Bob Crane: Family Videos

During the course of what is now nearly two decades, my coauthors—Linda Groundwater and Dee Young—and I have seen and heard just about everything there is relating to Bob Crane's life and tragic death. As his official and authorized biographers, we have been granted exclusive permission to view and entrusted with Bob's personal belongings. Perhaps one of the most important pieces of research we've reviewed, however, is a movie reel. 

When you say the words movie reel in the same sentence as the name Bob Crane, how many of you thought of one thing? For the record (again), Bob engaged in amateur pornography with adult, consensual women who agreed to be filmed. (Yes, it's been investigated by the authorities, and yes, the women knew they were being filmed. Enough said—until the next time we have to say it.) 

Now that you've gotten that out of your system... 

The simple truth is that Bob recorded everything. He audio recorded. He photographed. He filmed. He journaled. He catalogued. He chronicled. And he did this with every single aspect of his life from the time he was a teenager throughout his entire life. When you put it all into perspective, the "naughty bits" constituted just a small piece of a much larger collection that was primarily composed of Bob's every day life.

In our opinion, one of the most important pieces of footage Bob Crane filmed was on Father's Day—June 18, 1978, just ten days before his murder. His wife Patty (Sigrid Valdis) and their son Scott had arrived in Scottsdale on a surprise to visit him. Reports claim he was upset by their visit. Bob and Patty were separated at the time and on the brink of divorce. However, Bob invited them over to his Scottsdale apartment. Because it was Father's Day, they gave him cards and a gift. Bob could never have imagined that in just under two weeks and right before his 50th birthday, his life would be cut short in that very same location, just a few yards from the living room where he received his cards and gift from Scotty, then just seven years old. 

To this day, Bob's murder remains unsolved. A great deal of speculation surrounds the murder of Bob Crane and who may have killed him, with much emphasis on John Henry Carpenter (different from the film director) as the primary suspect. In 1992, he was arrested. A trial followed, and in 1994, Carpenter was found not guilty. Arm chair detectives have a field day with this unsolved case, discussing their theories, making their jokes, deciding who they believe must have done it. 

Back to Father's Day 1978. I watched the Bob's family video taken on Father's Day 1978 for the first time while visiting Scott in 2013. I sat in Scott's living room with him, his then-soon-to-be wife, and his children, and we watched. And as I watched, I was mesmerized. Here was Bob Crane, the regular guy—a husband and father who didn't want his marriage to end. Not famous Colonel Hogan or radio personality; not murder victim; not tabloid headline. Since then, I have wished more people could see what I was seeing. This footage showed me, without question, how much of a loving father Bob was. It showed me how much he adored his family—just absolutely cherished his family, especially his children. And it proved without a doubt how much in love he was with his  wife—and how much she loved him, too, despite their marital troubles. 

When Linda was interviewed for the Autopsy episode about Bob Crane in November 2020, which aired in June 2021, she mentioned this video to the producers when talking about Bob as a family man who loved his family. They were astonished. They asked Linda, "How do you know about this video?" And Linda responded bluntly, "Because I have seen it."

Scott Crane has now made this video available to the public. I am so very happy he has done so because now you can see for yourself. This is not play acting for an audience. This is family. 

These are Bob Crane's home movies of himself and the people he loved: his wife, his children, his parents, and his friends. Bob Crane was a human being. He was also murdered. And his family and friends are still deeply affected by and mourn his loss.

Click here to watch.

No unauthorized use of any portion of this video—audio or video—is allowed without written permission of Robert Scott Crane. 

For all permission requests, click here.

'Hogan's Heroes' Revue: The Pilot — How It Differed from the Series

Hogan's Heroes is often considered the older cousin of MASH. When studying the two shows, you can see very clearly how MASH was allowed to evolve in a much more dramatic way than Hogan's Heroes ever could. But that doesn't mean Hogan's Heroes didn't evolve. It did, and by quite a bit.

After the pilot episode was filmed and then picked up by CBS for broadcast, drastic changes were made to the series. In the latest episode of 'Hogan's Heroes' Revue, Linda Groundwater and Carol Ford discuss the pilot episode. They offer a comparison to MASH, as well as other episodes, to provide insight into how pilots are vastly different from the series, as well as how a series can grow and evolve. They discuss Hogan's Heroes casting, set, and style changes, and they also talk about the purpose of pilot episodes in general and the importance of character actors.

Obviously, the series was produced by the company Bing Crosby Productions. However, Edward H. Feldman was the Executive Producer who needed to answer to the head of CBS—first James Aubrey, and after his dismissal in 1965 (very soon after Hogan's Heroes was picked up), John "Jack" Schneider. Without the approval of CBS, Hogan's Heroes would not have been picked up and aired, no matter which company produced it. Through his tenacity, Edward Feldman was able to make changes to the series that CBS granted, including the switch from black and white to color, among other style, actor, and set changes.

We hope you enjoy this episode of 'Hogan's Heroes' Revue!

Listen to "03. The ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ Pilot: How 'The Informer' Differed from the Rest of the Series" on Spreaker. Listen to "04. Commentary Series — ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ Episode #1: ‘The Informer’" on Spreaker.