The actor, who also starred on ‘Head of the Class,’ got his start as an improviser and radio DJ.
Howard Hesseman, who played the radio disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” and the actor-turned-history teacher Charlie Moore on “Head of the Class,” has died. He was 81. Hesseman died Saturday in Los Angeles due to complications from colon surgery, his manager Robbie Kass said Sunday. Hesseman, who had himself been a radio DJ in the ’60s, earned two Emmy nominations for playing Johnny Fever on CBS’ “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which ran for four seasons from 1978-1982. The role made Hesseman a counterculture icon at a time when few hippie characters made it onto network television. In the first episode, Dr. Johnny Fever announces the station’s changeover from elevator music to rock ’n’ roll with a record scratch and a proclamation. “All right Cincinnati, it’s time for this town to get down! You got Johnny, Dr. Johnny Fever, and I am burning up in here. We’re all in critical condition, babies, but you can tell me where it hurts because I got the healing prescription here from the big ’KRP musical medicine cabinet. Now, I am talking about your 50,000-watt intensive care unit, babies!” As he readied for one of three “Saturday Night Live” hosting gigs, Hesseman told The New York Times in 1979 that the character made network executives nervous. In one episode, Johnny Fever is given an on-air sobriety test after being given alcohol, only his reaction time keeps improving.
