Jon-Erik Hexum was an American actor and model who died at 26 after accidentally shooting himself with a prop gun on the set of the CBS series Cover Up. He was best known for Voyagers! and Cover Up, and his death in October 1984 is still one of Hollywood’s best known on-set accidents. He would have turned 69 on November 5, 2026.
| Date of Birth | November 5, 1957 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death | October 18, 1984 |
| Aged | 26 |
| Nationality | American |
| Zodiac Sign | Scorpio |
| Occupation | Actor, Model |
| Brother | Gunnar Hexum |
Jason Daniel KelceBiography
Jon-Erik Hexum was born on November 5, 1957, in Englewood, New Jersey, and he grew up in Tenafly. His father, Thorleif Andreas Hexum, was a Norwegian immigrant, and his mother, Gretha Olivia Paulsen, was born in Minnesota. His parents divorced when he was four, and his mother raised him and his older brother, Gunnar Hexum, while working two jobs. “She was wonderful when we were growing up,” he told the Herald-News in September 1984.
Hexum played football and soccer from age eight and also wrestled and swam. At Tenafly High School he was a drum major, senior class president and the lead in The Pajama Game. He started at Case Western Reserve University in biomedical engineering, then moved to Michigan State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy, played as a backup on the 1978 football team and worked as a campus radio DJ.
Career
Hexum moved to New York in 1980 and met Bob LeMond, who managed John Travolta. He moved to Los Angeles in September 1981. A 1982 PM Magazine segment said he was “scraping spaghetti off plates” nine weeks before Voyagers! started shooting.
Voyagers! made his name. He played time traveler Phineas Bogg on the NBC show, which ran for 20 episodes from 1982 to 1983. He told PM Magazine he tried “to look cool” on his first day but was “delighted.” The role had first been written for an actor in his 40s.
He followed it with the 1983 TV movie Making of a Male Model, opposite Joan Collins. He later told the Star Tribune it “turned out to be a lot more exploitative than I anticipated.” In 1984 he guest starred on Hotel and played Pat Trammell in The Bear, his only feature film.
Cover Up was his second lead role and his last. He played Mac Harper, a model who also worked as an undercover agent, opposite Jennifer O’Neill. The CBS series premiered in September 1984, and he appeared in seven episodes.
Jon-Erik Hexum Death
Jon-Erik Hexum shot himself by accident on October 12, 1984, on Stage 18 at the 20th Century Fox lot during the filming of the Cover Up episode Golden Opportunity. During a delay in filming, he picked up a .44 Magnum prop gun loaded with blanks. He removed all but one of the blanks, spun the cylinder, imitated Russian roulette and fired at his right temple.
The blank had no bullet, but the blast was enough to kill him. It broke off a quarter-sized piece of his skull and drove it into his brain. He had surgery at Beverly Hills Medical Center that lasted about five hours, and he never recovered. He was declared brain dead on October 18, 1984, six days after the accident. He was 26, and his death was ruled accidental.
Organ Donations
Hexum’s organs saved or changed several lives. With his mother’s permission, his body was flown to San Francisco on life support, where his heart went to a 36-year-old man at Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center. The hospital kept the patient’s name private, though the Las Vegas Review-Journal named him as Michael O’Neil Washington.
One kidney went to a critically ill five-year-old boy and the other to a 43-year-old grandmother. His corneas went to a 66-year-old man and a young girl, and his skin was grafted onto a three-and-a-half-year-old boy with third-degree burns.
After His Death
Hexum’s body was cremated at Grandview Crematory in Glendale, and his mother scattered his ashes in the Pacific Ocean near Malibu. She later received an undisclosed out-of-court settlement from 20th Century Fox Television and Glen A. Larson Productions. His estate was valued at about $255,000.
Cover Up carried on without him. Antony Hamilton took over as a new lead, Jack Striker, from the episode that aired on November 24, 1984, and the series ran for 14 more episodes. CBS closed its memorial tribute with the words: “When a star dies, its light continues to shine across the universe for millenniums.” Hamilton himself died on March 29, 1995, at 42.
Hexum’s name came back into the news in 2021 after the fatal shooting on the set of Rust. “Gun safety is essential and needs to be professionally addressed to spare the tragic loss of innocent lives,” Jennifer O’Neill told Fox News that October.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Jon-Erik Hexum die?
He died from a head injury after firing a prop gun loaded with a blank at his right temple on the set of Cover Up on October 12, 1984. He was declared brain dead six days later.
How old was Jon-Erik Hexum when he died?
He was 26. He was born on November 5, 1957, and died on October 18, 1984.
Can a blank kill you?
Yes, at close range. The blank in Hexum’s prop gun had no bullet, but the blast pushed a piece of his skull into his brain.
Who got Jon-Erik Hexum’s heart?
A 36-year-old man in San Francisco received it. The Las Vegas Review-Journal named him as Michael O’Neil Washington, while the hospital kept his name private.
Who replaced Jon-Erik Hexum on Cover Up?
Antony Hamilton joined the show as Jack Striker in November 1984.
Did Jon-Erik Hexum have siblings?
Yes. He had an older brother, Gunnar Hexum.
