Hollywood Memorial

Crane started out in show business as a drummer, and eventually became a disk jockey. For nine years in California, he hosted a morning drive show that was very popular. He had many famous people on this show, ranging from Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. Eventually he decided to get into acting, and landed guest roles on such shows as ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’ He was cast in a regular role on ‘The Donna Reed Show’ as Dr. David Kelsey. He left that show in 1965 to star in ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ on CBS, which many felt would be a failure. Instead, the show was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, and ran until 1970, when it was cancelled. After the series was cancelled, he appeared in a few Disney movies and made appearances on shows including ‘The Love Boat.’ Crane eventually began touring in dinner theater productions and while he was touring in the play ‘Beginner’s Luck’ he was brutally murdered. He was bludgeoned to death while he slept in his hotel room. An acquaintance of Crane’s, John Carpenter, was eventually arrested and tried for the murder. Carpenter was found not guilty, and he died in 1994, denying his guilt to the end. It is believed that Crane was murdered because of his habit of picking up various women, and then filming himself in different sexual acts with them. Today, almost twenty-five years later, Crane’s murder remains one of Hollywood’s unsolved mysteries. He is buried in Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles, with his wife Sigrid Valdis, actress best known for her role as Colonel Klink’s secretary ‘Hilda’ on the television series ‘Hogan’s Heroes.’ She married the show’s star Bob Crane on the set in 1970, although he was an obvious womanizer. Their picture in ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ costume adorns the top of their headstone, with the caption ‘Hogan and Hilda, Together Forever.’