He was one half of the congenial police duo in the US cult series “Starsky and Hutch” from the 70s. Now actor David Soul, who played Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson in the four seasons, has died at the age of 80. The actor’s wife, Helen Snell, announced this in a statement, according to the industry website “The Hollywood Reporter”. Accordingly, Soul died last Thursday (January 4th) “in the presence of his loving family”.
The site quotes from Snell’s farewell words: “He gave the world many extraordinary gifts – as an actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and beloved friend. His smile, his laughter and his passion for life will be remembered by the many people whose Lives he touched.”
In the slapstick cinematic remake of “Starsky and Hutch” from 2004, in which Ben Stiller (58) and Owen Wilson (55) play the two title characters, Soul (as did his former TV colleague Paul Michael Glaser, 80) had one Cameo appearance.
Soul also appeared in over 50 episodes of the western series “Here Come the Brides” and clashed with Clint Eastwood’s (93) “Dirty Harry” in “Calahan” from 1973. The actor made his last appearance in a film in 2013 in the film “Drecksau”, alongside James McAvoy (44), among others.
Soul also achieved great success as a musician, especially outside of his hometown in the US: his self-titled debut album from 1976 reached number two in the charts in Great Britain, and the following album “Playing to an Audience of One” also made it into the top 10 there. Four more records followed by 1997. He had the most important hit of his singing career in 1977 with “Don’t Give Up on Us”.
