Jon Cedar
Encyclopedia
Jon Cedar was an American
character actor
, screenwriter
and producer. Cedar's best known roles included Corporal Karl Langenscheidt on the CBS
television series, Hogan's Heroes
, which aired from 1965 to 1971. He appeared in more than sixty television and film roles during his career.
Cedar began his acting career in high school
theater productions at Detroit High School. He enlisted in the U.S. military and served in Italy
during the Korean War
. Cedar moved to Hollywood after leaving the military. Cedar toured the United States
with his family, appearing in traveling musical
s and touring off-Broadway
productions. His stage credits during this time included the national tours of South Pacific
, Irma La Douce
and The Deputy
. He also joined the theater troupe, the Players Ring, based in Hollywood, with his brother, George Cedar.
Cedar had a recurring role as Corporal Karl Langenscheidt on the television series, Hogan's Heroes
from 1965 to 1971. His other television roles included Matlock
, Barnaby Jones
, Kojak
, Ben Casey
, The Greatest American Hero
, Moonlighting
, The Rockford Files
and Murder, She Wrote
. His last television appearance was in an episode of The Inside
in 2005.
Cedar produced
, wrote
and co-starred in the 1978 horror film
, The Manitou
, which starred Tony Curtis
. His additional film credits included Foxy Brown in 1974, Capricorn One
in 1978, and the disaster film
, The Concorde ... Airport '79. His last film role was in the 1997 film, Murder in Mind.
He and his late wife, Barbara Cedar, owned and operated a script
typing company, Barbara's Place, during the 1970s and 1980s.
Jon Cedar died of leukemia
at Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles
on April 14, 2011, at the age of 80. He was predeceased by his late wife, Barbara. Cedar was survived by his daughter, actress Loren Thompson; son, producer Michael Cedar; partner, Elynore Leigh; and brother, actor George Cedar. His memorial service was held at the Groman Eden Mortuary in Mission Hills, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and producer. Cedar's best known roles included Corporal Karl Langenscheidt on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television series, Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
, which aired from 1965 to 1971. He appeared in more than sixty television and film roles during his career.
Cedar began his acting career in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
theater productions at Detroit High School. He enlisted in the U.S. military and served in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Cedar moved to Hollywood after leaving the military. Cedar toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with his family, appearing in traveling musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s and touring off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
productions. His stage credits during this time included the national tours of South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, Irma La Douce
Irma La Douce (musical)
Irma La Douce is a musical with music by Marguerite Monnot and French lyrics and book by Alexandre Breffort. The English lyrics and book are by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman. It was first produced in Paris in 1956.-Productions:...
and The Deputy
The Deputy
The Deputy, a Christian tragedy , also known as The Representative, is a controversial 1963 play by Rolf Hochhuth which indicts Pope Pius XII for his failure to take action or speak out against The Holocaust. It has been translated into more than twenty languages...
. He also joined the theater troupe, the Players Ring, based in Hollywood, with his brother, George Cedar.
Cedar had a recurring role as Corporal Karl Langenscheidt on the television series, Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
from 1965 to 1971. His other television roles included Matlock
Matlock (TV series)
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...
, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, Kojak
Kojak
Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier...
, Ben Casey
Ben Casey
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...
, The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
, Moonlighting
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...
, The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
and Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
. His last television appearance was in an episode of The Inside
The Inside
The Inside is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Minear and Howard Gordon and produced by Imagine Television. The Inside follows the work of the FBI's Los Angeles Violent Crimes Unit , a division dedicated to investigating particularly dangerous crimes. The Inside initially...
in 2005.
Cedar produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, wrote
Screenwriting
Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
and co-starred in the 1978 horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, The Manitou
The Manitou
The Manitou is an American horror movie from 1978 with Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg, based on a 1975 book by Graham Masterton. The movie is based on an old legend about the Native American spirit-concept Manitou.-Plot:...
, which starred Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
. His additional film credits included Foxy Brown in 1974, Capricorn One
Capricorn One
Capricorn One is a 1977 science fiction thriller movie about a Mars landing hoax. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It stars James Brolin, Sam Waterston and O. J...
in 1978, and the disaster film
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
, The Concorde ... Airport '79. His last film role was in the 1997 film, Murder in Mind.
He and his late wife, Barbara Cedar, owned and operated a script
Script
Script may refer to:Computing* Script , a small program written for a command interpreter or another scripting language* script , a tool that records a tty session* SCRIPT/VS, a text formatting language developed at IBM...
typing company, Barbara's Place, during the 1970s and 1980s.
Jon Cedar died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
at Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on April 14, 2011, at the age of 80. He was predeceased by his late wife, Barbara. Cedar was survived by his daughter, actress Loren Thompson; son, producer Michael Cedar; partner, Elynore Leigh; and brother, actor George Cedar. His memorial service was held at the Groman Eden Mortuary in Mission Hills, California
Mission Hills, California
Mission Hills is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, a short distance north of Lompoc on Highway 1. The population was 3,576 at the 2010 census, up from 3,142 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
.