Leon Askin - Biography

Leon Askin (September 18, 1907 – June 3, 2005) was an Austrian actor best known for portraying the character "General Burkhalter" on the TV sitcom Hogan's Heroes.

Early life

Askin was born Leon Aschkenasy into a Jewish family in Vienna, the son of Malvine (Susman) and Samuel Aschkenazy.

Career

Askin emigrated to the United States in 1940 and, after the war, went to Hollywood, invariably portraying foreign characters who speak English with a strong accent. Askin appeared as the great Polish composer Rubinstein in a Disneyland anthology episode of the life of Peter Tchaikovsky . Fans of the television series Adventures of Superman recall his portrayals of an eastern European diamond smuggler in a black-and-white episode, and as a South American prime minister in a color episode. In 1961, he was prominently featured in Billy Wilder's film One, Two, Three, co-starring with James Cagney. He gained wide recognition and popularity by appearing as the stern General Albert Burkhalter in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes in the late 1960s. In 1979 he portrayed the character Mr. Hoffmire of Hoffmire’s Bakery, judging a pie contest in an episode in the third season of Three’s Company titled, “The Bake-off”. In 1982 he had a brief appearance as a Moscow Anchorman in the film Airplane II: The Sequel.

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