Entertainment
‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ Star Howard Hesseman Dies at 81
The actor Howard Hesseman, who played radio disc jockey Johnny Fever on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” and Charlie Moore on “Head of the Class,” has died. Hesseman was 81.
Hessman died from complications following colon surgery in Los Angeles on Saturday, his manager Robbie Kass announced on Sunday.
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An overview of Howard Hesseman’s career
Hesseman, who had himself been a radio DJ in the 1960s, earned two Emmy nominations for his role as Johnny Fever on CBS’ “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which ran from 1978 to 1982. At a time when few hippie characters appeared on network television, Hesseman became a counterculture icon.
“I think Johnny smokes a little marijuana, drinks beer, wine, and maybe a little hard liquor,” Hesseman told The New York Times in 1979 as he prepared for one of three “Saturday Night Live” hosting jobs. He might take a diet pill after a hard morning at the station, but he’s also a moderate user of soft drugs, such as marijuana.”
In 1963, Howard Hesseman was jailed for selling marijuana in San Francisco.
Hesseman played a hippie in one of his first roles, on “Dragnet,” in 1967, and in the 1968 Richard Lester film “Petulia.” Born in Lebanon, Oregon, he wasn’t so disconnected from some of the characters he played. He told People magazine in 1983 that he had conducted “pharmaceutical experiments in recreational chemistry.” He was jailed in San Francisco in 1963 for selling marijuana.
As a member of the San Francisco improv group The Committee, Hesseman moonlighted on Saturdays as a disk jockey for the rock-and-roll station KMPX. His on-air banter on “WKRP in Cincinnati” was often ad-libbed by Hesseman.
It is impossible to overstate Howard Hesseman’s influence on his and subsequent generations of improvisers, said actor and comedian Michael McKean on Twitter. In 1971, McKean saw Hesseman perform with The Committee for the first time. “I knew then that he was the real deal.”
