The Tragic On-Set Death That Shocked ’80s TV Fans
Anyone at all familiar with the all too short career of Jon-Erik Hexum knows that this story does not have a happy ending. Still, there is reason to hang on until the end of this article, because the truth about his final act may not be exactly what you think it is. But before getting to all that, we’ll spend a couple of minutes talking about Jon-Erik and why he was such a special actor.
First, we have to talk about Jon-Erik’s first starring role on television. In 1982, he was cast as the time-traveling Phineas Bogg in a really great show called Voyagers! Jon-Erik was great, as was his young co-star, Meeno Peluce. The plot was fairly simple: Bogg is part of a society of time travelers called Voyagers. With the help of a young boy from the present day, he uses a handheld device that looks something like a pocket watch, called an Omni, to travel throughout time and ensure that history unfolds as we know it.
The show was just fun. It had great stories and even greater chemistry between Jon-Erik and Peluce. And Jon-Erik, no doubt about it, he had star power. You could see it in his portrayal of Bogg. This was someone who was going to be big, really big.
It seemed like Voyagers! was going to be one of those shows that could run for at least a handful of seasons. Unfortunately, NBC, decided to schedule it against the ratings juggernaut, 60 Minutes. They call it “counter-programming,” and I guess at times it makes sense, since young people wouldn’t want to watch 60 Minutes, they’d want to watch something else a little bit more exciting.
While that is true, when you play the counter-programming game, extreme patience is required to allow a show to build an audience. Unfortunately for the fans of Voyagers!, despite the presence of a time-traveling stopwatch, time turned out to be in short supply for the show, and it was canceled after just one delightful season.
Jon-Erik would rebound, starring in the TV movie The Making of a Male Model with Joan Collins. Of course, this was during the time when Dynasty was on the air and Collins was hot, hot, hot.
© ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection
At the time, People ran an article that intimated that Jon-Erik and Collins might be more than just an on-screen couple. The article also revealed how he had gotten his big break into Hollywood: according to the article, he had been a free-lance housecleaner, and one place he cleaned belonged to a friend of John Travolta‘s former manager. “I guess the guy saw a lot of talent in the way I cleaned Venetian blinds,” Hexum joked.
After that, Jon-Erik caught the eye of casting directors for a new show that would premiere on CBS called Cover Up where Jon-Erik and his co-star, Jennifer O’Neill, starred as government agents who used the guise of a male model and a photographer. Ratings were good at the start, and things looked like they were going Jon-Erik’s way.
Then came that fateful day in October 1984. According to the British newspaper The Sun, Jon-Erik was on the set of Cover Up. He was fidgeting with a prop — a gun with blanks in it. Jon-Erik was becoming increasingly frustrated with the delays involved with filming the scene, and he began playing with the gun, spinning the barrel like a game of Russian roulette.
In what has been described as a tragic accident, the actor playfully spun the barrel, which still had one blank inside, placed the gun to the temple of his head, and pulled the trigger. The gun discharged a wad of paper, which shattered his skull, forcing a bone fragment the size of a small coin into the center of his brain. Six days later, at age 26, Jon-Erik Hexum was declared brain dead.
By the way, this tragic accident is not Jon-Erik’s final act. The truth about his final act, a truly noble act, is what occurred afterward.
Here’s the real truth, and what happened next is a testament to Jon-Erik’s kind and thoughtful spirit. A few years prior to the accident, Jon-Erik made the decision to be an organ donor. He had witnessed a friend’s cousin receive a donated liver that saved her young life, and he decided then and there that if ever anything tragic were to happen to him, he would want to do some good on the way out.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Jon-Erik’s heart was transplanted into the chest of Michael Washington. Washington was a former Navy SEAL who, during his tour of duty, was wounded in action, not once, but twice, and received the Bronze Star for Valor. Prior to the transplant, Washington had been given six months to live.
Aside from Washington, one of Jon-Erik’s kidneys saved the life of a five-year-old boy, while his skin was grafted onto a three-year-old child who had suffered horrific burns. Both of the 26-year-old’s eyes were donated: one went to a 66-year-old man, while the other was given to a young girl.
Beyond the recipients of Jon-Erik’s gifts of life, he also brought joy to the countless other family members and friends who worried, hoped, and prayed for a miracle.
While it truly was a sad end to a promising career, for sure; thanks to the thoughtful generosity of Jon-Erik Hexum, this story ends on a positive note. Lives were saved and made better because Jon-Erik had the foresight to think about others in the midst of what had to be a whirlwind ride of fame and fortune. And that, my friends, is the truth about Jon-Erik Hexum’s final heroic act.
Puzzler '80s Comedy Classics
Vol 1, Issue 6
This issue is packed with puzzles and trivia from all your favorite '80s sitcoms.
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