Pete Duel
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Jon-Erik Hexum
puredieselbc — 14 years ago(May 21, 2011 08:06 PM)
Pete Duel died almost thirteen years before Jon-Erik. He shot himself in the head at age thirty-one, on New Year's Eve 1971 during filming of the second season of Glen A. Larson's
Alias Smith and Jones
. Larson also produced
Cover Up
. They replaced his character Hannibal Heyes but soon after, the show was cancelled.
If you go to Pete's board it's sort of strange because his fans write exactly the same stuff about him that we do about Jon-Erik. Only they've been mourning Pete for fourty years. Some are still bitter that the show didn't really acknowledge Pete's death or provide any closure for his character.
I wonder if that's why Larson decided to kill off Mac on CU, replace him with another character and had Richard Anderson say those lovely words. To do right by Pete by giving JEH a proper good-bye. Something that they5b4 never gave Pete.
I guess when someone's ripped from your life, privately or publicly, it's hard to ever really cope. People just learn to live with the loss.
"Evil spelled backwards is live"
: Mok -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(August 21, 2011 02:51 AM)
Good Lord, give me a break. That could be considered funny if Jon-Erik was a suicide. He wasn't. It was an accident.
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com! -
puredieselbc — 14 years ago(August 21, 2011 05:51 PM)
Hexum's death was an accident brought about by his own reckless actions and had he lived, he would've been the first to acknowledge that fact. Sometimes smart people just do dumb things.
TripleOphiuchus811, while I couldn't disagree more with almost everything you wrote about JEH, I've read your previous posts about how
Dynasty
went bad and must say, I totally agree with everything you wrote on
that
subject. Speaking of which, in thos5b4e posts you recognize that Heather Locklear, who started out around the same time as Hexum and wasn't the best actress when she began, continuously improved on that show. You never know, Hexum could have done the same thing had he lived.
You know, JEH wasn't the best actor but he did have a special kind of vulnerability that the camera picked up. It made the viewer feel for his characters. Sure he was eye-candy but he was eye-candy with something more.
Today so many of the actors/characters on tv don't have that quality at all. It's as if they are all just stock characters, very interchangeable and
very
forgettable. I think casting directors were better in previous decades because it wasn't just about saying the lines but also about having something unique that would make an actor/actress leave a lasting impression in the minds of viewers.
I mean were
still
talking about this guy over a quarter of a century later, so he must have had
something
.
"Evil spelled backwards is live"
: Mok -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(August 21, 2011 06:03 PM)
That was well said, puredieselbc.
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com! -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(August 21, 2011 05:52 PM)
True, I never pretended to be the last authority.
Yeah, if you shoot yourself in the head, people will talk. Doesn't mean they know what the heck they're talking about, though. Any fool can talk. It doesn't take brains to flap ones gums about stuff they know nothing about.
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com! -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(August 21, 2011 07:35 PM)
I hardly qualify as a "fangurl."
The typo above was nothing more than typing quickly. How nice of you to notice. I hope you never make a common mistake in your life, and someone points it out to you on a public forum. Seriously, dude, calm down.
None of us know exactly what was going through his head when he did it. Was it a mistake? Yup. Stupid mistake? Yup. Did he mean to do it? I doubt it. But only Jon-Erik and God Himself know for sure. The rest of us can speculate until the cows come home.
And I'm out. Arguing with you is like banging my head against a brick wall. All it's going to get me is a bad headache. You have your opinion, and you want everyone to agree with you, or they're "idiots." Clearly, in your mind, your opinion is the only one, the rest of us can't put two thoughts together to form a complete sentence.
Go have a drink. Or take a nap. Get laid. Something. Because a stupid message board is not worth the name calling and getting as upset as you have. You aren't changing my mind, I'm not changing yours. So let's agree to disagree and leave the name calling out of it. Because when you resort to that tactic, it negates everything you tried to say before that.
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com! -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(October 08, 2011 03:40 PM)
Dude, you're a trip. You came all the way back here, after all this time, just to have the last word? That's funny. Well, more power to ya.
"Better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
And I don't feel the need to defend myself to the likes of you. I know who I am, and what I've accomplished, online and in life. You can go ahead and think of me as just a fangurl if you want, doesn't make it so. Whatever floats your boat, dude. I have better things to do than argue with you.
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com! -
River4ever — 14 years ago(October 08, 2011 07:21 PM)
You know, weather its something great or not so great you guys are saying about Jon-Erik, im just very happy to come to his thread after not coming here since literally) 2005, and seeing that just THIS WEEK people are still talking about him!!!! I feel so bad about this young man. Always have. Because he was just trying to make a jokewith a PROP gun.So for all the people who have died b68young, particularly in the 80's, this guy did nothing to bring this on. And I feel for himThank you for preserving his memory. Some people feel it gloomy or morose to talk about people years, decades after they died but I believe they need to be rememered no matter whatGod Bless.
RIP Jon-Eric Hexum
"I always liked you Clarence.always have, always will"-Elvis(the mentor) -
puredieselbc — 14 years ago(August 23, 2011 08:33 AM)
Trip, Pete Duel was drunk when he shot himself and suffered from depression. Plus he had legal problems facing him at the time. Jon-Erik was sober, showing-off and a little tired from a long day of shooting, but he honestly believe the fire arm he had was a prop and
not
real. Was that a stupid thing to assume? Yeah, but like I said
sometimes smart people do dumb things
.
"But posting like fangurls/fanboys doesn't do Hexum any dignity.&qb68uot;
Dignity
, what?
