David Soul, the actor best known for his starring role in the TV series Starsky & Hutch, has died, his wife said in a statement Friday. He was 80.
Helen Snell said her husband “died yesterday 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 continued. “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”
Soul played the eponymous Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson on Starsky & Hutch in the 1970s alongside Paul Michael Glaser as Detective Dave Starsky. He also had roles in Magnum Force, Here Come the Brides, and The Yellow Rose.
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After his success with Starsky & Hutch, Soul released several successful records—including the single Don’t Give Up on Us, which went to No. 1 in the U.S., and Silver Lady, a hit in the U.K. the same year.
Soul was married five times. In the 1980s, Soul was jailed and ordered to attend therapy classes for alcoholism after attacking his then-wife, who was seven months pregnant at the time, according to the Telegraph.
He moved to the U.K. in the 1990s where he obtained British citizenship. Soul performed in several London plays, including as Jerry Springer in Jerry Springer: The Opera. In 2001, he won a libel battle against a British newspaper after a journalist described a play in which Soul appeared as the worst West End show they’d ever seen, which it turned out the critic hadn’t seen.
Both Soul and Glaser made cameo appearances in the 2004 movie adaptation of Starsky & Hutch starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.
