Howard Hesseman, Dr. Johnny Fever on ‘WKRP in Cincinnati,’ dead at 81

Howard Hesseman, who played off-the-wall disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on the 1970s sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died Saturday. He was 81.

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Hesseman died in Los Angeles of complications from colon surgery had last summer, his wife, actress and acting teacher Caroline Ducrocq, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hesseman’s death was confirmed to Variety by his longtime representative Robbie Kass.

“Howard was a groundbreaking talent and lifelong friend whose kindness and generosity was equaled by his influence and admiration to generations of actors and improvisational comedy throughout the world,” Kass told the website.

Hesseman, who had been a disc jockey during the 1960s, earned two Emmy nominations for playing Dr. Johnny Fever on “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which ran on CBS from 1978 to 1982, The Associated Press reported.

“I think maybe Johnny smokes a little marijuana, drinks beer and wine, and maybe a little hard liquor,” Hesseman told The New York Times in 1979. “And on one of those hard mornings at the station, he might take what for many years was referred to as a diet pill. But be is a moderate user of soft drugs, specifically marijuana.”

Hesseman also was known for his role as unemployed actor-turned-history teacher Charlie Moore on the ABC comedy, “Head of the Class,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Hesseman also played hippies in “Petulia” (1968) and on “Dragnet” (he was billed as Don Sturdy, his DJ name, for that episode); a patient suffering from writer’s block on “The Bob Newhart Show”; a psychiatrist on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”; a pimp opposite Dan Aykroyd in “Doctor Detroit” (1983); and a shock rocker in “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984).

Hesseman was born in Lebanon, Oregon, on Feb. 27, 1940. In 1965 he joined the improvisational comedy group The Committee in San Francisco and performed for a decade, Variety reported. He then had small roles in “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Dragnet 1967,” “Soap” and “Sanford and Son.”

Hesseman received Emmy nominations in 1980 and 1981 for his work on “WKRP in Cincinnati,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Jay Sandrich, who directed the pilot episode of “WKRP,” suggested Hesseman would be great for the Johnny Fever character. Hesseman and Sandrich had worked together on “Soap,” the website reported.

“Howard had at one time been a DJ,” Sandrich said in a 2001 interview for the website The Interviews: An Oral History of Television. “He just stepped in and killed it. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

Hesseman also had a role in the ninth and final season of “One Day at a Time.”

He also appeared in movies like “Shampoo” (1975), “The Sunshine Boys” (1975), “Silent Movie” (1976), “The Big Bus” (1976) and “The Other Side of Midnight” (1977), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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Howard Hesseman dies: Howard Hesseman played eccentric DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on "WKRP in Cincinnati." ( CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)

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