Hogan's hero dies at 72

Bob Crane (right) married Patricia Crane on the show's set.

The actress who played Colonel Klink's sexy blonde secretary Hilda on Hogan's Heroes and married the show's star, Bob Crane, has died aged 72.

Patricia Crane died on October 14, a spokeswoman for the Orange County coroner's office said. Crane's stage name was Sigrid Valdis.

Crane played Hilda for five seasons on Hogan's Heroes, the 1965-71 comedy about Allied prisoners in a World War II German PoW camp.

Hilda and Bob Crane's Colonel Hogan flirted playfully in front of the screen, but in 1970 were married for real - on the show's set.