Leon Askin


Leon Askin was an Austrian actor best known in North America for portraying the character General Burkhalter on the TV situation comedy Hogan's Heroes. From the 1950s onward he had a steady career on both sides of the Atlantic.

Life and career

Leon Askin was born as Leo Aschkenasy into a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, on September 18, 1907. His parents, Malvine and Samuel Aschkenasy, were later murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp during the Holocaust.
Askin’s first experience with performance came during World War I, when, as a child, he recited a poem before Emperor Franz Joseph. In the 1920s, he studied acting under Louise Dumont and Max Reinhardt. In the 1930s, he directed politically charged works by playwright Jura Soyfer at Vienna’s "ABC" cabaret theater. His professional debut as an actor came in Vienna in 1926 in The Dutch Merchant.
Fleeing Austria in 1940 following persecution and physical abuse by the Sturmabteilung and Schutzstaffel, Askin emigrated to the United States. During World War II, he served as a staff sergeant in the United States Army Air Forces. After the war, he began a career in Hollywood, often cast as foreign characters with thick accents.
Askin appeared as Anton Rubinstein in a Disneyland television episode about Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He was featured in the series Adventures of Superman—first as a diamond smuggler in the 1953 episode "Superman in Exile", and later as a South American leader in a color episode. His film work included the role of Abidor, a Syrian guide, in The Robe.
Askin continued working steadily in film and television through the 1950s and 1960s. Notable appearances include Pension Schöller, and a key supporting role in Billy Wilder’s political satire One, Two, Three, co-starring with James Cagney.
His most iconic role came in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes, in which he portrayed the stern and blustering General Albert Burkhalter, appearing in 67 episodes. The character served as the superior officer to the inept Colonel Klink and frequent target of manipulation by the POWs.
Askin made guest appearances on numerous television shows including:
The Restless Gun
My Favorite Martian
The Monkees
Daniel Boone
Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers
Happy Days
Three’s Company
Between 1977 and 1979, Askin appeared on PBS’s Meeting of Minds, portraying both Martin Luther and Karl Marx.
He also had a brief appearance as a Moscow news anchor in Airplane II: The Sequel, and although he was cast in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, his scenes were ultimately cut from the final version.
Askin's credits on Broadway included portraying Mr. Prince in A Temporary Island and Second Beard in Twentieth Century.

Selected filmography

Road to Bali
Desert Legion
The Veils of Bagdad
Knock on Wood
Secret of the Incas
Valley of the Kings
Son of Sinbad
The Last Blitzkrieg
Lulu
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Do Not Disturb
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
Double Trouble
The Caper of the Golden Bulls
The Perils of Pauline
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz
A Fine Pair
Guns for San Sebastian
The Maltese Bippy
Death Knocks Twice
Hammersmith Is Out
The World's Greatest Athlete
Going Ape!
''Frightmare''

Death

Askin died from natural causes in Vienna on June 3, 2005, at the age of 97 and is interred at Vienna Central Cemetery.

Filmography

Film

Television

Decorations and awards