The already-way-too-long list of funny recently-deceased men grows one longer with the addition of Howard Hesseman, who has died at the age of 81. Complications resulting from colon surgery, they're saying.
I probably don't have to tell anyone who ever watched WKRP in Cincinnati how good Mr. Hesseman was in it, though I might have to tell people who never watched WKRP how good it was or which one is him in the above photo.
For reasons I explained here, I was a fan of it even before it went on the air. Howard Hesseman was one of the main reasons. And I was a fan of his even before he was on that show. There were a lot of improv comedy shows happening in Los Angeles back then, many of them featuring former members of The Committee in San Francisco or Second City in Chicago. Hesseman seemed to be in all those shows and he was always brilliantly hilarious.
This obit will tell you how many other TV shows and movies he was in and it may surprise you. It surprised me…but maybe it shouldn't have. He was really good at what he did.