Popular actor and singer David Soul is dead at 80 years of age. Soul died on Jan. 4, 2024, and his family announced his passing shortly after. “David Soul—beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother—died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family,” Soul’s family said in a statement released by his wife, Helen Snell.
“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as an 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.”
According to his biography, David Richard Solberg was born in Chicago on Aug. 28, 1943, to a Lutheran minister and teacher. He started as a talented athlete in baseball.
At 18, he got a contract to play baseball for the Chicago White Sox. However, his passion was not on the court but on stage. Therefore, he launched his acting career as a founding member of the Firehouse Theatre Company in Minneapolis.
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His first major breakthrough was in 1967 when he appeared on “The Merv Griffin Show” as “The Covered Man.” On the show, he played a singer who performed while wearing a mask and looked more like a bank robber than a blues singer.
Later, in 2007, “The Covered Man” became the title of his well-known autobiography. His success in the movie also led him to a family-friendly show and his first television appearance on “Flipper.”
Soul’s biggest break came from his role as Detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson in “Starsky & Hutch” opposite Paul Michael Glaser, who played Detective Dave Starsky. The shoe was a hit from the start and ran from 1975 to 1979. It also made him the big star he was till his death.
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As an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, Soul also played the role of Swede in the 1971 anti-war movie “Johnny Got His Gun.” As the multitalented star he was, Soul also has a successful singing career. He scored a U.S. chart-topping hit in 1977 with “Don’t Give Up on Us,” and “Silver Lady” was No. 1 in the United Kingdom.
However, he kept the majority of his career in acting and continued working regularly on TV. In the 1990s, he moved to Britain and launched a new career as a stage actor. He performed at West End, London’s equivalent of Broadway.
He later became a British citizen, and London became his new home. Regarding his personal life, it is safe to say the actor loved and lost. He married five times and had five sons and a daughter from his marriages.
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He found eternal marital bliss with Helen Snell in 2010, and the duo were married till his death. In his later years, Soul suffered from cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, despite his battles, his spirit was strong until the end.
He also made a joke some months before his death, saying he would like to reprise his role as Hutch with Glaser by his side. Sadly, we will never get to see this, but David Soul’s legacy lives on.
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