By Ken Hall

Robert Clary is best known as the French prisoner of war "Lebeau" from TV's "Hogan's Heroes." He's also been in several daytime soap operas, including "The Young & The Restless," "Days of Our Lives" and "The Bold and the Beautiful."

But acting wasn't Clary's first ambition. It wasn't even his second ambition! The French-born performer was an accomplished singer long before his television career took off. And artistry is a passion that has been with him since childhood.

"If I wasn't singing or dancing, then I was drawing," Clary said from his home in Los Angeles. "We lived right there in Paris, in the middle of everything, so I could draw the Eiffel Tower or the cathedral of Notre Dame or maybe just a common object. It almost didn't matter. I just loved to draw."

His parents actively encouraged these pursuits, and why not? As the youngest of 14 children, young Robert was indulged and pampered. At age 14, he was enrolled at an art school in Paris, where he remembers learning how to make posters.

His idyllic world came to an abrupt end, though, in 1942, when Clary and twelve members of his immediate family were deported by the Nazis. He spent three years in several concentration camps and was the only one of the twelve to survive. Little did he know at the time that he'd gain fame later in life playing a prisoner of war in a Nazi stalag.

Clary took solace from the fact that some of his siblings hadn't been deported and did survive the war. Still, it was a trying time in his life, but it didn't dampen his desire to sing and perform. While entertaining at a Paris dance hall in 1947, he was discovered by Harry Bluestone. A recording contract soon followed.

With his singing career off and running, artistry was something that Clary did only in stolen moments, more as a hobby or something to do to pass the time. It wasn't until "Hogan's Heroes" ended its successful six-year run, in 1971, that he decided to resume painting in earnest.

"I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands," he recalled, "and I painted a few things that I showed to my good friend Kaye Ballard. She told me, 'That's very good! You must keep painting!' And that encouraged me to continue."

Along the way, someone introduced Clary to Prismacolor pencils, which are artist-quality, waxed-based pencils. These are perfect for smoothly blending colors while still applying to paper with consistent, vivid, even or pastel tones. For Clary's purposes, they were ideal.

"I'm a photo-realist," he said. "I work from the photographs I take. Early on I took chances and would draw what looked like a scribble just to get a work started. That's not true now, though. In the end it all comes together as a mosaic, and the Prismacolor pencils are the perfect medium for my art."

Of the 206 works he's done since 1971, all but a few have been Prismacolor pencil on a half-inch-thick illustrating board. "I prefer cold press board," Clary pointed out. "Hot press is just too slick." He added when people view the finished product, they often ask what medium he works in. "It certainly doesn't look like pencil," he said. "Some mistake it for a watercolor or some other medium."

As for subject matter, Clary is a compulsive shutterbug, so whatever came off the latest roll of 27 from his German-made Rollei 35mm camera is liable to be made into the next work of art. "Out of a roll of pictures, there may be two or three shots there that strike my fancy," he said.

Clary said he likes seascapes and street scenes, "but I always try to make sure a person or two is in there. With people in your work, it's just so much more interesting." He pointed out he almost never takes pictures in or around his home in Los Angeles, but once he hits the road almost anything is fair game. He added he likes to paint every day, usually 1-4 hours per day.

"I'm working on a piece now that's a scene from an apartment window in Paris," he said. "It's the same window I've taken pictures from before, but with each new shot there's something different. New people, a different time of year, the weather -- like all of life, art is constantly changing, even when it's still."

Clary has had his work shown, at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, and at an art gallery in Carmel, Calif. He paints for pleasure, but some of his works have been sold to individuals, including other celebrities: Burt Reynolds, Bernie Kopell and Merv Griffin, to name a few.

It was Griffin, in fact, who introduced Clary to Eddie Cantor's daughter, Natalie, whom Clary would marry some time later.

In the early '50s, Clary toured while under contract to Capitol Records. He got a break when Cantor gave him exposure on his "Colgate Comedy Hour" television show. He also booked the young singer into New York's La Vie En Rose nightclub. From that, Clary was cast in the Broadway musical, "New Faces of 1952."

Clary is known for songs such as "Lucky Pierre," "I'm In Love With Miss Logan," "Hollywood Bowl" and "Johnny Get Your Girl." He performed in musicals such as"Irma la Douce," "Cabaret," "Sugar" and "Seventh Heaven."

From stage musicals he was able to transition to acting parts in movies such as "A New Kind of Love" (with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward) and "The Hindenburg" (with George C. Scott).

Fans of Robert Clary may visit the star online at www.robertclary.com.

Robert Clary is best know as the French prisoner of war "Lebeau" from TV's Hogan's Heroes. Artistry is a passion that has been with him since childhood.