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In 1953, Billy Wilder scored a critical and commercial success with his film adaptation of Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski's stage play "Stalag 17" (one of his 14 best films according to /Film). Set in a World War II Pow camp behind Nazi enemy lines, the movie is a rambunctious account of how imprisoned soldiers misbehave and attempt to make their captors' lives miserable. They're also ever on the verge of hatching a new escape plan, though they wind up having a rat in their ranks who complicates their efforts.

Given that World War II was a desperately bloody affair on both the European and Pacific fronts as the Allies fought to save civilization from the clutches of genocidal vermin, you might not think it appropriate for artists to find humor anywhere within the conflict. But the ability to laugh when...

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Robert Clary, the French actor, singer and Holocaust survivor who portrayed Corporal LeBeau on the World War II-set sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, has died. He was 96.

Clary, who was mentored by famed entertainer Eddie Cantor and married one of his five daughters, died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles, his granddaughter Kim Wright told The Hollywood Reporter.

CBS’ Hogan’s Heroes, which aired over six seasons from September 1965 to April 1971, starred Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, an American who led an international group of Allied prisoners of war in a convert operation to defeat the Nazis from inside the Luft Stalag 13 camp.

As the patriotic Cpl. Louis LeBeau, the 5-foot-1 Clary hid in small spaces, dreamed about girls, got along great with the guard dogs and used his expert culinary skills to help the befuddled Nazi Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer...

“Hogan’s Heroes” is the latest classic TV series seeking the reboot treatment, with a sequel series from original series co-creator Al Ruddy in the works.

The new single-camera comedy would be set in present-day and would center on the descendants of the original characters as they team up for a global treasure hunt. No writer or network is currently attached to the project.

Ruddy will serve as an executive producer on the project, alongside “Vice Principals” trio Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Jody Hill. Brandon James of Rough House Pictures and Alix Jaffe and Adam Dunlap of Village Roadshow will also executive produce.

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The original “Hogan’s Heroes” ran for six seasons and 168 episodes on CBS from 1965 to 1971. Bob Crane, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon and Larry Hovis starred as...

Sock it to me! Netflix will pay tribute to NBC’s seminal sketch comedy series Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In with Still Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate. The special celebration will be taped March 8 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with original cast member Lily Tomlin performing and the show’s legendary director-producer George Schlatter in attendance.

The evening will mark the iconic series’ 50th anniversary with homages and modern takes on quintessential sketches and acts from the original series. Tomlin will reprise her memorable characters Edith Ann — she of the oversized rocking chair — and snorting phone operator Ernestine. Joining Tomlin for the tribute will be star-studded lineup of comedians, actors and musicians including Billy Crystal, Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris, Taye Diggs, Michael Douglas, Jay Leno, Rita Moreno, Rita Wilson, JoAnne Worley, Maria Bamford, Margaret Cho, Ron Funches, Brad Garrett, Nikki Glaser, Lisa Ann Walter, Bobby Moynihan, Cheri Oteri, Rob Riggle,...

For George Schlatter, the creator of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, there was a key moment when the Classic TV comedy sketch series had gone from an oddity to cultural phenomenon: Sammy Davis, Jr., an old friend, was making a guest appearance on the show. They were joking around with comedy bits involving a judge, when, according to George, Sammy came up with the phrase, "Here come da judge!", which would lead into a sketch about the banter between a defendant and a judge dressed in black robe and oversized wig (becoming a national catchphrase in the process). "We taped 'Here Come Da Judge' at two in the morning," says George exclusively. "It was so funny that we put it on the next show. Suddenly people were walking down the hall saying, 'Here come da judge.' The show went on that Monday night, and Tuesday or Wedneday morning when the Supreme Court came into the courtroom,...

Los Angeles – Richard Dawson, who had distinction in two areas of television – in his supporting role on the 1960s sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes” and as a game show host in the 1970s with his trademark of kissing contestants on “Family Feud” – died Saturday from complications due to cancer. He was 79.

Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm to an American father and English Mother in Gosport, Hampshire, England in 1932. After running away from a poverty-ridden childhood to join the Merchant Marines at the age of 14, Dawson pursued boxing and entertaining once he was discharged. He first went on stage as comedian Dickie Dawson, but revised the name to Richard Dawson once he became established.

Survey Says!: Host Richard Dawson on the Set of the Game Show ‘Family Feud’

Photo credit: ABC-tv

Gaining popularity as a comedian in England, Dawson married Diana Dors – called the British Marilyn Monroe – in 1959 (the marriage...