"I Weigh Nutttttt-inggggg!" (Undt Gut F.A.R.T.)

... like Sgt. Schultz anymore!  I was watching the Hogan's Heroes marathon on cable T.V. yesterday when one of the episodes that held special meaning for me came on.  In this particular installment, Sgt. Schultz has to masquerade as Colonel Klink to persuade a subordinate to release some Allied prisoners to his custody.  Part of this ruse required that Schultz be measured by the Heroes for an officer's uniform.    I remember watching this espsode the last time just a few months before my WLS.   As they put the tape measure to Schultz's waist, they call out his measurement - "52 inches!" - and me thinking "geez, I'm even bigger than THAT" (I think I was in the "high 50s" at the time).   His neck measures 19 1/2", they annouce (again, I'm thinking, "I'm bigger than that, too!").    They ask Schultz, after measuring his waist, how big his chest and hips are, and he responds "the same".  In total disgust, I then realized that my measurements were exactly the same way (i.e. just one big column of fat, straight up and down).     Watching this episode yesterday for the first time since then was a great feeling, knowing now that I no longer have "Sgt. Schultz-size proportions".   

Congratulations Colonel Klink! If I remember he always appeared tall and slim all you need is a monocle! C'ya Bob

Congrats on the loss!

Doesn't look like Schultz was lifelong obese, though. Probably came post success from a life filled with vienershnitzel and hoffbrau:

Wow! His family were killed in concentration camps shortly after he came to the US:

After his arrival in the U.S., he worked as an emcee for a musical revue, in spite of his ignorance of the English language. He quickly picked up the language by his complete immersion in it. He was soon working as a film actor in Hollywood in 1941. But his accent and his "Nordic" looks placed him in roles playing Nazis in such films as Desperate Journey, Chetniks and They Came to Blow Up America during the war years. While he was working in the Unites States, Banner's family was murdered in the concentration camps.

 

A picture of a younger and slimmer John Banner

Very interesting, Dave ..  thanks for pulling that up and the pics ..     I wonder though about his parents ..  I assume "Banner" isn't a Jewish name ..   and assuming they didn't fit into any of  the other major "categories" marked for extermination by the Nazis (e.g. gypsies, persons with physical defects, Catholics, etc.), I wonder what in the world they did to "merit" it ..       I wonder if they might have been spies for the Allies or otherwise gave information or aid to them or something and got caught ..   

Don't know, maybe they were morbidly obese?

 WOW, Dave ..  what an epiphany for me there ..  I never thought about whether the MO would fit into that "physical defect" category!     It would be very interesting to research that issue historically and, if so, bring that fact to the public attention ..  maybe even have a memorial dedicated over there to those victims .. 

If Jews were in fact only exterminated under those conditions (I think a lot of Jews might dispute that...). But in his case, being in the US in 1941 might raise more than a little suspicion.

 (thanks, btw, Dave)    Ya know, the Banner thing brings up an interesting point, and that is he is one of those actors who probably would not have gotten the role, but for his MO ..   I think they were obviously casting for someone with a big, clumsy body type to make them the "fool" of ..   I wonder if he ever recognized that fact (probably did) and if he ever resented it ..       I know John Candy once remarked how, when someone asked him about his weight condition, he would not have enjoyed the degree of professional success he did if he were not MO  ..  He thought that he wouldn't "stand out" above other actors for consideration for the roles he played w/o it ..   He said he would always be thought of as the funny fat guy ..  Very sad, in a way ..   &:-(...     (I wonder if, e.g., Chris Farley had some of the same feelilngs)   I can't imagine what it would be like if one's professional success depended on remaining MO! 

I always wanted to nail Freulein Helga when I was a kid.