A Tough Month For ’80s Canadian Icons
There was an obituary in the Times today for Neil Hope, the actor who played the sometimes homeless alcoholic character Wheels on the low-tech, every-episode-a-special-episode 80s Degrassi series. Apparently the character’s demons and struggles were in some measure based on the actor’s. The really sad part: he passed away in 2007, and “[f]amily members, who declined to be interviewed, found out about his death only recently.”
Also recently passed, Jan Berenstain, co-creator of the Berenstain Bears children’s book series.
As someone who grew up with Joey, Snake, and Wheels, that’s just about the saddest thing I’ve ever read.
I’m afraid to ask about the other icon(s) you refer to.
The Toronto Star has a very good story about Hope’s post-Degrassi days.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1137795–degrassi-s-wheels-the-lost-years-of-neil-hope?bn=1