"I worry about not being a great actor. I'd hate to die young and never have made Grapes of Wrath. Life goes by so fast...I just don't want to miss out on anything."
Jon-Erik Hexum (November 5, 1957 – October 18, 1984) was an American actor and model, best known for accidentally killing himself on the set of a television series in which he was a central cast member.
Born to Norwegian immigrant parents, he was the star of the science fiction series Voyagers!, which aired on NBC during the 1982–83 television season. He also appeared in made for television movies The Bear and Making of a Male Model co-starring Joan Collins and Roxie Roker, and in an episode of Hotel, before being cast in the action series Cover Up.
After graduating from high school, where he proved to be a versatile pianist, actor in school plays and the school’s first male cheerleader, Hexum went on to the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in order to study biomedical engineering. However, he soon gave it up and switched to the Michigan State University in East Lansing, where he graduated in Philosophy.
During that time, he worked as a radio disc jockey and actor in minor stage roles. He was also an accomplished diver. Only a few days after graduation, he moved to New York in 1980 in order to pursue his acting career. While working cleaning venetian blinds in offices, he met Bob LeMond of LeMond/Zetter Management, the manager of John Travolta, who saw great potential in Hexum. LeMond asked him to move to Los Angeles in 1981 in order to audition for a movie called Summer Lovers, directed by Randal Kleiser. Even though Jon-Erik lost the part to Peter Gallagher, he was soon cast as the lead in the upcoming NBC TV show Voyagers!
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I think I've seen this page before on FB. I like his taste in films...even if he didn't like sci-fi and superhero stuff as he said in another article. I would have loved to see him in a straight up drama, just as he would have wanted.
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