Jon-Erik Hexum
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| Jon-Erik Hexum | |
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| Birth name | Jon Eric Hexum |
| Born | November 5, 1957 (age 49) Tenafly, New Jersey  United States |
| Died | October 18, 1984 Century City, California |
| Notable roles | Phineas Bogg on Voyagers! Mac Harper on Cover Up |
Jon-Erik Hexum (November 5, 1957 – October 18, 1984) was an American actor and model.
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[edit] Biography
Born to Norwegian immigrant parents, [1] [2] 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. He had also received attention in tabloids for his relationships with Heather Thomas and Emma Samms.
[edit] Death
Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun loaded with blanks on the set of the CBS series Cover Up, a program about a pair of fashion photographers/models who were actually secret agents. Hexum, who played a weapons expert, was said to constantly be playing with the guns as if they were toys and once angered Jennifer O'Neill so much that she chastised him on-set for his carelessness.[1]
On October 12, 1984, after finishing a scene in which he fired several blank rounds from a .44 Magnum revolver, Hexum jokingly put the gun up to his temple and sarcastically said,
- "Let's see if I've got one for me."
Hexum apparently did not realize that blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gun powder into the shell, and that this wadding is propelled out of the barrel of the gun with enough force to cause severe injury or death if the weapon is fired at point-blank range. Although the paper wadding in the blank that Hexum discharged did not penetrate his head[2], it struck him in the temple with enough force to propel a quarter-sized piece of his skull into his brain. However, even without the wadding the explosion of the gunpowder created gasses rushing out of the gun barrel with huge force (sufficient to accelerate a metal bullet fast enough to travel more than a mile) and these out-rushing gasses at the end of the gun barrel or very near the end of the barrel pack potentially lethal force.
According to a crew member on the set: "Jon 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."
Hexum's assistant ran to him and wrapped his head in a towel. An ambulance was called, but before it could arrive, Hexum slipped into a coma, prompting crew members to carry him to one of the studio's station wagons and drive him to Beverly Hills Medical Center. Hexum went into surgery as his family and girlfriend, actress Elizabeth Daily, were notified of his condition. Initially he was listed as being in "serious" condition, but after five hours of surgery, doctors changed the condition to "critical." Hexum was given a feeding tube and respirator, and lingered for six days before doctors pronounced him brain dead. With his mother's permission, Hexum was flown to Las Vegas and taken off life support so that his organs could be donated.
Following his death, his heart was given to a dying escort service owner. His eyes were also removed, although there is dispute as to whether they were given to a little girl, or a 66 year old man. Hexum's body was then flown back to California, where it was cremated.
The same month that Hexum died, an issue of Playgirl magazine came out, featuring a photo shoot that Hexum had done shortly before his demise.
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