Kenneth Washington, widely applauded for his starring role on CBS’s classic 1960s sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, has died. He was 89.
Born on October 19, 1935, the actor who would go on to play radio expert Sgt. Baker replacing Ivan Dixon and his character Kinch in Hogan’s Heroes for the final season, first entered the entertainment industry in the mid-1950s.
Variety reports Washington became a familiar guest star on TV series in the 1960s, with appearances that included roles in Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons, The Name of the Game, Petticoat Junction, Marcus Welby, M.D., Adam-12 and Dragnet 1967.
Cast members gaze into the distance as they watch a remote bomb detonation on an episode of the television comedy series ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ on November 7, 1969. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, and has been broadcast in reruns ever since. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
He landed his Hogan’s Heroes role as Sergeant Baker in 1970 only for the show to be canceled the following year by CBS. Airing from 1965 until 1971, Hogan’s Heroes ran for 168 episodes across six seasons.
The Variety report notes the depth and spread of Washington’s interests:
Born in Ethel, Miss., Washington and his family moved to California, where he was raised in the Bay Area in Redwood City and San Francisco. After earning his first screen test, he relocated to Los Angeles to begin his acting career. Among Washington’s other credits were the TV movies “J. Edgar Hoover,” “Money on the Side” and “Our Family Business.”
Following his acting career, he returned to school and earned his college degree from Loyola Marymount University. He became an instructor at the same university, teaching a course that focused on Black actors in film. From there, he taught classes in oral interpretation and speech at Southwest College.
Washington married Alice Marshall, the former editor-in-chief at Wave Newspapers in South Los Angeles and film reviews editor at Variety, in 2001.
Variety reports he is survived by his wife; brother Johnnie; sister Aaliyah Akbar; three children, Kim Lee, Kenneth Jr. and Quianna Stokes-Washington; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Since the death of Robert Clary in November 2022, Washington had been the last surviving principal cast member of Hogan’s Heroes, along with Nita Talbot.
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