Kenneth Washington, the actor best known for his role in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes and a guest appearance on Star Trek, has died at the age of 89. His death was announced last week.
Washington joined the cast of Hogan's Heroes in its sixth and final season, playing Sergeant Richard Baker, a radio operator. He replaced Ivan Dixon, who had played Sergeant James Kinchloe for the first five seasons. The show, set in a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, ran from 1965 to 1971 and earned several Emmy awards.
Prior to Hogan's Heroes, Washington appeared in the third-season Star Trek episode “That Which Survives” (1969) as engineer John B. Watkins. In the episode, his character is killed while investigating an abandoned planet. He also had film roles in Westworld (1973) and Changes (1969).
After his acting career, Washington earned a degree from Loyola Marymount University and later became an instructor there, teaching a course on Black actors in film. He also taught oral interpretation and speech at Southwest College. He is survived by his wife Alice Marshall, three children, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, as well as two siblings.
Washington was the last surviving main cast member of Hogan's Heroes. Tributes have been paid on social media, with one fan writing: “May Kenneth Washington's memory be a blessing. The last of the Hogan’s Heroes actors.”
