Tim Reid Howard Hesseman, the veteran actor known for starring in sitcoms “WKRP in Cincinnati” and “Head of the Class,” died Jan.
29 at the age of 81. The actor is remembered here by his friend and fellow “WKRP” star, actor-director Tim Reid.I first met Howard Hesseman at a cast meeting before we shot the pilot for “WKRP in Cincinnati.” The first thing I had to do was admit that I’d lifted something from him years back.Back in the early 1970s, I was one-half of a Black and white comedy duo with Tom Dreesen.
The concept for our signature routine was borrowed — OK, lifted — from a very funny sketch that Hesseman had been a part of years before with his improv troupe, The Committee.
It was a bit about teaching one of their white members how to be Black. Today it would be politically incorrect for sure. Tom and I took that framework and worked our own routine into it.
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