Celebrity News June 17, 2021
Frank Bonner, 'WKRP's' Herb Tarlek, Dies at 79
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Frank Bonner, the actor who brought to life "WKRP in Cincinnati's" charmingly slimy Herb Tarlek, died Wednesday, June 16, according to reports posted to Facebook by his daughter Desiree Boers-Kort and by his "WKRP" co-star Gary Sandy.
Bonner was 79, and reportedly died "due to an illness."
His daughter posted in a "WKRP in Cincinnati" Facebook group late Wednesday, "I’m deeply saddened to let you know that our beloved Frank Bonner passed away today at age 79. He loved his fans and was still signing autograph requests up until the last few weeks of his illness. Thank you to all who followed his career. He will be forever missed."
The show's resident "plaid boy," Bonner played fictional radio station WKRP's fast-talking, gleefully tacky ad sales manager Herb Tarlek from 1978-1982, appearing on all but two of the show's 90 episodes. Even in an office of miscreants and eccentrics, Herb was a fan favorite, and was a character Bonner revived on another 46 episodes of "The New WKRP in Cincinnati" from 1991-1993.
The character was the focus of the 2004 rock song "The Tarleks" by Rheostatics. Bonner gamely appeared in the music video.
Born February 28, 1942, in Little Rock, Arkansas, Bonner first tried acting in the experimental drama "The Equinox... A Journey into the Unknown" in 1967. The project was edited and released as a feature in 1970, becoming a cult classic.
He made the rounds on TV, guesting on sitcoms like "Nancy" (1970) and "Love, American Style" (1974), and on popular dramas including "Mannix" (1971), "The F.B.I." (1973), and "Emergency!" (1973) ahead of his run as Tarlek.
After the "WKRP's" initial run, he continued appearing on TV, including on the early Jim Carrey sitcom "The Duck Factory" (1984), "Gimme a Break!" (1982 & 1985), "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" (1985), "Punky Brewster" (1986), "Murder, She Wrote" (1986), and "Night Court" (1985 & 1986), and was a regular on both the short-lived series "Sidekicks" (1986) and the "Growing Pains" spin-off "Just the Ten of Us" (1988-1990).
Bonner also played Mr. Harrington on four episodes of "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" (1994).
A busy TV director, Bonner helmed episodes of everything from "WKRP" to "Family Ties" (1982), "Who's the Boss?" (1989), "Harry and the Hendersons" (1991-1993), and 105 episodes of "City Guys" (1997-2001).
Known mostly as a TV presence, Bonner finished his career in films, including his last, 2014's "Under the Hollywood Sign."
Bonner is survived by his fifth wife, high school sweetheart Gayle Hardage, to whom he had been wed since 2006, and his four children.
