Howard Hesseman, RIP

[Dan Gould]

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/howard-hesse-man-dead-wkrp-in-cincinnati-police-academy-1235167152/

 

 

Too bad they didn't include the gag where he's reacting to the Red Wiggler's spot ("the Cadillac of worms").

Did anyone else not know that he and Tim Reid were allowed to program the tunes they wanted to play as well as write their own patter?  I definitely had not heard that before. 

Anyway a fine actor got a great part, and the rest was history. RIP.

 

[JSngry]

Head Of The Class was a pretty good sitcom, with Hesseman heading a really good supporting cast, I liked that one as well as WKRP, of course.

RIP

[Rooster_Ties]

WKRP was an absolute classic — and Hesseman was almost the lead among many in a very, very strong cast.

But the great thing was that nobody in that cast dominated. They were all equals, to my way of looking at it.

Closest parallel might be Barney Miller, though Hal Linden might have be just a skosh greater in prominence.

But the great thing about Hesseman was how he was both the biggest character, but also the most laidback/quietest character, all at the same time.

The writing surely had a lot to do with that too, but so did Howard’s well calibrated portrayal.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

[Dan Gould]

10 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

WKRP was an absolute classic — and Hesseman was almost the lead among many in a very, very strong cast.

 

I believe Gary Sandy got top billing he was coming off a successful Broadway run in Pirates of Penzance (?) but Hesseman must have had some stroke, getting the "and .. Howard Hesseman as Dr Johnny Fever" credit.

But I really only see it as ensemble with no clear star.

[Rooster_Ties]

Yeah, I remember Sandy getting top billing too — which I’m not saying he didn’t deserve.  Just that all of them deserved it, in a way. Such a great cast.

What I loved about Hesseman in KRP was how big and small his character was, all at the same time. He was at the center of so much, but always at the periphery too.

He was both larger than life, AND the most “practically fade-into-the-wallpaper” character ever. He was everything and nothing. Very zen.

[JSngry]

Head Of The Class, same thing. He was working with a young hotshot cast, and you know, youth cast, youth stories, but they integrated him (and he integrated himself) very well as the "tribal elder".

 

[clifford_thornton]

3 hours ago, JSngry said:

Head Of The Class was a pretty good sitcom, with Hesseman heading a really good supporting cast, I liked that one as well as WKRP, of course.

RIP

Ditto, grew up on the former and went back to watch the latter. Sad news.

[Mark Stryker]

Though Hesseman was of course best known for his TV roles, his roots were as an improvisational actor with the San Francisco-based troupe The Committee. A lot of overlapping cultural currents funnel through this 1969 scene played with the great Mel Stewart. Interesting to meditate on what holds up and what doesn’t in a racially charged piece that was on-the-edge 53 years ago. Lots of interesting details. Trajectory of the ending, including racial epithets, echoes the escalating conflict of the famous Richard Pryor/Chevy Chase interview sketch about six years later on SNL (written by Paul Mooney). The "white man's walk" and  "Black Like Me" premise became comedic tropes. On Twitter, a commentator noted that Hesseman at one point calls Stewart "fellow baby," which would morph into the Johnny Fever catch phrase "fellow babies" on WKRP.

Coda: Stewart recorded with Mingus. He's the narrator on "Scenes from the City" (the text is by Lonnie Lee Elder and Langston Hughes). I think Stewart also grew up as a jazz musician playing alto saxophone.

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Mark Stryker

[felser]

That 

1 hour ago, Mark Stryker said:

Though Hesseman was of course best known for his TV roles, his roots were as an improvisational actor with the San Francisco-based troupe The Committee. A lot of overlapping cultural currents funnel through this 1969 scene played with the great Mel Stewart. Interesting to meditate on what holds up and what doesn’t in a racially charged piece that was on-the-edge 53 years ago. Lots of interesting details. Trajectory of the ending, including racial epithets, echoes the escalating conflict of the famous Richard Pryor/Chevy Chase interview sketch about six years later on SNL (written by Paul Mooney). The "white man's walk" and  "Black Like Me" premise became comedic tropes. On Twitter, a commentator noted that Hesseman at one point calls Stewart "fellow baby," which would morph into the Johnny Fever catch phrase "fellow babies" on WKRP.

Coda: Stewart recorded with Mingus. He's the narrator on "Scenes from the City" (the text is by Lonnie Lee Elder and Langston Hughes). I think Stewart also grew up as a jazz musician playing alto saxophone.

 

That was really good, thanks for sharing.  I remember the Pryor/Chase skit well, and actually have rewatched it in the past year.  

[sgcim]

I'll never forget when he was on the Terry Gross show. He was in the middle of saying something, and she cut him off with her typical, "Well Howard Hesseman, it's been very nice having you on the show..." And HH yells out "What? You're just going to end the show like that? I wasn't finished!"

She does that every show, because she's on schedule, but it was refreshing to hear someone finally call her out on the ridiculous, robotic way she ends a segment.

RIP, HH

 

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, sgcim said:

I'll never forget when he was on the Terry Gross show. He was in the middle of saying something, and she cut him off with her typical, "Well Howard Hesseman, it's been very nice having you on the show..." And HH yells out "What? You're just going to end the show like that? I wasn't finished!"

She does that every show, because she's on schedule, but it was refreshing to hear someone finally call her out on the ridiculous, robotic way she ends a segment.

It must have been his second appearance, which ends pretty abruptly — he never gets the chance to reply to her closing, so I think they really did a hard chop-edit to the thing.

Appears he was on twice, and I may try and give these a listen at some point…

https://freshairarchive.org/guests/howard-hesseman

[Dan Gould]

Thanks for posting that Mark, I wonder the actual program it was on? Very funny.

[JSngry]

Dick Cavett Show, it says.

 

[cliffpeterson]

Hesseman, probably as part of The Committee, appeared in the first Billy Jack movie.  There are two clips on youtube.com

 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

charles mcbride said he used to go to catalinas a lot

[Mark Stryker]

Chewy means  Christian McBride. Here's full social media post from Christian. I was not aware that Hesseman was such  a fan of the music.

"Sadly, it’s time to say goodbye to another friend. Howard Hesseman was not only one of America’s most beloved actors, but he was a HARDCORE jazz fan. I first met Howard in the early 90’s when he came to Catalina Bar and Grill in LA to hear Benny Green’s Trio. He and his dear wife, the great Caroline Ducrocq, became instant friends. For the next 30 years, Howard and Caroline rarely missed a gig I ever played in LA or Paris. Hearing his old stories about being a bartender in San Francisco, the comedy troupe he was in called The Committee, WKRP in Cincinnati, Doctor Detroit, Head of the Class, his days at Nickelodeon, he really became a true friend. Between him and Caroline, they really exemplified how these wonderful and varied disciplines of the arts make the world a much better place. My heart goes out to Caroline and all who knew and loved him. I hope there’s a Pinot Noir waiting for you at the pearly gates, my man."