Occupation Actor, director Years active 1970–present | Name Frank Bonner Role Actor | |
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Full Name Frank Woodrow Boers, Jr. Born February 28, 1942 (age 82) ( 1942-02-28 ) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. Spouse Gayle Bonner (m. 2006) Parents Grace Marie Boers, Frank Woodrow Boers Movies and TV shows WKRP in Cincinnati, Equinox, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, Just the Ten of Us, Sidekicks Similar People Richard Sanders, Gordon Jump, Gary Sandy, Jan Smithers, Howard Hesseman |
Toyota 1976 TV commercial with Frank Bonner
Frank Bonner (born Frank Woodrow Boers Jr., February 28, 1942) is an American actor and television director best known for playing sales manager Herb Tarlek on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.
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Life and career

Bonner was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of Mamie Grace (née Dobbins), a singer, and Frank Woodrow Boers, a saxophone player. Bonner started his acting career in the experimental 1967 independent film The Equinox ... A Journey into the Unknown, which was remade as the 1970 cult classic Equinox (credited as Frank Boers, Jr.).

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).
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. (This show was a spin-off of Growing Pains). Bonner also appeared in one of the early episodes of the television show Newhart.
Bonner also directed several episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati as well as other TV sitcoms, 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.
