HEARTBREAKING: TV heartthrob k!lled tragically on set when he fired π€π²π« into his head
GRAPHIC CONTENT Jon-Erik Hexum was a rising Hollywood star and TV heartthrob when a tragic on-set accident during the filming of CBS series Cover Up claimed his life at just 26
Jon had become ‘frustrated’ according to his girlfriend (Image: CBS via Getty Images)
A gifted young actor and heartthrob with a glittering future ahead of him had his life was tragically cut short by a horrifying on-set accident.
Jon-Erik Hexum was just 26 when he accidentally shot himself in the head while filming his new television series.
He grew up in New Jersey before moving to New York and then Los Angeles in pursuit of fame as both an actor and model. Jon landed his first major break in 1982, playing a time-traveller in the NBC series Voyagers!
Bigger roles followed, and he appeared alongside British acting legend Joan Collins in The Making of a Male Model, a made-for-TV film. His dedication and talent were ultimately rewarded when he secured his feature film debut with The Bear.
Jon’s meteoric rise to stardom and striking looks swiftly established him as a heartthrob. In a 1984 interview with the Akron-Beacon Journal, he declared: “I’ve always had the Rocky mentality and I believe in taking care of myself. And it’s good for my career, too.”, reports the Daily Star.
Jon thought the π€π²π« was full of blanks (Image: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Jon was subsequently cast as Mac Harper in the new CBS series Cover Up. As he settled into his role as a CIA agent working undercover as a model, he reportedly became deeply “frustrated” and “stressed out” during production, according to his then-girlfriend, actress E. G. Daily.
“I remember it being a very strange few weeks,” Daily said. “He was very stressed, more stressed than I remember him ever being.”
Jon and his cast assembled at 20th Century Fox to shoot the show’s seventh episode, entitled Golden Opportunity, on October 12, 1984.
Jon’s character was required to shoot himself with a. 44 Magnum revolver loaded with cartridges, and the actor was handed a real firearm along with some blanks.
Emma Samms and Jon-Erik Hexum attend Party for Stars of Aaron Spelling’s ABC Televison Series (Image: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
However, production delays left the actor increasingly frustrated, according to People magazine.
When Jon was told of yet more hold-ups, he raised the prop π€π²π« to his head and playfully asked his fellow cast and crew members: “Can you believe this c***?” before pulling the trigger. Tragically, the π€π²π« discharged and the blank cartridge shattered a portion of Jon’s skull.
The blank cartridge contained a paper wad, which the force of the π€π²π«powder drove into his head, sending a coin-sized fragment of bone into Jon’s brain and causing catastrophic internal bleeding.
The 26-year-old was rushed to hospital, having lost several pints of blood en route. He underwent five hours of emergency surgery at Beverly Hills Medical Center.
Six days later, Jon-Erik Hexum was pronounced de@d.
Daily was utterly devastated that the stunt had claimed his life, saying: “He was such a big man. So when I heard he got hurt, I never thought it would have been life-threatening, in a million years.”
Yet despite his shocking and untimely passing, Jon’s de@th did go on to save the lives of others. As a registered organ donor, he donated his heart, kidneys, corneas, and even his skin.
Jon rose to fame with his TV movie The Making of a Male Model (Image: ABC via Getty Images)
His corneas were donated to a 66-year-old man and a young girl, his skin helped a three-year-old boy suffering serious burns, while one of his kidneys saved the life of a five-year-old boy, according to The New York Post. Jon’s heart was given to Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient Michael Washington.
Washington told West 57th: “Because of this man, I’m alive today, so it becomes real personal.”
Washington owned Swinging Susy’s, Las Vegas’ oldest escort service. However, according to Washington, “the Hexum family didn’t really care about all that.”
Jon starred in Cover Up, a CBS detective action television series (Image: CBS via Getty Images)
He added: “What they cared about was giving the organ to help a family, and seeing someone survive. It gave an opportunity for my two kids to still have a father.
“I know [the Hexum family] wants their son to live on in me,” Washington told the Los Angeles Times in 1985, roughly a year following Jon-Erik Hexum’s de@th. “They want me to remember him every day – and I do.”
CBS acknowledged the tragedy directly on-screen, posting the tribute: “They say when a star dies, its light continues to shine across the universe for millennia. Jon-Erik Hexum d!ed last month, but he will always leave a bright light in our lives.
