TRAGIC NEWS: TV heartthrob k!lled tragically on set when he fired g:un into his head
Jon-Erik Hexum was one of Hollywood’s fastest-rising young stars when a devastating accident on the set of CBS drama Cover Up ended his life at just 26.
The actor and model had already built a reputation as a television heartthrob, with appearances in Voyagers!, The Making of a Male Model and feature film The Bear.
But on October 12, 1984, while filming the seventh episode of Cover Up at 20th Century Fox, a moment involving a firearm loaded with a blank cartridge turned catastrophic.
Six days later, Hexum was pronounced dead.
Rising Star Had Hollywood at His Feet
Hexum grew up in New Jersey before moving first to New York and later Los Angeles as he pursued work as an actor and model.
His major breakthrough arrived in 1982 when he landed the role of a time-traveller in NBC’s Voyagers!
More prominent projects followed.
He starred opposite Joan Collins in the television film The Making of a Male Model and later earned his first feature-film role in The Bear.
His striking appearance and rapid career progression quickly turned him into a recognisable young television star.
Speaking about his dedication to fitness in a 1984 interview, Hexum said: “I’ve always had the Rocky mentality and I believe in taking care of myself.”
He added that staying in shape was also important for his career.
Tragedy Struck on Cover Up Set
Hexum was later cast as Mac Harper in CBS series Cover Up, playing a CIA agent who worked undercover as a model.
According to his then-girlfriend, actress E. G. Daily, production had become stressful for him in the weeks before the accident.
“I remember it being a very strange few weeks,” she later recalled.
“He was very stressed, more stressed than I remember him ever being.”
During filming for the episode Golden Opportunity, delays reportedly left Hexum frustrated.
A real firearm being used as a prop had been loaded with blanks for filming.
During a break, Hexum jokingly placed the gun against his head and pulled the trigger.
Although blanks do not contain a conventional bullet, the force generated at extremely close range caused catastrophic injuries.
Hexum was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery.
Despite doctors’ efforts, he died six days later.
Daily later recalled being stunned by the seriousness of what had happened.
“He was such a big man,” she said.
“So when I heard he got hurt, I never thought it would have been life-threatening, in a million years.”
Organ Donation Saved Other Lives
Hexum’s death was devastating, but his decision to become an organ donor meant that several other people received life-saving or life-changing transplants.
His donated organs included his heart and kidneys, while his corneas and skin were also used to help patients.
According to reports cited in the source, one kidney went to a five-year-old boy.
His corneas helped a 66-year-old man and a young girl, while donated skin was used to treat a three-year-old child with serious burns.
His heart was transplanted into Navy veteran and Purple Heart recipient Michael Washington.
“Because of this man, I’m alive today, so it becomes real personal,” Washington later said.
He explained that Hexum’s family cared most about knowing the donation had helped another family and allowed someone else to survive.
“It gave an opportunity for my two kids to still have a father,” he said.
‘His Light Continues to Shine’
Washington later said he understood that Hexum’s family wanted their son’s memory to live on through the people he had helped.
“They want me to remember him every day — and I do,” he said.
CBS also acknowledged the tragedy with an on-screen tribute after Hexum’s death.
The network compared his memory to the light of a star that continues travelling through the universe long after the star itself is gone.
Hexum’s career had lasted only a few years, but in that short time he had already established himself as one of television’s most promising young performers.
His death remains one of Hollywood’s most tragic on-set accidents.
But the lives saved through his organ donations also became an enduring part of his legacy — ensuring that, even after his own life ended at 26, others were given the chance to continue theirs.
