Forgotten Superstars: Frank Bonner

 We have plenty of sad news as far as passings go, but I wanted to do something special for one of them and place them into the Forgotten Superstars universe here at TRS.

Frank Bonner's recent passing at the age of 79 may have been missed by most, but to Cherie and myself was a loss equal to many stars that were far better known to the general public.

Bonner was a character actor that would eventually transition to the director's chair but will be remembered by me as the actor that brought one of my favorite television characters to life.

Bonner's portrayal of the hopelessly inept salesman with the loud suit, Herb Tarlek, on WKRP in Cincinnati has to be one of the best acting jobs of the era. 

Bonner's Tarlek showed an everyman that desperately wanted to be shown as one person, yet underneath the outer shell, not only knew that he wasn't that person- he didn't really want to be.

For a character to be so remembered over forty years and a supporting character at that, takes an accomplished actor and while Bonner may have been stereotyped as Herb Tarlek a bit, I think his portrayal hit home with the average viewer.

If you are 45 and up and you see someone wearing loud clothing, the name "Herb Tarlek" not only is likely to be mentioned- most people of that age will get the reference.

Almost everyone knows a Herb Tarlek and that's where Bonner comes in.

Bonner managed to take a character that could have easily been a stereotype and not only used the obvious to make him hilarious, he occasionally made him human and relatable.

The best evidence of this came in an episode that saw Loni Anderson's "Jennifer Marlowe" finally give Herb Tarlek what he had begged for in every episode of the series- a date with her, despite Tarlek being married.

The show progressed with Herb bragging about his pulling off the thought to be an impossible feat, and the actual date itself, which in the end sees Herb admit that as attractive as he thought Jennifer was that he was going to be loyal to his wife, which was the point of the entire date to hopefully call Herb's bluff and eliminate the constant leering.

But Bonner managed to make Herb sympathetic when lesser actors would have played the final scene as the comeuppance of a buffoon, Bonner didn't play for easy laughs.

Bonner instead showed the pain of a guy who only wants to fit in and be liked, yet doesn't know how to accomplish that and wants to just once be looked at more than he is.

You don't see that often in television, let alone in a sitcom of the 80s and yet Frank Bonner pulled this off in a poignant yet not a typical reach for the heartstrings television moment.

Bonner's Tarlek didn't lack for comedic moments, such as his mixing up the photos for a store display or his commercial jingle (which to this day kills me), but I always admired his skill in making what could have been an unlikeable character and turning him into a beloved one.

Bonner only was part of two other shows after WKRP, one of them the attempted relaunch in the 90s, with the other as a priest in "Just the ten of us" a Growing Pains spinoff, but that could have been wanting to direct rather than act at certain stages of his career.

Frank Bonner bringing an iconic character to life won't be forgotten by me and we welcome him to the Forgotten Superstars universe.