The Passing of David Soul:

The Passing of David Soul: 

It’s awful to start the new year with such sad news, but yesterday we received word that Starsky and Hutch and Magnum Force star David Soul had died at the age of 80. 

The BBC said, his wife, Helen Snell said he died on Thursday "after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family. He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend," she said. "His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched."

The US-born actor was best known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the classic crime-solving series Starsky & Hutch. He starred opposite Paul Michael Glaser in the series, which ran from 1975 to 1979.

He and Glaser reprised their roles in the 2004 remake Starsky & Hutch, starring Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch. Soul was also known for his roles in Here Come the Brides, Magnum Force and The Yellow Rose. He also starred in several British television programmes including Holby City, Little Britain and Lewis. In 2004 he obtained British citizenship.

Like a lot of the Eastwood fan community, the link and crossover between Magnum Force and Starsky & Hutch has always been strong. As a fan who was simply just too young to catch Magnum Force in the cinema on its initial release, we certainly had the chance to watch the classic TV cop show on a weekly basis in the 70’s. It was a great education which would lead us nicely into Magnum Force when it first emerged on home video. David Soul of course got his break as rookie officer John Davis in Clint's Dirty Harry sequel, and helped land him the part in Starsky & Hutch. 

Life and career:

Soul was born on August 28, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois. He began performing on stage as an actor in the mid-1960s, when he became a founding member of the Firehouse Theatre in Minneapolis. He travelled with the company to New York City in 1965, appearing in Bertolt Brecht's Baal and John Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance. Soul first gained national attention as the "Covered Man" appearing on The Merv Griffin Show in 1966 and 1967, on which he sang while wearing a mask. He explained: "My name is David Soul, and I want to be known for my music." The same year, he made his television debut in Flipper.

In 1967, he signed a contract with Columbia Pictures and following a number of guest appearances, including the episode "The Apple" from the second season of Star Trek, he landed the role of Joshua Bolt on the television program Here Come the Brides with co-stars Robert Brown, Bobby Sherman, and Bridget Hanley. The series was telecast on the ABC television network from September 25, 1968, to September 18, 1970. In 1972, he co-starred as Arthur Hill's law partner on Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. Following numerous guest-starring roles on TV, including The Streets of San Francisco, he was cast by Clint Eastwood in the film Magnum Force. 

His breakthrough came when he portrayed Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson on Starsky & Hutch, a role he played from 1975 until 1979. Soul also directed three episodes of Starsky and Hutch: "Huggy Can't Go Home" (1979), "Manchild on the Streets" (1977), and "Survival" (1977). During his career he made guest appearances on Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie, McMillan & Wife, Cannon, Gunsmoke, All in the Family, and numerous TV movies and mini-series, including Homeward Bound (1980), World War III, and Rage (1980), a TV movie commended on the floor of the U.S. Senate and for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. Soul also starred with James Mason in the 1979 TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot, which was edited and released as a theatrical feature film in some countries.

During the mid-1970s, Soul returned to his singing roots. He scored one US hit with "Don't Give Up on Us" (1977) which reached No. 1 in the US and the UK. "Silver Lady" (1977) hit No. 1 in the UK. From 1976 until 1978, he had five UK top 20 singles and two top 10 UK albums. From 1976 to 1982, he toured extensively in the U.S., Europe, Far East, and South America.

In the U.S., he continued to make guest appearances on various television series. He starred in the miniseries The Manions of America as Caleb Staunton in 1981. He starred in the short-lived 1983 NBC series Casablanca, playing nightclub owner Rick Blaine (the role that was made famous by Humphrey Bogart in the 1942 film Casablanca), and co-starred in the NBC series The Yellow Rose during the 1983–1984 season. He also starred in the television adaptation of Ken Follett's wartime drama The Key to Rebecca (1985) directed by David Hemmings. He later starred as the infamous Florida robber Michael Lee Platt in the TV movie In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders (1988), which depicted the 1986 FBI Miami shootout, subsequently used as an FBI training film. Soul also directed the episode "No Exit" of the 1980s TV series Miami Vice. In 1987, Soul was cast as Major Oldham in the movie The Hanoi Hilton.

