TLDR: Howard Hesseman didn’t have to research what it felt like to be a burned-out counterculture radio DJ. He’d already lived it, right down to a real jail stint, years before anyone cast him as one on television.
After graduating high school in Oregon in 1958 and spending a couple of years at the University of Oregon, Hesseman headed to San Francisco to immerse himself in the city’s emerging hippie scene.
In 1963, he was arrested and spent 90 days in San Francisco County Jail for selling an ounce of marijuana, a conviction he later said was thrown out on appeal for entrapment.
By 1967, he was working as a DJ at underground station KMPX, broadcasting under the on-air alias “Don Sturdy.”
That same period, he joined The Committee, an influential San Francisco improv troupe founded by Second City veteran Alan Myerson that regularly performed at antiwar and civil rights protests alongside future names like Peter Bonerz and Rob Reiner’s future Spinal Tap castmate Michael McKean, who later called Hesseman’s influence on generations of improvisers impossible to overstate.
Both Experiences Fed Directly Into the Role That Made Him Famous
When Hesseman played Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati starting in 1978, the world-weary, formerly-fired DJ trying to reinvent himself at a struggling station wasn’t really a stretch at all.
He told the New York Times in 1979 that network executives were nervous about the character, admitting in a later 1983 People interview that he’d personally conducted what he called “pharmaceutical experiments in recreational chemistry.”
He’d actually already made small, easy-to-miss appearances on Dragnet, The Andy Griffith Show, and even Sanford and Son before WKRP made him a household name.
He Kept Working Steadily for Decades After WKRP
Hesseman found his second major hit playing unorthodox history teacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class from 1986 to 1990, quitting after four seasons specifically to chase a movie career.
He also built a real film résumé alongside it, appearing in cult classics including This Is Spinal Tap, Clue, Flight of the Navigator, and Police Academy 2.
He crossed paths with Norman Lear’s television universe too, taking a recurring role in the final two seasons of One Day at a Time as Sam Royer, the man who marries lead character Ann Romano.
He kept guest-starring for decades afterward, including appearances on The Rockford Files, Murder, She Wrote, That ’70s Show, and Boston Legal.
He Died Following Complications From Surgery
Howard Hesseman died on January 29, 2022, at age 81. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to complications from colon surgery he’d undergone the previous summer, with his wife, actress and acting teacher Caroline Ducrocq, confirming the news.
Per one of his own trivia entries, he and Gordon Jump remained real friends off screen for years after the show ended.
You can read more about the rest of the WKRP in Cincinnati cast in our full guide to the show.
Howard Hesseman, Frequently Asked Questions
Was Howard Hesseman really arrested for marijuana?
Yes, he was arrested in 1963 and spent 90 days in San Francisco County Jail for selling marijuana, a conviction he said was later thrown out for entrapment.
What other Norman Lear show did Howard Hesseman appear on?
He had a recurring role in the final two seasons of One Day at a Time as Sam Royer, who marries lead character Ann Romano.
How did Howard Hesseman die?
He died on January 29, 2022, at age 81, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, from complications following colon surgery he’d undergone the previous summer.
What was Howard Hesseman’s other big TV role besides WKRP?
He starred as unorthodox history teacher Charlie Moore on the sitcom Head of the Class from 1986 to 1990, before quitting to pursue a movie career.
