lit a candle 3h agoTold my dad and he just went quiet for a second, then said Hutch, like that explained everything. I only know the guy from the Starsky & Hutch gifs honestly. 80 years old.
Their story
David Soul, born David Richard Solberg in Chicago on August 28, 1943, was an American-British actor and singer whose career spanned five decades. He became one of the best known faces of 1970s television as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson, the blond, thoughtful half of the crime-fighting partnership in Starsky &…
David Soul, born David Richard Solberg in Chicago on August 28, 1943, was an American-British actor and singer whose career spanned five decades. He became one of the best known faces of 1970s television as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson, the blond, thoughtful half of the crime-fighting partnership in Starsky & Hutch, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979 opposite Paul Michael Glaser.
Soul was of Norwegian descent. His mother, June Joanne (Nelson), was a teacher, and his father, Dr. Richard W. Solberg, was a Lutheran minister, professor of history and political science, and later director of higher education for the Lutheran Church in America. From 1953 to 1956 his father was senior representative for Lutheran World Relief during the reconstruction of Germany, so the family moved often, and David spent part of his childhood in post-war Berlin. He graduated from Washington High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, studied for two years at Augustana College, and then spent a year at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, where students taught him to play the guitar and he decided to follow music.
Back in the United States he sang at a University of Minnesota club, the 10 O'Clock Scholar, and became a founding member of the Firehouse Theater in Minneapolis, travelling with the company to New York in 1965. He first drew national attention as the "Covered Man" on The Merv Griffin Show in 1966 and 1967, singing while wearing a mask. After signing with Columbia Pictures in 1967 he played Joshua Bolt in Here Come the Brides (1968 to 1970), guest starred in Star Trek, All in the Family and The Streets of San Francisco, and played Officer John Davis in the Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force (1973).
Starsky & Hutch made him a star, and he also directed three episodes. At the same time he returned to his singing roots. "Don't Give Up on Us" went to number one in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada in 1977, and "Silver Lady" also reached number one in the UK, among several further top 10 hits. He toured widely in the US, Europe, Asia and South America from 1976 to 1982. In 1979 he led the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot with James Mason, and later starred in Casablanca (1983), The Yellow Rose, The Key to Rebecca, In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders and The Hanoi Hilton. He also directed the Miami Vice episode "No Exit".
In the mid-1990s Soul moved to the United Kingdom and built a second career on the London stage, in Comic Potential, Blood Brothers, Jerry Springer: The Opera (from July 2004 at the Cambridge Theatre) and Mack and Mabel (2006). He campaigned for his friend Martin Bell in the 1997 Tatton election and again in 2001. British audiences saw him in Holby City, Little Britain, Poirot's Death on the Nile, Dalziel and Pascoe, Lewis, Top Gear and BBC Two's Maestro, and he sang "Silver Lady" again in the film Filth (2013) and a 2014 National Express advert. He became a British citizen in 2004.
Soul was married five times and had six children, including the singer-songwriter China Soul. His fifth wife was Helen Snell, whom he married in 2010. He entered rehabilitation for alcoholism in 1989. A heavy smoker for decades, he had lived with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had a lung removed because of cancer, though no cause of death was announced.
David Soul died in London on January 4, 2024, aged 80. Helen Snell said he died "after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family," adding that his "smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched."
Biography adapted from Wikipedia; BBC News, CNN, NBC News, AP and Deadline reports of January 5, 2024. Wikipedia ↗
In their own words
“My name is David Soul, and I want to be known for my music.”
As the masked Covered Man on The Merv Griffin Show, 1966 to 1967
“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.”
Helen Snell, his wife, announcing his death, January 5, 2024
Photos
2David Soul in 1975, ABC publicity photo for Starsky & Hutch
by People Forever
David Soul in 2013
by People Forever
same, my mom reacted the exact same way