Remembering 2025’s Losses: Kenneth Washington

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Howdy! Did you think I’d forgotten y’all? No, I’ve just been sleeping a lot. As I mentioned yesterday, the smart watch has been complaining that I didn’t get enough sleep…so I made up for it today. I had to get up early this morning to call the VA and cancel an appointment. I’ll probably cancel next week’s appointment, too, because it’s ear, nose, and throat, and I don’t want a doctor sticking his fingers in my post-covid nose. Meanwhile, here’s another person who passed away last year…and one that’ll make you wonder if I’m delirious. Kenneth Washington WHO???? Yeah, I know. For me, though Kenneth Washington’s death was a sad occasion: it closed the books of cast members of one of my favorite TV series, Hogan’s Heroes. Washington replaced Ivan Dixon as the radio specialist sergeant in the sixth and final season of the program. Like all good shows back then, no explanation (like nothing about why the second Darrin Stephens was different from the first ), just on with the show. Dixon left after five years (I’ll bet he never thought the show would last that long when he signed up for it! “Hey, here’s a sitcom about an espionage unit masquerading as POWs in Germany! Want a role in it?” ) to work as a director, and he said the acting job wasn’t too challenging (save for that one episode in the first season where he played two roles). Washington replaced him in the same position; however, unlike the thing on Bewitched that has become the subject of countless jokes, NOT as the same character. The funny thing is that many of the obituaries dealing with Washington pointed more to his guest-starring role in an episode of the third season of Star Trek. That’s the popularity of that franchise for you! Washington also played on Adam-12 and did several not-great films (one of which, Escape From DS-3, I’ve actually seen because Jackson Bostwick was in it!). I guess he had a good life, doing what he loved without the “insanity” of stardom that accompanied the “big names.” If you’re wondering (and I know you aren’t ), the first Hogan’s Heroes cast member to die was John Banner (Sgt. Schultz), who died of a stomach aneurysm on his 63rd birthday in 1973. Fifty two years later, the entire cast has now passed away, leaving memories of a good TV series. Kenneth Washington Born October 19, 1936, Ethel, Mississippi Died July 18, 2025, Beverly Hills, California (natural causes) (age 88) A quick clip of Washington’s character, Sgt. Baker, giving parenting advice to LeBeau: