| Birth: | Jul. 13, 1928 | | Death: | Jun. 29, 1978 | 
Actor, Hogan's Heroes cast. Born in Connecticut, Crane started out in show business as a drummer, and eventually became a disk jockey. For nine years in California, he hosted a morning drive show that was very popular. He had many famous people on this show, ranging from Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. Eventually he decided to get into acting, and landed guest roles on such shows as the Dick Van Dyke Show. He was cast in a regular role on The Donna Reed Show as Dr. David Kelsey. He left that show in 1965 to star in Hogan's Heroes on CBS, which many felt would be a failure. Instead, the show was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, and ran until 1970, when it was cancelled. After the series was cancelled, he appeared in a few Disney movies, like Gus and Superdad, and made appearances on shows including the Love Boat. He starred in The Bob Crane Show for NBC in 1975, but it was cancelled after thirteen episodes. Crane eventually began touring in dinner theater productions. It was while he was touring in the play Beginner's Luck that he was brutally murdered in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 29, 1978. He was bludgeoned to death while he slept in his hotel room. An acquaintance of Crane's, John Carpenter, was eventually arrested and tried for the murder. Carpenter was found not guilty, and he died in 1998, denying his guilt to the end. It is believed that Crane was murdered because of his habit of picking up various women, and then filming himself in different sexual acts with them. Today, almost twenty-five years later, Crane's murder remains one of Hollywood's unsolved mysteries. A film based on Crane's life, Auto Focus, was released in 2002, and starred Greg Kinnear as Crane.
Cause of death: Murdered (Crushed Skull)
Search Amazon for Bob Crane | | | Burial:
Oakwood Memorial Park
*
Chatsworth
Los Angeles County
California, USA
*Former burial location |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 1628 |
|
|
|
|
(4.4 after 434 votes)
