‘Hogan’s Heroes’ Last Surviving Cast Member Has Died at 89: RIP Kenneth Washington

Actor Kenneth Washington, who is best known for his starring role on Hogan’s Heroes, has died. He was 89.

Washington, who was the last surviving cast member of the classic CBS sitcom, died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 18, Variety reports.

Born Oct. 19, 1935, in Ethel, Miss., Washington and his family moved to California when he was a child, and he was raised in Redwood City and San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

Washington was a familiar face on TV in the 1960s, appearing in guest roles on Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons, The Name of the Game, Petticoat Junction, Marcus Welby, M.D., Adam-12 and Dragnet 1967.

In 1970, he was cast as Sergeant Richard Baker on Hogan’s Heroes, succeeding Staff Sergeant James “Kinch” Kinchloe after actor Ivan Dixon left the series after Season 5. However, Washington would only go on to appear on one season of the show, as CBS canceled the sitcom the following year.

Washington would go on to continue his television work throughout the ’70s and ’80s, appearing in The Paul Lynde Show, The F.B.I., The Rockford Files and Police Story. He also had a role in the 1973 film Westworld, as well as in the TV movies J. Edgar Hoover, Money on the Side and Our Family Business before his retirement from show business in 1989.

After retiring from acting, Washington went back to school, earning his degree from Loyola Marymount University before going on to teach a class on Black actors in film at the same university. Washington would then go on to teach classes in oral interpretation and speech at Southwest College.

Washington is survived by his wife of more than two decades, Alice Marshall; as well as his siblings, Johnnie and Aaliyah Akbar; his three children, Kim Lee, Kenneth Jr. and Quianna Stokes-Washington; and his three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.