Hollywood character actor James Handy, whose career spanned more than four decades and took in roles in Top Gun: Maverick, Jumanji and The X-Files, has been stabbed to death at his Los Angeles home — with the son of his girlfriend arrested on suspicion of his murder after surrendering to police.
Handy, 81, was found unconscious in the front yard of a property in Tarzana, in the San Fernando Valley, at 9.30am on Wednesday morning after officers responded to a 911 call. He had a stab wound to his chest and was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the Independent.
Michael Gledhill, 44, the son of Handy’s girlfriend, who lived at the residence with his mother, has since been arrested and booked at Van Nuys jail on suspicion of murder. No further details about the circumstances of the stabbing have been released by police at this stage.
Handy made his film debut in 1981 and went on to build one of Hollywood’s most reliable character actor careers over the following decades. Beyond his appearances in Top Gun: Maverick and Jumanji, his film credits included Bird, Arachnophobia, The Rocketeer, Logan and Suburbicon. On television he was a familiar face across some of the most celebrated American series of his era, appearing in Quantum Leap, Murder She Wrote, Melrose Place, NYPD Blue, The X-Files, The West Wing and Alias.
Tributes have poured in from across the industry. Writer Don Winslow recalled his “terrific” work on UC: Undercover, while entertainment journalist Jay Bobbin paid tribute to what he described as his “unforgettable” performance alongside Paul Newman in Sidney Lumet’s The Verdict in 1982.
