Howard Caine

Howard Caine was born on January 2, 1926, in Nashville, Tennessee, into a Jewish family. At the age of 13, Cohen moved with his family to New York City, where he began studying acting. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, from 1944 to 1946, fighting the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, Caine studied drama at Columbia University, where he graduated summa cum laude. Caine appeared on Broadway in Wonderful Town, Inherit the Wind, Lunatics and Lovers, and Tiger at the Gates. He succeeded Ray Walston as "Mr. Applegate" in the original production of Damn Yankees. He was featured in such films as From the Terrace (1960), Pay or Die (1960), as the husband of the character portrayed by Judy Garland in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Brushfire (1962), The Man from the Diner's Club (1963), Pressure Point (1962), and Alvarez Kelly (1966). He co-starred with Godfrey Cambridge and Estelle Parsons in Watermelon Man (1970). Caine appeared in more than 750 live and filmed television programs, including the western series The Californians, Two Faces West, and The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters but is best remembered for his recurring role (37 episodes) as Major Wolfgang Hochstetter on the popular 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971). Prior to that he appeared on that show in two other roles, in the season one episode "Happy Birthday, Adolf" and the season two episode "The Battle of Stalag 13".

From his early childhood in Tennessee, Caine had always been fascinated with the Appalachian five-string bluegrass banjo and began mastering it in the mid-1960s. From the summer of 1970 until his death in 1993, he took trophies at 29 prominent banjo and fiddle contests in the southland for both Best Traditional Banjo and Traditional Singing. He was also a popular folk singer and appeared at a number of prominent folk clubs and folk festivals.