Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Will the Real Robert Hogan Please Stand Up?


Bob Crane as Colonel Hogan.
As we all know, Bob Crane portrayed Colonel Robert E. Hogan on Hogan's Heroes. But how did the series get its name? As it turns out, associate producer Bernard Fein named the show after his good friend, Robert Hogan, an American television actor best known for his work on numerous soap operas, including Another World, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives and One Life to Live. Robert Hogan also guest starred in two different episodes of Hogan's Heroes: "Reservations Are Required" and "Crittendon's Commandos." Most recently, in June 2011, he guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

What's more fascinating is this: Bob Crane is related to another Robert Hogan. Ironically and by sheer coincidence, Bob's great-grandfather (on his father's side) was none other than Robert E. Hogan of Stamford, CT, a tool maker whose family was from Ireland. Further, the Crane name was originally spelled "Crean," with Bob's grandfather changing the spelling to Crane sometime prior to 1900.

Bob Crane's complete life story is detailed in Bob Crane: The Definitive Biography. Published on September 17, 2015, the book is 660 pages in length and contains the firsthand accounts from 200 prominent people from Bob's life.