David Soul, One Half Of The Famed Starsky & Hutch, Has Died At 80
Actor David Soul, best known for playing Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the 1970s cop show "Starsky & Hutch," has died at the age of 80. In a statement shared on social media and with news outlets, Soul's wife, Helen Snell, said that he had died on Thursday, January 5, "after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family." Describing Soul as a "beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother," Snell added:
"He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend. His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched."
Soul was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943, but obtained British citizenship in 2004 and married Snell, his fifth wife, in 2010. Speaking to the Daily Mail about his decision to move to England, Soul said that meeting Snell was "life-changing" and that he became a British citizen because "I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life here with Helen."
The actor had previously been arrested in 1983 for hitting his third wife, Patti Carnel Sherman, when she was seven months pregnant. Discussing the attack in 2003, Soul said, "There is no excuse. The hardest part is to look at oneself and to those you love and that you have hurt. We live with the guilt and shame."
Starsky & Hutch & beyond
Following a string of TV guest appearances early in his career, Soul landed a role as a rookie cop in the "Dirty Harry" movie "Magnum Force," which led to his breakthrough starring role in "Starsky & Hutch." Show creator William Blinn had originally envisioned a series with "more humanity, less car-adjacent gimmickry." While the homoerotic tension between Starsky and Hutch has been much commented-upon since, he wanted to push the idea that "the job was the mistress" even further with an episode revealing that Hutch's wife had named Starsky in their divorce proceedings, blaming him for "alienation of affections." (Sadly, this episode never made it into the show).
Soul's co-star, Paul Michael Glaser, recalled in a recent interview with That's Classic! that he first crossed paths with Soul at an actors showcase for agents, where Soul performed a scene from "A Hatful of Rain" with his performing partner. "They did their scene, which was all very dramatic and very good, and I did my monologue, which was really quite bad," Glaser laughed. The two then crossed paths here and there on back lots when they were doing TV guest spots, until finally they were cast as one of the most iconic and influential buddy-cop duos in TV history.
"Starsky & Hutch" ran from 1975 to 1979, and the year that it ended Soul also starred in Tobe Hooper's TV adaptation of the Stephen King novel "Salem's Lot" (pictured above). Having long been passionate about making music, Soul also used the success of the show to launch his career as a singer, scoring a No. 1 US hit with 1977's "Don't Give Up On Us." He later went on to cameo (alongside Glaser) in the 2004 film "Starsky & Hutch," which starred Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the title roles and also featured his famous song.