Werner Klemperer Biography

Fast Facts

• Worked in the Army's Special Services unit during World War II, entertaining troops across the Pacific
• Became a conductor after his family emigrated from Germany to the United States
• Completely surprised his German accent in some of his earlier roles to play American characters
• Though he was Jewish himself, he played several characters with ties to Nazi Germany, only agreeing to play self-serving Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the condition that the character be presented as a fool whose plans never succeed
• While learning English, he immersed himself in the language so completely that he actually began thinking and dreaming in English instead of his native German
• Was a skilled violinist, concert pianist and baritone singer
• Worked with symphony orchestras across the United States as a narrator, with his favorite narration work being a performance of "Peter and the Wolf" at New York City's Carnegie Hall