The Story of Jon-Erik Hexum

I love Jerry Bruckheimer's tweets. There are just two topics:

Bruckheimer's 2013 mega-production The Lone Ranger
the LA Kings hockey team (e.g. "GO @LAKings GO!")

Recently, an item from category #1 brought an unexpected conversation into my home, the kind of conversation I love because it introduces me to forgotten culture and makes me go, "Damn!" Here's the tweet:



Of course, that's Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer as Tonto and The Lone Ranger in the forthcoming film. The picture sparked some controversy as to whether Depp is part-Native American, as he claims, but never mind that -- as soon as my wife saw it, she said:

"That guy looks like Jon-Erik Hexum!"

I had never heard of Jon-Erik Hexum, but here he is:



He was the star of a 1982-3 television series called Voyagers! that had basically the same plot as Quantum Leap, except instead of just a guy traveling through time, it was a guy (Hexum playing someone named -- no joke -- "Phineas Bogg") and a kid. Here are the credits:



You look at Hexum in that video, and in pictures like this --



-- and you wonder what happened to him. The guy doesn't just look like Armie Hammer. He looks like Ryan Phillippe. Arnold Schwarzenegger. A big star. Apparently someone said about him:

"If that boy has a single thought in his head, then there is no God."

(Curiously, "someone" is the only credited source for this quote.)

Well, here's what happened to Hexum, excerpted from Findadeath - Celebrity Deaths:

"On the morning of Friday October 12th, 1984, Jon left his home in Burbank, to report to work. Jon was making a show called Cover Up, being filmed at Twentieth Century Fox in Century City. He wasn't earning the big bucks yet.

He arrived on the Fox lot. During the day, he was inevitably to film a scene lying in bed - probably shirtless, on Stage 18. He was playing around with a .44 Magnum prop gun, as you do. At around 5:15 p.m. he put the pistol (according to witnesses, it was loaded with three empty cartridges and two blanks) up to his right temple. Just before he pulled the trigger he smiled, and said, "Let's see if I got myself with this one." He was apparently unaware that at close range, a blank can cause great damage. And damage it was. The explosion drove a quarter-sized piece of his skull far into his brain. Turns out that the blank was packed with paper inside, and it went straight into his temple and made a bone chip lodge in his brain. Killed by paper.

A witness account: "John smiled and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang and a bright flash, then black smoke. Jon screamed in agony, then looked kind of amazed as he slumped back onto the bed with blood streaming from a severe head wound. It was horrible." [more]

Crazy. Unbelievable. Among the most ridiculous deaths in entertainment, with Clifford Brown and Paul Stojanovich. But at least Hexum isn't forgotten. He has a Fan Club & Archive that plays the theme from Voyagers! when you visit.

And what about that kid who starred with him? His name is Meeno Peluce. He's alive and well. A photographer now, in Los Angeles. Follow him @meenophoto.


Links

Thanks to Figment for posting my picks of some of their best writing:



Thanks to reader Laura Kraft for sending me this kitten video. I have been trying to find this show Too Cute! Kittens on Animal Planet for me and my wife to watch and this will tide us over: "Le Petite Kitten".

I got a message from Sam Mistry of St. Paul, MN this month that was pretty amazing. Sam wrote an essay about how It's Kind of a Funny Story changed his life and won first place in the MN Charter School Essay Contest. Congratulations Sam!



Sam got lots of press for his accomplishment. Here goes:

"Books still change lives, students say - TwinCities.com"
"Ruben Rosario: Legislators, this is what real courage looks like - TwinCities.com"
"Young Minn. writers honored at state capitol | kare11.com"



Until next month. Thanks for reading!