A drummer from age 11, Crane began his career as a radio personality, first in New York City and then Connecticut before moving to Los Angeles, where he hosted the number-one rated morning show. In the early 1960s, he moved into acting, eventually landing the lead role of Colonel Robert Hogan in Hogan\'s Heroes. The series aired from 1965 to 1971, and Crane received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on the series.\n', 'After Hogan\'s Heroes ended, Crane\'s career declined. He became frustrated with the few roles he was being offered and began performing in dinner theater. In 1975, he returned to television in the NBC series The Bob Crane Show. The series received poor ratings and was cancelled after 13 weeks. Afterward, Crane returned to performing in dinner theaters and also appeared in occasional guest spots on television.\n', '

While on tour in June 1978 for a dinner theater production, Beginner\'s Luck, Crane was found bludgeoned to death in his Scottsdale apartment, the victim of a homicide. The murder remains officially unsolved. Due to the suspicious nature of his death and posthumous revelations about his personal life, Crane\'s image changed from a cultural icon to a controversial figure.\n', '

Crane was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and spent his childhood and teenage years in Stamford. He began playing drums, and by junior high was organizing local drum and bugle parades with his neighborhood friends. He later joined his high school\'s marching and jazz bands and the orchestra. He played for the Connecticut and Norwalk Symphony Orchestras as part of their youth orchestra program. He graduated from Stamford High School in 1946. In 1948, Crane enlisted for two years in the Connecticut Army National Guard and was honorably discharged in 1950.\n', '

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