June 29, 1978 will live on in the mind of one man indefinitely. It remains a date burned upon his brain. In the mind of a young man who had just celebrated his 27th birthday two days before - Robert David Crane - the oldest child and oldest son of actor and radio personality, Bob Crane, this date will never leave his consciousness, and can never be forgotten. It is the date of his father's murder, the day the life of celebrated and beloved TV actor and star of Hogan's Heroes, Bob Crane, was destroyed by an awkward and ungainly man. A man dominated by envy and a desire for revenge, John Carpenter, a man who may have got away with premeditated murder. Now, this once young man wants to set the record straight about the experiences he cannot forget, the losses that shaped him, and that continue their forward moving dark energy, where "closure" becomes an alluring falsehood, a tease and the most elegant and expansive of lies. This long overdue book sets the record straight about what really happened, as Robert Crane experienced and witnessed it firsthand. Growing up the son of a famous television actor, Robert Crane, (and his family) occasionally took part in reinforcing the deceptions of the Dream Factory. With his memoir, My (UnHollywood) Family, Crane, a veteran journalist, provides an unvarnished, straightforward account of his family over the last seventy-five years that reveals greater similarities with far more of us in the post-war than any Hollywood contrivance. Andrew Erish, author of Col. William N. Selig, the Man Who Invented Hollywood This intelligently written memoir about a painful upbringing in the margins of Hollywood will touch the hearts of many a reader. Passion, glitter, and, ultimately, heartbreak, propel Crane's account of growing up in the shadow of parental absorption. Suzy Vitello, author of BITTERROOT This is the tale of the talented, extrovert we've come to know as television's "Hogan Heroes" star Bob Crane and the tangled trail of wives and children he left behind when he was brutally murdered in 1978. The author, son and the TV star, lays it all out there - from his dad's sex addiction, his deer-in-the-headlights mother and "Nazi with breasts" stepmother to the loving real estate agent stepfather who "saved" the family. An unblinking probe of family skeletons, Crane's compelling tale yet brims with love. Well, except for the stepmother. Joseph B. Atkins, author of Harry Dean Stanton: Hollywood's Zen Rebel Robert's fascinating deep dive into the challenges he faced growing up as the son of the popular but troubled TV star, Bob Crane, better known to millions as Col. Hogan in "Hogan's Heroes," is as well-written as it is truly unnerving. The book traverses the rocky shoals of Robert's familial relationships and the lifelong impact his larger-than-life father had on him, his Mother and siblings. Fortunately, he found his way through it all to become a respected interviewer and outstanding writer. It's our good fortune that Robert Crane is able to translate to much personal heartache and trauma into a work that is such an eminently accessible great read. Steve Cuden, host of the StoryBeat Podcast Robert David Crane stands emotionally naked for all the world to see in his latest book, My UnHollywood Family in which we get to meet the branches of the family tree that weren't on TV, radio, tabloid cover pages or found bludgeoned to death. As his father, Bob Crane did during his meteoric rise in the 1960s entertainment world, Robert David Crane, similarly, in his memoir-ish tone, shoots from the hip, off the cuff, no script, in a total stream of consciousness. Bob Crane made us laugh, until he didn't. Robert David Crane makes us weep, until... Closure? Read My UnHollywood Family if you really want to know where you came from, what you're made of and how you will handle the thing that is just one untimely phone call away. Joe Coyle, Writer, Actor, Producer It's clear that Bob Crane's upbringing was not your typical first generation Baby Boomer model, but then, every family has their own story. I want to know how he made it out in one piece. Crane is obviously a keen observer with a great memory. He takes on the institution of marriage and anguishes over a father who never really grew up, and parents that dared not express their true feelings. I think we all can connect with pieces of how he and his sisters waded through this minefield, but Crane interjects just the right amount of humor to make this journey entertaining. Oh, and I think the stepmom was capable of anything, including murder. John Cerney, large-scale artist Writer Robert Crane is the co-author of twelve books, including Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and my Father's Unsolved Murder, My Life as a Mankiewicz, Bruce Dern: A Memoir, SCTV: Behind the Scenes, and Beyond Where the Buses Run: Stories. Crane contributed to Playboy for over twenty years and co-wrote the Fox Television film, Hostage for a Day, directed by actor John