Lured by Karl May novels which embellished American adventures, Eric Braeden felt the urge to cross the pond to see the country for himself in 1959. He found work cutting cadavers in a Galveston, Texas lab and even became a rancher in Montana. Eventually, he tried acting, where, against his better judgment, he often depicted Nazi soldiers in war dramas that included "Combat!" and "12 O'Clock High." "Hollywood obviously did a lot perpetuating that ... very stereotypical image, in some measure justified. I hated it," Braeden said to Fox News. "After a while I loathed it, but it was a way to start in the business," 

In 1966, he landed a huge role as German Capt. Hans Dietrich, who, for two seasons, battled a scrappy North Africa-based Allied squad in "The Rat Patrol." But he also fought producers who thought his portrayal was too compassionate — they wanted a more bloodthirsty version with an eye patch and a limp. "I said, 'Tell them to go f*** themselves, I won't do that," Braeden explained on the "Archive of American Television" podcast. Braeden won his dispute, later explaining the show missed the point. Most Germans conscripted into the war were initially seduced by Hitler's rebuilding of the country, which put food on their tables during the '30s. "That is why in Hollywood films where they show nothing but these caricature Nazis, they have contributed nothing to the understanding of that phenomenon," he added.

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