1. Richard Dawson

 

Dawson, of course, is best known for work in game shows, beginning as a panelist on Match Game in the 1970s. As the longtime — if not defining — host of Family Feud, Dawson planted kisses from 1976–1985. He would briefly return to the Feud from 1994–95, before the show was put to rest for a handful of years due to poor ratings. In between, the British actor delivered his most memorable film role, as he was cleverly cast as the villain in the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi chase The Running Man (1987). Of course, he played a game show host. Only, this one was deadly.

Image: The Everett Collection

2. Werner Klemperer

 

In an unlikely way, Klemperer's final television performance would be as Colonel Klink. In a 1993 episode of The Simpsons, "The Last Temptation of Homer," a guardian angel shows up to help Homer. He is the image of Colonel Klink — and Klemperer voiced the toon. However, the last time Klemperer was seen on screen came a year earlier in Law & Order. In "Star Struck," the veteran television star played one William Unger, the father of a murder suspect who is pleading insanity.

Image: NBCUniversal Television

3. John Banner

 

The Partridge Family episode titled "Who Is Max Ledbetter and Why Is He Saying All Those Terrible Things?" is a real mouthful. Banner, the former Sgt. Schultz, is Max Ledbetter himself, a washed-up quack of a TV psychic now running a bakery in financial trouble. He attempts to squeeze money from the family band. Banner died in early 1973, ten months after the episode aired.

Image: Sony Pictures Television

4. Robert Clary

 

After his days as Corporal Louis LeBeau, the French-born actor transitioned to a long career in soap operas. Clary had long stints on Days of Our Lives (on and off from 1972–87) and The Young and the Restless (1973–79). His last gig would come on The Bold and the Beautiful from 1990–91, playing Pierre Jourdan, a singing Parisian who runs a café and offers a home to Brooke Logan. He relocated to L.A. and attends a ratings-driven wedding. Clary remains one of the last surviving cast members of Hogan's Heroes, but he has not acted on screen since.

Image: CBS / BBL Distribution

5. Larry Hovis

 

Texas native Larry Hovis settled down in the Lone Star State late in life, taking a position teaching drama at Southwest Texas State University in the 1990s. That might explain his unlikely appearance in Lone Star State of Mind, a somewhat forgotten 2002 teen rom-com starring Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek). The movie filmed around Austin, Texas. Hovis pops up as a doctor who looks over Jackson's character. Hovis passed away a year later.

Image: Sony

6. Ivan Dixon

 

After playing the communications expert Kinchloe, Dixon largely worked behind the camera. He directed episodes of The Waltons, The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Magnum, P.I. and The A-Team, not to mention the seminal blaxploitation film Trouble Man, which featured an awesome Marvin Gaye soundtrack. Still, Dixon occasionally jumped into a role here and there. His final acting gig came on Father Dowling Mysteries, playing a reverend in "The Joyful Noise Mystery" in 1991. Dixon passed away in 2008.

Image: CBS Television Distribution

7. Bob Crane

 

Following his lead role as Hogan, Crane landed his own show in 1975 called, well, The Bob Crane Show. He played an insurance salesman who gives medical school a go. The sitcom lasted 15 episodes. From there, the drummer-actor popped up as a guest star on shows like Quincy M.E. and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. His final screen appearance came on The Love Boat, in the story "Family Reunion," part of the season-one voyage "Too Hot to Handle/Family Reunion/Cinderella Story" in 1978.

SEE MORE: See the cast of M*A*S*H in their first ever screen roles

 

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