Frank Bonner

Frank Bonner

born Frank Woodrow Boers Jr.
February 28, 1942 – June 16, 2021

Frank Bonner began acting in the experimental 1967 independent film The Equinox... A Journey into the Unknown, which was reshot and re-edited as the 1970 cult classic Equinox (in which he is credited as Frank Boers Jr.).

He later had several small roles in movies and on television, including Mannix and Love, American Style. In 1978 he joined the cast of WKRP in Cincinnati, finding his signature role as Herb Tarlek, the crass and ineffectual station advertising sales agent, noted for his garish plaid suits and white shoes.

Bonner appeared as a guest star in one episode of the sitcom Night Court in the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, Bonner played the role of Father Hargis, headmaster of the fictional St. Augustine's Academy, on the TV show Just the Ten of Us, which was a spin-off of Growing Pains. He also appeared in one of the early episodes of the television show Newhart. He reprised the role of Herb Tarlek in the 1991 spinoff The New WKRP in Cincinnati and in a 2004 rock video for Canadian indie rock band Rheostatics (for the song "The Tarleks", from their album 2067).

After directing six episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati, he directed for other television shows in the 1980s and 1990s, including Who's the Boss?, Head of the Class, Evening Shade, Newhart and every episode of the NBC Saturday morning sitcom City Guys. Bonner also appeared in five episodes of Saved by the Bell: The New Class, and directed four episodes.

Good Night Mr. Bonner


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Tony Figueroa