Hogan's Heroes Star Bob Crane 'Loved Women' And It Didn't Bode Well For His Marriages

The personal life of "Hogan's Heroes" star Bob Crane was far more scandalous than fans realized when the show aired, as he was involved in many extramarital relationships and much more before his murder in 1978. The shady truth of the sitcom star was that he was not only a womanizer, but he also had an obsession of sorts with the female figure. Bob was a celeb who took huge secrets to the grave, and many of those were revealed by his son Robert Crane in his 2015 book, "Crane: Sex, Celebrity and My Father's Unsolved Murder." 

The sitcom actor married Anne Terzian, his high school sweetheart, and then later married his "Hogan's Heroes" co-star Patricia Olson (whose stage name was Sigrid Valdis), but that did not stop him from playing the field. "The other side of him is I don't know whether or not he should have been married, even though he was married twice," Robert wrote in his book (via Closer Weekly). "But the thing is, fidelity was not a big word in my dad's vocabulary. He just loved women," the journalist added. Bob's philandering went well beyond cheating on his wives, as he also had a predilection for recording his encounters.

Appearing on Fox News in January 2018, Robert spoke about his father's cheating ways — the "Hogan's Heroes" star divorced Robert's mom in 1970 to marry Olson, with whom he had been having an affair. During both marriages, Bob would see other women, often photographing them and even making home sex videos. "It wasn't a secret at all ... Everybody knew that was his dark room," his son said. "I saw my dad taping women on the road when he wasn't doing 'Hogan's,'" he added. It was rumored that Bob's salacious lifestyle led to his murder.

Bob Crane may be best-known for his work on "Hogan's Heroes," but he is also remembered as one of the tragically murdered celebs. The actor was found killed in June 1978, and at the time, authorities suspected his good friend, John Carpenter. Prior to his death, the friends had gone on the road together, where Bob would look to meet women for intimate encounters. There was a series of audio recordings that the sitcom star and his friend made, and in them, Bob discussed how going to bed with a woman could lead to issues. "I think all single people should have a card verified by the pope that they're single, so you don't wake up someday and find a gun to your head because you didn't hear footsteps," he joked on a tape, per the Phoenix New Times.

Following Bob's death, authorities did not have enough evidence to charge Carpenter, but in June 1992, they were able to arrest him using advancements in forensic evidence. "I played around a lot, balled a lot of women, and I've made mistakes. ... But I never even had a fight with Bob, goddammit," Carpenter told the Phoenix New Times in April 1993 as he awaited trial. Carpenter was later acquitted of the charges in 1994 and died in 1998.

Despite the trial verdict, Bob's son Robert Crane believed that his father's friend was guilty of the murder. "I think percentage wise probably about 80 percent that John Carpenter did it," Robert told Radar in November 2016. Robert also shared an alternative theory if it was not Carpenter who killed his dad. "But the 20 percent open could still be maybe a jealous boyfriend or husband of the woman my dad may have been involved with," he added.