Howard Hesseman, the actor and comedian who starred as DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and Charlie Moore on Head of the Class, has died at the age of 81.
Hesseman’s wife Caroline Ducrocq confirmed his death to the Hollywood Reporter, adding he died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital from complications from colon cancer.
A member of the legendary San Francisco improv group the Committee and a real-life disc jockey who hit airwaves under the name Don Sturdy, Hesseman broke into acting in 1968 with a bit part on Dragnet; after spending the first half of the decade with one-off appearances on dozens of TV shows and small roles in movies, Hesseman first landed a 13-episode part on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman before scoring his breakout role, the lewd, anti-disco DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on the Seventies sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, about a struggling Top 40 radio…
