[1] Klaus von Hindenburg Kirchner was born during the middle of World War I in Rostock, a Baltic Sea port city of the German Empire.
In 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, serving in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II and rising through the ranks from seaman second class to lieutenant.
He gained national fame, however, as a result of his central role as the ringmaster and announcer on the popular hour-long Sunday afternoon children's program Super Circus, originating from WBKB-TV and seen on ABC from 1949 until 1956.
Most of the daily episodes opened with Kirchner's hand puppet, Clownie, breaking through a paper hoop and announcing the host as either "CK", "Skinny Bones" or "High Pockets".
Starting in September 1959, Kirchner was seen seven days a week since, in addition to continuing with Terrytoon Circus, he took on the hosting duties of a Saturday and Sunday movie series, Super Adventure Theater, which showcased theatrical films from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s that were considered to be appropriate for viewing by children and adolescents.
Also, for five and-a-half months in 1962–63, from September 22 until March 6, Kirchner took on still additional duties as a nationally-seen Saturday morning personality when NBC hired him in his familiar and continuing guise as a ringmaster for the 11:30–noon children's circus series Marx Magic Midway.
The closing item in the April 3, 1974 column by The New York Times advertising writer Philip H. Dougherty mentioned that Kirchner was "very happy with the living he's making" doing commercial voice-overs.