The Tragic Death Of Howard Hesseman

American actor Howard Hesseman has died at the age of 81, according to TheWrap. Hesseman was born in Lebanon, Ore., according to TV Guide. In his childhood, he and his family moved to Silverton, where his stepfather worked as the chief of police, according to The Washington Post. Hesseman didn't get along with his stepfather, but later, when he enrolled at the University of Oregon, he found the mentorship he needed. He told a professor, Dr. Preston Tuttle, that he wanted to be an actor, and Dr. Tuttle told him to leave school.

"His advice to me was that if I was serious about an acting career, I should leave the university environment immediately and pursue acting," Hesseman explained to The Post in 1986. "He felt that all I would learn at the university is how to teach acting to other people who would wind up teaching others."

Hesseman took the advice and left for San Francisco, and he became a working actor in the theater community there. But his career went on to expand to even greater horizons. Here's the story.

Howard Hesseman's first credit goes all the way back to 1968 when he appeared on "The Andy Griffith Show," according to his IMDb credits. But things took off when he played Dr. Johnny Fever in "WKRP in Cincinnati." Hesseman looked back on that character with fondness, as he told The Washington Post in 1986. "I'm rather pleased. I like that character," Hesseman said of playing Dr. Fever. "It was a fulfilling period in my life. Allowing the fans to see you as they choose, for better or for worse, comes with the territory. I'm glad they like what they see. I do like what I was doing when I was on that show."

While Hesseman had a long line of film and TV credits, he didn't have the easiest time outside of acting. As the Post notes, he went to jail for 90 days in 1963 after he sold marijuana to a federal agent. In fact, Hesseman got sober after struggling with drugs. He said that the moment of change came when he was with his girlfriend, Caroline Ducrocq, whom he later married. He said he was "thinking what it would be like to be with her if my mind were clear. I was curious, so I stopped to see what it would be like. I discovered that the longer I maintained that frame of mind, the more I liked it."

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