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Starsky & Hutch Actor, David Soul Dies At 80

The actor who portrayed Sergeant Kenneth Richard “Hutch” Hutchinson in the critically acclaimed TV series Starsky & Hutch, has passed on peacefully on Thursday, announced by his wife on his website. By: Cassia Ling

Born in Chicago on August 28, 1943, Soul took on a dual profession of acting and singing in the ‘60s. In 1967, he sang on The Merv Griffin Show which caught the attention of high-profile filmmakers and was casted in Flipper. The actor-singer then managed to ink with Columbia Pictures and starred as Joshua Bolt, who makes an honest living working as a lumberjack and brother to the protagonist, Jason Bolt on Here Comes the Brides. The series persisted for 2 years since 1968, which had allowed Soul to trailblaze in Hollywood.

In 1971, Soul debuted in his career as an actor in Johnny Got His Gun and subsequently appeared opposite Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force, one of Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movies. After more guest roles, he landed on the role which garnered him offshore recognition in Starsky & Hutch, along with Paul Michael Glaser as Sergeant David Michael Starsky. The duo starred as Southern California police detectives, originally in a 1975 pilot movie which then segued into a weekly TV series on ABC until 1979.

The fraternal camaraderie shared between the duo was different than other atypical cop shows, as the series manifests Starsky and Hutch being a pillar of support to one another and surmounting adversaries in unanimity. The endearment shared between the buddy cops became the holy grail of the ‘70s and punchlines to erotic jest.

With escalating consternation of TV violence, the series had simmered and incorporated more social themes and friendship into the trilogy. Ratings soon waned after, and Glaser publicised his departure on the show with the last run of Season 4.

In honour of the show, a prequel of the series was made, starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as Starsky and Hutch respectively where Soul and Glaser had also made cameo appearances.

He was also casted in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot in 1979. Soul portrayed as Ben Mears, a writer who returns to his hometown of Salem’s Lot, Maine only to find out that it was swarmed with vampires.

Soul had also persisted in his singing career in the ‘70s, Don’t Give Up on Us and Silver Lady which was highly sought after. He released five studio albums and seven compilations during his career.

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