It’s hard to believe 25 years has passed and harder still that seemingly nobody picked up on the grisly anniversary. On Oct. 12, 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum was killed when he discharged a .44 magnum to his temple during a break from filming his show “Cover Up.” There’s still debate over whether Hexum accidentally pulled the trigger or did it on purpose as some kind of joke. Either way, the force of the discharge caused a quarter-sized fragment of bone into his brain. The 27-year-old actor died several hours later after he was declared brain dead. The accident ended the career of a stunningly handsome star who many felt was bound for greatness. I first noticed Hexum when he co-starred in a short-lived series called “Voyagers.” He was paired with an orphan boy and traveled through time setting time straight when it got off kilter. While “Voyagers” didn’t last long, it garnered Hexum a lot of notice. His stock rose even more when he appeared in a TV movie called “Making of a Male Model” with Joan Collins. In 1984, he landed the leading male role on “Cover Up.” He played a former Green Beret, “Mac Harper,” who is recruited to pose as a male model while his leading lady, played by “Jennifer O’Neill, takes on various undercover missions throughout the world. After seven episodes, the show was turning into a modest hit. I had been a big O’Neill fan since “Summer of ’42,” so I was a regular watcher. I was home on leave waiting to go to Germany when I got the news. Naturally, I was stunned. Hexum was an amazing individual. After his death, I found out that he also played football for Michigan State. Apparently, he was a sophomore and watched the Spartans play football. He determined he was going to try out for the team the following year. Making a Big 10 Team as a walk-on player is no easy task. Yet, he made the team and even played as a senior. His rise in Hollywood was no less meteoric. He had already had a major role in a motion picture and “Cover Up” was going to propel him to stardom. On the date of his death, it seems there were production lags and Hexum was very tired. He had complained to a friend earlier that he was on the set 16 hours six days a week. After his death, Hexum was replaced by Australian actor Antony Hamilton. The show was OK, but was just never the same and it died a quick death at season’s end. (Hamilton had reportedly been chosen to replace Roger Moore as James Bond, but was dropped after producers learned he was a homosexual. Hamilton died in 1994 at 42. His cause of death was complications from AIDS.) Such a tragic death is so haunting. You wonder what would have become of Hexum. Would he have fulfilled his promise of stardom or would he be selling real estate in Beverly Hills? We will never know. It’s just a shame he didn’t get the chance to try. I guess that’s why they call it a tragedy. 
Actor Jon-Erik Hexum is shown here with co-star Jennifer O'Neill during a publicity shot for the 1984 series "Cover Up." | 
