Leben und Schauspiel. Private Anmerkungen	Himself	0
69	1998	Black Flamingos - Sie lieben euch zu Tode		68
70	1998	Die Bräute	Rutte	50
71	1999	Kubanisch rauchen	Waranovsky	40
72	2001	Ene mene muh – und tot bist du		20

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Gustave	63
2	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Mike Czerny	63
3	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Felix Bassenak	63
4	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Drobash	73
5	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars		73
6	1952	Adventures of Superman	Prime Minister Frederick Vallen	67
7	1952	Biff Baker U.S.A.	Reicher	75
8	1953	The Man Behind the Badge		55
9	1954	Studio 57		0
10	1955	The 20th Century Fox Hour		54
11	1955	Matinee Theater	General Rabat	50
12	1956	Telephone Time		63
13	1956	Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers		50
14	1962	Saints and Sinners	Baron	60
15	1962	General Electric True		0
16	1963	The Outer Limits	Shop Superintendent	78
17	1963	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre		57
18	1964	Daniel Boone	Roquelin	69
19	1965	Hogan's Heroes	General Burkhalter	75
20	1965	Honey West	The Count	70
21	1965	The F.B.I.	Arnold Bebenek	55
22	1966	It's About Time		60
23	1966	The Monkees		65
24	1966	Felony Squad		64
25	1966	Mission: Impossible	Riva	76
26	1970	Der schwarze Graf	Amschel Talmeier	0
27	1974	Happy Days		76
28	1974	Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers		50
29	1975	Switch	Prince Dimitri Marenka	67
30	1977	Meeting of Minds		95
31	1977	Karl May	Klotz-Sello	0
32	1977	Three's Company		77
33	1994	Inspector Rex	Nachbar	72
34	1998	Medicopter 117 – Jedes Leben zählt	Francesco Del la Ribiola	60
35		The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula	Haufman Berger	0

Leon Askin

Film

Television