John Banner, born Johann Banner in Stanislav, Austria, in 1910, gained fame for portraying the bumbling German prison guard “Sergeant Schultz” on the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes. The 1965 comedy, centered on U.S. soldiers held captive by Nazis during World War II, ran for six years.
Initially aspiring to be a lawyer at the University of Vienna in the 1920s, Banner transitioned to theater instead. He made his stage debut in Caramba at Vienna’s Deutsches Volkstheater.
For his first acting role, Banner, who was Jewish, embarked on a two-year tour ending in Zurich, Switzerland. While performing at the Schauspielhaus, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany during the 1938 Anschluss. Banner fled to the United States in 1939, escaping Nazi persecution of Jews.
In New York City, Banner joined a theater group of fellow refugees at the Music Box Theater. Despite not knowing English, he served as master of ceremonies for the Broadway revue From Vienna in 1939 and performed in the comedy Pastoral, memorizing his lines phonetically until he learned the language.
After relocating to Hollywood, California, Banner enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He posed for a recruitment poster and trained in Atlantic City, New Jersey, eventually serving as a supply sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1945 and resumed his acting career.
Banner, speaking English with a Viennese accent, was often cast as French, Russian, or German characters, frequently portraying Nazis in war films. Tragically, he later learned that his parents and sister had perished in the Maly Trostenets concentration camp in 1942.
His first credited film role was a brief appearance in the 1942 Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers movie Once Upon a Honeymoon. Over his career, he appeared in more than 70 television episodes between 1950 and 1970.
Banner attributed a 100-pound weight gain to his wife Christine’s gourmet cooking, which led to a shift in the roles he played. He achieved lasting recognition as the clumsy “Sergeant Schultz” in Hogan’s Heroes, acting alongside other Jewish performers.
After retiring to Vienna, Banner passed away on his 63rd birthday in 1973 and was laid to rest at Mauer Cemetery in Vienna.
