Robert Cleary Obituary, Death – Actor Robert Clary died on November 16 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. He is best known for playing Corporal Louis LeBeau on “Hogan’s Heroes,” but he has also appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless. Clary joined B&B in 1990 and was instrumental in the show’s most recent romance. Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) has returned home following the birth of Eric Forrester’s (John McCook) child. The owner of Pierre Cafe, Pierre Jourdan (Clary), befriended her there. Brooke informed Pierre about the termination of her pregnancy. Pierre searched Brooke’s room and found Donna Logan’s phone number in California.
When Pierre called Donna, she informed Eric of Brooke’s location. He arrived in Paris before Brooke’s operation. Eric was overjoyed and relocated Pierre to Beverly Hills, where he established his own restaurant. Clary was the youngest of 14 children born to Robert Max Widerman on March 1, 1926 in Paris. He began singing and performing when he was 12 years old. At the age of 16, he was sent to Ottmuth, then to Buchenwald, while 12 members of his family were sent to Auschwitz. Clary was imprisoned for 31 months and forced to work in a factory producing 4,000 wooden shoe heels per day. His left arm was tattooed with an identification number. Clary was his family’s sole World War II survivor.
He returned to France in 1945 and began singing in dance halls. Clary went on to work for Capitol Records in Los Angeles. He appeared on a CBS variety show hosted by vaudevillian Ed Wynn in 1950. He then starred in the films Ten Tall Men and The Thief of Damascus. Clary met Eddie Cantor, a comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, and writer, when he was cast in the Broadway musical revue “New Faces” in 1952. He also appeared in the musical “Seventh Heaven” alongside Gloria DeHaven (Bess Shelby, Ryan’s Hope), Ricardo Montalban (Fantasy Island), and Bea Arthur (Maude, Golden Girls).
Clary was a founding member of The Young and the Restless, having appeared in the first episode. His character, Pierre Roulland, owned Pierre’s, a Genoa City restaurant where Sally McGuire (Lee Crawford) worked as a waitress. In order to name and father Snapper Foster’s son, Pierre took the initiative and married Sally (David Hasselhoff). Unfortunately, Pierre died before the birth of Sally’s son Chuckie. Clary appeared on DAYS in 1972 as singer Robert LeClair and performed at Doug’s Place alongside Doug Williams (Bill Hayes). Hope’s nanny, Rebecca North (Brooke Bundy), becomes pregnant with Doug’s son “Dougie,” whom Robert adopts.
In 1986, Clary invited Robert back to Blondie’s, where he met his brother Eli Jacobs (S. Marc Jordan), Robin Jacobs’ father (Derya Ruggles). Clary didn’t leave GH off his resume; he played “French Man” on the ABC soap opera in 1985. Clary, in addition to his acting career, worked with the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. He lectured at colleges and universities across the country for more than two decades. Clary’s wife, Natalie Cantor, Eddie Cantor’s daughter, predeceased him. In 1997, she passed away. “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary,” Clary’s autobiography, was published in 2007.
