Jon-Erik Hexum

Jon-Erik Hexum

Infobox actor
name = Jon-Erik Hexum
bgcolour = silver



imagesize = 260px
caption =
birthname = Jon Eric Hexum
birthdate = birth date|1957|11|5
location = Tenafly, New Jersey
deathdate = death date and age|1984|10|18|1957|11|5
deathplace = Century City, California, California
notable role = Phineas Bogg in "Voyagers!"
Mac Harper in "Cover Up"

Jon-Erik Hexum (November 5, 1957October 18, 1984) was an American actor and model, best known for accidentally killing himself on the set of "Cover Up", a television series in which he was a central cast member.

Born to Norwegian immigrant parents, he was the star of the science fiction series "Voyagers!", which aired on NBC during the 1982–83 television season. He also appeared in made for television movies "The Bear" and "Making of a Male Model" co-starring Joan Collins and Roxie Rokercite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20086114,00.html|title=On and Off Camera, Joan Collins Helps in the Making of Male Model Jon-Erik Hexum|last=Wallace|first=David|date=1983-10-11|publisher="People"|accessdate=2008-08-16] , and in an episode of "Hotel", before being cast in the action series "Cover Up".

Biography

Early life and career

Hexum was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, to Gretha and Thorleif Hexum. He and his older brother, Gunnar, were raised in Tenafly by their mother after their parents divorced when Hexum was four.cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,304026,00.html|title=Jon-Erik Hexum's Fatal Joke|date=1994-10-14|publisher=ew.com|accessdate=2008-08-16] After graduating from high school, Hexum went on to the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in order to study biomedical engineering. However, he soon gave it up and switched to the Michigan State University in East Lansing. During that time, he worked as a radio disc jockey, played football, and acted in minor stage roles.cite book|last=Parish|first=James Robert |title=The Hollywood Book of Death: The Bizarre, Often Sordid, Passings of More Than 125 American Movie and TV Idols|publisher=Contemporary Books|date=2001|pages=311|isbn=0-809-22227-2]

Only a few days after graduation, he moved to New York in 1980 in order to pursue his acting career. While working cleaning venetian blinds in offices, he met Bob LeMond of LeMond/Zetter Management, the manager of John Travolta, who saw great potential in Hexum. LeMond asked him to move to Los Angeles in 1981 in order to audition for a movie called "Summer Lovers", directed by Randal Kleiser. Even though Hexum lost the part to Peter Gallagher, he was soon cast as the lead in the upcoming NBC TV show "Voyagers!"

"Voyagers!" saw two time travelers, Hexum and the young Jeffrey Jones - played by child actor Meeno Peluce - fixing history when problems arose. The stories involved figures like Spartacus, Harriet Tubman, Charles Lindbergh, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Joe Louis, and others as the pair tried to put history back on track. The program was a form of edutainment and was sponsored by Scholastic magazine. The series only lasted one season, mainly because it was shown during the same time-slot as the popular television show "60 Minutes".

During his time in L.A., Hexum worked as a nightclub door man, cab driver and carpet cleaner to pay the bills. After a promotion tour which he financed himself, Hexum was cast for the movie "Making of a Male Model" with Joan Collins in 1983. He played a ranchhand who is invited by a modeling agent (Collins) to move to New York and pursue a modeling career. The film was Hexum’s breakthrough, but it also labeled him as a hunk and sex symbol, much to his dismay. After being considered for various television projects he eventually accepted a leading role in the television show "Cover Up", where he played a former model turned weapons expert and undercover CIA agent. During the weekends, he was promoting the movie "The Bear" about college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, in which he had a short, but well reviewed, part.

Personal life

Hexum dated actresses Heather Thomas and Emma Samms. At the time of his death, he was dating actress and singer E.G. Daily. [cite web|url=http://cbs5.com/slideshows/celebrity.suicides.deaths.20.722953.html?rid=31|title=Celebrity Suicides|publisher=cbs5.com|accessdate=2008-08-16]

Death

On October 12, 1984, in between filming scenes on the set of "Cover Up", Hexum was critically wounded after he placed a .44 Magnum prop gun loaded with blanks to his temple and pulled the trigger. The accident happened during the filming of a scene where Hexum’s character (Mac Harper) was supposed to unload a handgun and replace the bullets with blanks – as the script required. However, the shooting was delayed and Hexum – being overworked and tired due to his tight filming schedule and various TV appearances – fell asleep. Hexum awoke, realizing that the scene still was not ready to be shot, and put the gun to his head. Of all the crewmembers in the studio that day, no one claims to have seen the shooting. [cite book|last=Snauffer|first=Douglas|title=The Show Must Go On - How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc|date=2008|pages=218|isbn=978-0-7864-3295-0] Hexum was apparently unaware that blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gun powder into the shell, and that this wadding is propelled out of the barrel of the gun with enough force to cause severe injury or death if the weapon is fired within a few inches of the body, especially if pointed at a particularly vulnerable spot, such as the temple or the eye. Although the paper wadding in the blank that Hexum discharged did not penetrate his skull, the wad struck him in the temple with enough blunt force trauma to shatter a quarter-sized piece of his skull and propel the pieces into his brain causing massive hemorrhaging.cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E4DF1739F937A25753C1A962948260|title=Actor Wounds Himself On Set of TV Series|date=1984-10-14|publisher="The New York Times"]

Hexum was rushed to the Beverly Hills Medical Center where he underwent five hours of surgery to repair his wounds.On October 18, six days after the accident, Hexum was declared brain dead. Hexum's mother Greta allowed his body, still connected to life support, to be flown to San Francisco for organ transplants. Hexum's heart was then implanted into a then 36-year old Las Vegas escort service owner who was awaiting a heart transplant. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9A0DE7DF1539F930A15753C1A962948260|title= Las Vegas Escort Operator Is Given Heart of TV Actor|date=1984-10-23|publisher="The New York Times"|accessdate=2008-08-16] Hexum's kidneys and corneas were also harvested and placed in organ transplant banks before his body was flown back to Los Angeles for autopsy and burial.

Hexum's death was ruled accidental. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE7D71739F93BA25753C1A962948260|title=Wounding of Actor on Coast Is Laid to Russian Roulette|date=1984-10-18|publisher="The New York Times"|accessdate=2008-08-16] Hexum's mother later received an out of court settlement from Twentieth Century Fox Television and Glenn Larson Productions, the production team behind "Cover Up".

Four weeks after Hexum's death, "Cover Up" resumed airing without Hexum's character, Mac Harper, who was killed in action. The return episode also featured a tribute to Hexum. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6D91E3AF93BA35752C1A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title= TELEVISION; When a Series Loses One of Its Own|last=Meisler |first=Andy|date=1992-11-08|publisher="The New York Times"|accessdate=2008-08-16] Actor Antony Hamilton eventually replaced Hexum, but "Cover Up" was canceled after one season.

Filmography

References

External links

*
*
* [http://jonerikhexum.net Jon-Erik Hexum-The Definitive Picture Archive]
* [http://www.voyagersguidebook.com Voyagers!: The Ultimate Picture Fansite]
* [http://pdhexum.tripod.com Jon-Erik Hexum Fan Club and Archive Website]
* [http://www.tenaflyguy.piczo.com Tenafly Guy]
*

Persondata
NAME= Hexum, Jon-Erik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Hexum, Jon Eric
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= November 5, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH= Tenafly, New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH= October 18, 1984
PLACE OF DEATH= Century City, California, California


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