David Soul (1943–2024), Starsky & Hutch star
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3 min readDavid Soul was an actor and singer known for his starring role in “Starsky & Hutch” and his hit single “Don’t Give Up on Us.”
- Died: January 4, 2024 (Who else died on January 4?)
- Details of death: Died in London at the age of 80.
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David Soul’s legacy
Soul’s TV and musical career began in the mid-1960s, with notable early appearances including a “Masked Singer”-style stint on “The Merv Griffin Show.” Born David Solberg, Soul sent an audition tape to a talent agency, singing with a ski mask covering his face. He was signed, and he went masked as “The Covered Man” on “The Merv Griffin Show” for several appearances, later removing the mask and singing as himself.
Those early appearances helped quickly catapult Soul to stardom. After guest spots on “Flipper” and “Star Trek,” he landed a role on the late-1960s TV series “Here Come the Brides,” starring as Joshua Bolt, brother of Jason Bolt, played by Robert Brown (1926–2022). The show propelled Soul to teen idol status, and in 1975, he took on the role that would define his career, playing Detective Sergeant Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson on “Starsky & Hutch.” The show was a hit and remains a staple favorite of 1970s TV. Soul and his costar, Paul Michael Glaser, reprised their roles in the 2004 movie reboot, “Starsky & Hutch.”
At the height of his TV fame, Soul began releasing albums, and in 1976, he topped charts around the world with the soft rock single “Don’t Give Up on Us.” It was the biggest hit of his singing career, and he followed it with such singles as “Going in with My Eyes Open” and “Silver Lady.”
Another of Soul’s top acting roles came in 1979 with the TV movie adaptation of Stephen King’s vampire novel, “Salem’s Lot.” He played vampire-fighting author Ben Mears. Soul’s other TV appearances included “All in the Family,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” and “Murder, She Wrote.” Later in life, he relocated to the U.K., appearing on British TV in such shows as “Little Britain,” “Top Gear,” and “Poirot,” as well as in stage roles.
Soul on “Starsky & Hutch”
“The humor was generated by us – that was the way we worked. There was never any one-upmanship – we didn’t do that. We trusted each other. That’s the fun of it: buying into each other and then turning the tables at the end.” —from a 2019 interview for the Sunday Times
Tributes to David Soul
Full obituary: BBC
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