Richard Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm in Gosport, Hampshire, England (November 20, 1932, died June 2, 2012). At 14, he ran away from home, joining the Merchant Marine, where he took up a short career as a boxer. At 18, he auditioned for a small theatre company called the Barry O'Brien Players, where he discovered that he liked working on the stage. Two years later, he started performing as a stand-up comedian. During this time, he started to use the stage name Richard 'Dickie' Dawson, which he later changed to his legal name.

In the 1950s, he worked on the British stage, before appearing, on "The Diana Dors Show" in 1959. Richard moved to the United States in the early 1960s. He started to appear in films, and on television shows, such as "The Longest Day", "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "The Outer Limits", "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour". and "King Rat", while also co-hosting an L.A. talk show and performing as a nightclub comedian. His appearance in "King Rat" led to an audition as the lead character in the new "Hogan Heroes" television show.

Richard was unable to sound American enough to play Colonel Hogan but was instead given the role of Corporal Peter Newkirk. He played Newkirk for the next six years, along with appearing in the films, "Munsters Go Home!" and "The Devil's Brigade", as well as trying his hand at scriptwriting. It was reported that he slept only a few hours a day while consuming vast quantities of coffee and cigarettes.

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