In the mid-1990s, Soul moved to the United Kingdom, forging a new career on the West End stage, including the role of Chandler Tate in Comic Potential and The Narrator in Blood Brothers. He also participated in the successful 1997 election campaign of his friend Martin Bell who ran as an MP for Tatton, as well as Bell's unsuccessful campaign in Brentwood in Essex in the 2001 General Election.

In 2001 and 2002, he appeared in Holby City as Alan Fletcher. In 2003, he appeared (as himself) in the first series of the BBC's Little Britain. In 2004, he appeared in Agatha Christie's Poirot – Death on the Nile in the role of Andrew Pennington (he had also starred in the 1989 film adaptation of Christie's Appointment with Death). Soul was a guest on the BBC's Top Gear. He was one of the fastest drivers to have appeared on the show, but managed to break the car's gearbox (and subsequently a backup car's) very close to the finish. On July 12, 2004, he took over playing the role of Jerry Springer in Jerry Springer: The Opera at the Cambridge Theatre in London, televised by the BBC in 2005. He returned to the West End in 2006, playing Mack in a new production of Jerry Herman's musical Mack and Mabel at the Criterion Theatre. The production co-starred Janie Dee and was directed by John Doyle. He also appeared in the TV series Dalziel & Pascoe (Game of Soldiers). He had a brief cameo in the 2004 movie version of Starsky & Hutch, alongside original co-star Paul Michael Glaser.

In August 2008, Soul appeared in the reality TV talent show-themed television series Maestro on BBC Two mentored by Natalia Luis-Bassa. He appeared with Fred Ward and Willem Dafoe in the film Farewell directed by Christian Carion, which received its U.S. release in 2010. In June 2012, Soul made a one-week appearance with Jerry Hall at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, in a reprise of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play by A. R. Gurney, Love Letters. On July 29, 2012, he appeared in an episode of the British television detective drama series Lewis, playing a murder victim. He was also featured in the hit album by Fosseytango, singing on the track "Landlord". In 2013, Soul appeared in a cameo role in the Scottish film Filth lip-syncing his own recording of "Silver Lady". In 2014, Soul appeared in a British television commercial for National Express singing "Silver Lady" while driving a coach.

Soul was married five times and had five sons and a daughter. He was 21 when he married his high school sweetheart, Mirriam "Mim" Solberg (née Russeth), in 1964. The couple had one child, a son. The marriage lasted under two years, ending in divorce. Soul's second marriage was to actress Karen Carlson in 1968, after they met on the set of the television series Here Come the Brides. They had a son together, Kristjian Solberg, born April 3, 1971. The couple divorced in 1977. During the years he was filming Starsky & Hutch, Soul had an open relationship with actress Lynne Marta. On October 12, 1980, Soul married Patti Carnel Sherman, ex-wife of Bobby Sherman, teen idol and cast member of the television series Here Comes the Brides. Soul became stepfather to Carnel-Sherman's two children with Bobby Sherman. Soul was jailed and ordered to attend therapy classes for alcoholism and anger management after attacking her when she was seven months pregnant with his child. They reunited temporarily, divorcing shortly thereafter in 1986.

In 1987, Soul married actress Julia Nickson. The couple had a daughter, China Soul, who is a singer/songwriter. Nickson urged Soul to seek help for his excessive drinking, persuading him to enter a rehabilitation facility in 1989. Soul married his fifth and last wife, Helen Snell on June 26, 2010. Snell was an English public relations officer in the British stage production of Deathtrap. They had been in a relationship since 2002 after meeting when Soul was working in that play. He referred to her as his soulmate.

In 2004, Soul obtained British citizenship. He credited his relationship with Helen as his reason for obtaining citizenship and stated that he knew he "wanted to spend the rest of his life there with Helen." Soul was a three-pack-a-day cigarette smoker for fifty years. Although he had stopped smoking ten years prior to his death, he was seriously affected by COPD and had also had a lung removed due to cancer. Soul died in a London hospital, surrounded by his family. 

RIP David