Howard Hesseman

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Howard Hesseman

Howard Hesseman (born February 27, 1940 in Lebanon, Oregon) is an American actor. He attended the University of Oregon, and was later a founding member of the San Francisco-based improvisational comedy troupe The Committee. Early in his acting career, he used the alias Don Sturdy.

Hesseman played the title role of the Marquis de Sade in the 1995 play "Quills" at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, California and had one scene where he was fully naked.

Hesseman is best known for his roles as anti-disco disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever (also known as John Caravella) on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati from 1978–1982, and as teacher Charlie Moore on the series Head of the Class from 1986–1990. He worked as a real-life DJ in San Francisco at KMPX-FM for several months, well before his Johnny Fever role. In 2001, Hesseman had a recurring role for three episodes of That '70s Show. In 2006, he appeared on two episodes of Boston Legal playing Judge Robert Thompson.

He has also appeared in several films, including Billy Jack, This is Spinal Tap, Doctor Detroit, Private Lessons, Rubin & Ed, Flight of the Navigator, About Schmidt, Amazon Women on the Moon and Police Academy 2.

[edit] Trivia

During his guest starring appearance as Judge Robert Thompson on the ABC television series Boston Legal, Hesseman paid homage to his role as Mr. Moore in the earlier ABC series Head of the Class by hearing a court case while sitting atop what was known as the the judge's bench, as opposed to behind it. Similarly, the character of Mr. Moore would teach his class while sitting atop his teacher's desk, instead of sitting behind it.