Klemperer’s first major film role was as a psychiatrist in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man (1956). He played a German government officer in the 1959 episode, “The Haunted U-Boat”, of the series One Step Beyond. Also in 1959, he appeared as a Frenchman in the episode “Fragile” of the Western TV series Have Gun – Will Travel. He received significant notice for his role in the award-winning 1961 film Judgment at Nuremberg. The film presents a fictionalized account of the post-World War II Nuremberg trials, with Klemperer portraying Emil Hahn, a Nazi prosecutor and one of the defendants at the trial. Prior to this, he had a small role in the 1957 Errol Flynn film Istanbul and a pivotal part in the “Comstock Conspiracy” episode of Maverick that same year. He played the title role in the 1961 film Operation Eichmann. He guest-starred in the first Brian Keith television series, Crusader, a Cold War drama that aired on CBS. During this time, he made three guest appearances on Perry Mason: he played East German murder victim Stefan Riker in the 1958 episode “The Case of the Desperate Daughter”; the East European character Ulrik Zenas in the 1963 episode “The Case of the Two-Faced Turn-a-bout”; and German Swiss Police Inspector Hurt in 1964 in “The Case of a Place Called Midnight”. In 1963, Klemperer also portrayed a professor of psychology in “The Dream Book”, an episode on the sitcom My Three Sons.
Prior to Hogan’s Heroes, Klemperer appeared in the 1956 episode ‘Safe Conduct’ of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, along with future co-star John Banner; twice appeared as Hugo on the syndicated romantic comedy series, How to Marry a Millionaire (1957–1959), with Barbara Eden and Merry Anders; and appeared on the “Purple Gang” episode of The Untouchables.
He is best known, however, as Colonel Wilhelm Klink: the bungling, cowardly, conceited, and self-serving Kommandant of Stalag 13 on Hogan’s Heroes, which was broadcast on CBS from 1965–1971. Klemperer, conscious that he would be playing the role of a German officer during the Nazi regime, accepted the part only on the condition that Klink would be portrayed as a fool who never succeeded. According to co-star, Richard Dawson, Klemperer supplied his own uniforms. When Klemperer’s father, the famous conductor Otto Klemperer, saw his first episode of Hogan’s Heroes, he said to his son, “Your work is good, but who is the author of this material?” In addition to the character’s bumblings, Klink was also remembered for his excruciatingly bad violin playing. For his performance as Klink, Klemperer received six Emmy Award nominations for best supporting actor, winning successive awards in 1968 and 1969.
Klemperer made a cameo appearance in character as Klink in the Batman episode “It’s How You Play the Game” and as Officer Bolix in the Lost in Space episode “All That Glitters” in 1966. He played a bumbling East German official in the 1968 American comedy film The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, directed by George Marshall and starring Elke Sommer and several of his costars from Hogan’s Heroes, including Bob Crane and John Banner. Klemperer later starred in Wake Me When the War Is Over in 1969, playing the role of a German major, Erich Mueller, alongside Eva Gabor. He also played a villain in an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea titled “The Blizzard Makers”.
After Hogan’s Heroes ended in 1971, Klemperer continued his career in stage and film roles and guest-starring roles on television. In 1987, he portrayed Herr Schultz in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. The role earned Klemperer a Best Featured Actor Tony Award nomination.
