Howard Hesseman

Howard Hesseman, a former actor from the United States, was born on February 27, 1940. In 1958, he graduated from Silverton High School and then attended the University of Oregon. He co-founded the improvisational comedy ensemble The Committee with fellow actor David Ogden Stiers in San Francisco. He was raised by his mother and stepfather, a cop after his parents split when he was five years old. In 1968, Hesseman made his first television debut through the episode "Public Affairs: DR-07" of the show "Dragnet." Jesse Chaplin, the editor of an underground journal, was his character. He appeared in two final-season episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as a bit player (1960). Following that, he appeared in several episodes of "The Bob Newhart Show" as Mr. Plager, a member of the group therapy ensemble who had been eventually revealed to be gay. In the show's sixth season, he worked as a playwright and wrote a play on the characters. Hesseman's voice can be heard as a TV announcer in various additional episodes of the show.

Hesseman is best remembered for his role as an anti-disco disc jockey ‘Dr. Johnny Fever’ on the television sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," which he played from 1978 to 1982. He prepared for the part by working as a DJ at KMPX-FM in San Francisco for several months. As Dr. Johnny Fever on the show, he was nominated for a 'Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor’ in 1980 and 1981. Some of his other known movies and series are “Fight of the Navigator” (1986), “Head of the Class” (1986- 1990), “That ‘70s Shows” (2001), “The Sky is Falling” (1999), “Boston Legal” (2006), “Man About Town” (2006), etc.