LONDON (AP) — Actor and singer David Soul, a 1970s heartthrob who starred as the blonde half of the crime-fighting duo “Starsky & Hutch” and topped the music charts with the ballad “Don't Give Up on Us,” has died at the age of 80.
His wife, Helen Snell, said Friday that “David Soul – beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother – passed away yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of his family. »
“He shared many extraordinary gifts around the world as an actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend,” Snell said in a statement. “His smile, his laugh and his passion for life will be remembered by many whose lives he touched.”
Born David Solberg, Soul was a Chicago native whose acting career dated back to the 1960s, when he joined Minnesota's avant-garde Firehouse Theater. He continued to appear on stage and in film well into the 20th century, but was best known for his work in the 1970s.
Soul played Detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside dark-haired Paul Michael Glaser as Detective David Starsky in “Starsky & Hutch,” which aired on ABC from 1975 to 1979 and became so popular that it spawned a range of children's toys.
He also had success as a singer, starting in 1976 with “Don't Give Up on Us”, followed by hits such as “Going in With My Eyes Open” and “Silver Lady”.
Soul first gained national fame in the 1960s when he appeared on “The Merv Griffin Show” as “The Covered Man,” a singer dressed in a beanie who shouted lyrics such as “That's why I hide my face, because a man must.” be free.”
His other television credits include appearances on “Star Trek,” “All in the Family” and “I Dream of Jeannie,” the miniseries “Salem's Lot” and a short-lived version of the film classic “Casablanca,” in which Soul took on the role of Humphrey Bogart as the owner of the Rock Blaine nightclub.
Soul's films included “Magnum Force,” “The Hanoi Hilton” and an appearance with Glaser in the 2004 big-screen remake of “Starsky & Hutch,” starring Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch.
By the 1990s, Soul had moved to Britain, where he performed several stage roles. In 2001, he won a libel suit against a journalist who called “The Dead Monkey,” a play Soul was in, the worst production he had ever seen — without having seen it. He also played the titular talk show host in “Jerry Springer – The Opera” in London's West End.