My pal Frank reminds me that today marks the 23rd anniversary of the passing of Jon-Erik Hexum… Long gone but never forgotten! He really was the hottest man of all time ...
Nov. 5, 1957 - Oct. 18, 1984Thursday, October 18, 2007
Dead Wood: Jon-Erik Hexum
My pal Frank reminds me that today marks the 23rd anniversary of the passing of Jon-Erik Hexum… Long gone but never forgotten! He really was the hottest man of all time ...Nov. 5, 1957 - Oct. 18, 1984
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Jon was also gay. His lover played the last 3 episodes of "Cover-Up" the TV show he was filming when he died.
Unfortunately, his lover Anthony Hamilton died in 1995 of HIV at the age of 43.
http://www.lypsinka.com/life/boys.html
I remember Jon-Erik Hexum and Anthony Hamilton very well. They were both TV crushes while I was growing up, but I never knew they were lovers. After "Cover-Up", Anthony went on to do a remake of the Mission Impossible series in the late 80's. He was even considered for the part of James Bond! Imagine that, a gay James Bond during the Regan era! They were both young men who never really got to show the true potential they had when they were taken way too soon. Gone, but not forgotten...
Nobody hotter. EVER.
Oh man, thanks for bringing me back to the '80s. Many a night did I pleasure myself while watching Jon on TV. He was without a doubt one of the hottest men around!
Damn, how can that be 23 years ago already? I remember that so well. Does this mean I'm ... old?
Jon-Erik Hexum wasn't gay, he was dating actress Elizabeth Daily at the time of his death. Anthony Hamilton was Jon's replacement in "Cover-Up" and he did past away from AIDS-related illness.
Both men were gorgeous and died well before their time.
A bud of mine used to see him at The Bar on 2nd Ave. (or was it 1st Ave.? now I forget) in NY all the time, but I still hadn't known he was gay because of that, because he once stated at least half his friends were.
What a great guy with looks and a voice I could listen to all day. Of course he was on the Swim Team at Michigan State and well...um....maybe that had something to do with me going there......
I was fortunate enough to meet Jon just before he died. It was on 6 October 1984, in New York City when he was a guest on the TV show FIVE AT FIVE at NBC in Rockefeller Center. At that time I was a photographer’s assistant, and went along to help carry heavy equipment. The foyer and lifts where absolutely crammed, so I decided to rather take the stairs up to the third floor. Big mistake!
Halfway up, a gent who was on his way down offered to help me, as he could see I was clearly struggling. Turns out the gent in question was none other than Jon Eric Hexum, who was rushing to take a telephone call prior to the show and clearly also thought the stairs would be quicker...
He said something like, "Here, let me help you get this thing outta the way before someone trips over you" as he had almost done. "Are you going up ?", he asked pointing at the door he had just come out of. I nodded like a zombie and he grabbed the one end of the bag. I was gob smacked! I just couldn't believe it! Jon Erik-Hexum was offering to help get me out the way! I was a fan, but this seemed almost surreal, like a dream or something! But worse was to come...
Hexum, you understand, had grabbed the bag and was going backwards and upwards while pulling it along, so theoretically he only had to push the door at the top open and go through. But, as luck would have it, the damn thing seemed to be jammed. He tried to push it with his back (I recall him grumbling that it wouldn't open), but after a few attempts it suddenly gave way and he and the bag stumbled into the crowded 3rd floor foyer - with myself still in tow!
And then it happened. As if in slow motion, he suddenly let go of his end of the bag - which promptly ended up on his left foot, weight and all! I just couldn't believe it! He grimaced, but said he was ok, and looked at me for a few seconds as if to say, "hey man, what's your story?".
I was mortified! I apologized to him and shook his hand as if that would have made thigs better. He simply said "I'll be fine, ta. See ya" and, smiling that million dollar grin, excused himself with "I must take a telephone call" while at the same time gesturing down the stairwell. He patted me on the shoulder and then promptly turned on his heels and went down the stairs again.
Needless to say, I was too embarrassed to move and just stood there for a few seconds trying to take in what had just happened. For the rest of that evening I kept thinking that he'd be limping on the set of 'Cover Up', thanks to me!
Days later, when I heard on the evening news on 18 October 1984 that Jon Erik-Hexum had died, I emmediatly thought of that charming, handsome man I had met on the stairwell that evening and who was kind enough to help me with that damn bag while others simply passed by.
Yes, even to this day I still remember his face (albeit grimacing) as clear as if it were yesterday, and I am still filled with sorrow when I think that someone with such promise is gone forever, taken by the most stupid of mistakes. A real tragedy, and a terrible waste indeed…
The well-known axiom “Only the beautiful die young” could easily have referred to Jon Eric Hexum.
By the way, I haven't the heart to get rid of that old duffel bag...
Hey, there--
I just came across the responses to this post (I'm KW's friend Frank who reminded him of the annivesary date of JEH's death.)
I wanted to let you all know that I'm just about to release my first novel called BAND FAGS! in June 2008 which features a chapter called HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO in which the two main characters (two 14-year-old gay boys) hold a seance to make contact with JEH just days after his death.
It's a little auto-biographical, I'll admit... My best friend and I were obsessed with JEH (as we liked to call him) though neither of us knew we were gay at the time!
Hope you'll check it out!
It's great to finally realize that I am one of thousands who loved and adored this beautiful man! His presence made him even more powerful. Today is Nov. 3, 2009---in two more days it would be his 52nd birthday. I think I am always more saddened by the anniversary of his birthday than the anniversary of his death. It would have been wonderful to see the mature man that he would have become had he lived. As superb as he was, he would have been like wine--only better with age. I still miss him terribly.
I Would really like to thank you for remembering this legend. He will always be the gay legend of the 80s regardless he was gay or not. He had a profound effect as he combined qualities inner and outer from our collective gay superego. You charming one! Good buy blue eyes!
Post a Comment