We are his fans
though, and why the expression of that fanship, so to speak, in our posts should harm JEH's dignity, is a mystery to me? You know what, when I started this thread I thought it was interesting that both Pete and Jon had died while working on Glenn A. Larson shows and how the aftermath of each man's demise was handled so differently. I didn't intend to start a grand debate on accidental vs. intentional suicides.
You're entitled to your opinion, as is everyone who posts on IMDb. Thanks for the discussion. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
PEACE.
"Evil spelled backwards is live"
: Mok -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(August 28, 2011 02:18 PM)
It was a live blank. That was the problem. I think if it were a dum-dum, it would have produced less damage. But don't quote me on that. I'm not an expert on prop weapons.
One thing that no one talks about is that those weapons are not supposed to be handled by a simple prop man. They are supposed to be taken care of by a weapons master. Those guns are not supposed to be loaded until a scene is shot, they load the gun in front of the actor (so he knows it's loaded), the scene is shot, with all kinds of protection in place (like plexiglass in front of the camera) and when the scene is done, the loaded weapon is taken away and locked up.
The day that Jon-Erik shot himself, the weapons maseter was sent home early that day in a budget conscious move. His weapon was delivered by an uneducated prop man. After the scene was shot, the weapon was left out, a HUGE no-no in the industry. Jon-Erik was overworked and extremely tired, and sick to death of extensive delays on the set, insuring he'd miss his plane for an engagement he had training for Circus of the Stars in Vegas. He fell asleep between scenes, there on a prop hotel bed. He awoke to more delays, and the thought is that he woke disoriented, probably grabbed the prop gun, thinking it was the unloaded gun he worked with all the time, pointed it to his head and, in mock frustration, utterd something like, "Dear God, shoot me now." And pulled the trigger. One of us would imitate that with a finger motion, he grabbed the loaded gun by mistake.
He was alone in the room, no one heard him or saw exactly what he did, so no one knows for sure what happened. Is it stupid to point a gun to your head, loaded or not? Yeah. We all agree on that point. But the guy was exhausted. How many of us have done incredibly stupid stuff when we're that exhausted? If I lose just two nights sleep and I won't even drive. I can't imagine the level of exhaustion Jon-Erik felt, working 12-14 hour days on an ineptly run TV show, simultaneously traveling to promote the movie "The Bear," which he was largely cut out of, while also training for Circus of the Stars and doing TV interviews and personal appearances. And he had a wicked case of insomnia. No wonder the guy wasn't thinking clearly.
Accident? Yeah. Dumb? Yeah. But Fox has to take some blame for it, too. He wasn't suicidal by any means. People that knew him would attest to that fact. It was a screw up by Fox, compounded by Jon-Erik's exhaustion, and it was a recipe for disaster.
Freak accident. Nothing more.
And yeah, I understood what the OP was saying, trying to compare the two deaths, and how they were handled. Glen Larson ran a Mickey Mouse operation. I'm surprised more people haven't died or been hurt on one of his productions. eye roll
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com!** -
puredieselbc — 14 years ago(August 28, 2011 03:26 PM)
"And yeah, I understood what the OP was saying, trying to compare the two deaths, and how they were handled. Glen Larson ran a Mickey Mouse operation. I'm surprised more people haven't died or been hurt on one of his productions. eye roll"
mkconley, ^^^Love it.
You'd think the guy that created a show about a stuntman called
The Fall Guy
would've known better. Just saying
"Evil spelled backwards is live"
: Mok -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(August 28, 2011 05:13 PM)
Speaking of the Fall Guy, I believe I read (in one of my Jon-Erik articles no less) that Lee Majors was hurt on the set of Fall Guy, doing his own stunts. I could look it up and post it, if you want to read it. If it's the story I'm thinking of, it was TV Guide, in an article after Jon-Erik died. Talking about how the TV shows don't seem to want to protect the actors, but it was all pushing the limits to get these great stunts on film. 1984-85ish.
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com! -
River4ever — 14 years ago(October 09, 2011 01:19 AM)
Isnt a "live blank, an oxymoron? Or "condradiction in terms?" And I DONT understand why Brandon Lee's gun was "loaded" too! Talk about a waste of talent, beauty, and jusr plain LIFE..Speaking of Oxymoron'sOr just moron's ON Oxy's (see what I did there?) Can Lindsay Lohan please "accidently" get shot with a prop gun so we can have Brandon Lee, John-Erik Hexum and Peter Duel back!???? If ONLY it worked like that. And before you go..OH MY GOD THATS WRONG!!!!!! I want to ask you, if the big guy upstairs COULD do that, you know, say trade Britney Spears if we could have like ONE YEAR with, say, John Lennon@ Or Feddie MercutyI could go on and onIt would be PRETTY DAMN TEMPTING WOULDNT IT? THINK ABOUT IT..
"I always liked you Clarence.always have, always will"-Elvis(the mentor) -
VBliss31383 — 14 years ago(October 09, 2011 06:37 PM)
River4ever, I had to totally laugh at what you said. Because my son and I play that game all the time. Can we trade Paris Hilton for Jon-Erik? Lindsay Lohan for Bernie Mac? We think that some that are really bad, those that have taken a life even, are worth more than one. If we trade, say, Charlie Manson, we should be able to get at least 5 back in return. LOL! Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Brandon Lee, Natasha Richardson, Farrah Fawcett, River Phoenix, Heath Ledger, I'd love to see all of them back.
I think the difference is that a live blank is loaded with gunpowder and, in Jon-Erik's case, wadded paper. Whereas I believe a dummy has none of that. But it all confuses me. But an oxymoron for sure.
Visit my website for Jon-Erik Hexum at TenaflyGuy.com!