For many he will always be the blonde from Starsky and Hutch. David Soul, who rose to fame in the 1970s thanks to the legendary detective series, died on Thursday at the age of 80. It was his wife, Helen Snell, who was responsible for disseminating the news yesterday through a press release. “David Soul – beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother – died after a brave battle for life in the loving company of his family,” he began by saying. And the letter went on to highlight his versatility as performer: “He shared many extraordinary gifts with 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 people whose lives he touched.”
In addition to being an actor, Soul also stood out as a singer. He reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977 with the song Don’t give up on us (1977), which also reached number one in the UK. That same year he published another of his most remembered songs, Silver Lady.
But without a doubt it was the role of detective Kenneth Hutch that meant a before and after in the career and life of David Soul, born as Richard Solberg in Chicago and a British citizen twenty years ago. Along with his inseparable companion David Starsky, played by Paul Michael Glaser, the series marked a whole generation of young people and children who, in the midst of transition, followed, week after week, the frantic action of the chapters, more than 90, which they broadcast between 1975 and 1978 on the ABC chain and in Spain a little later, from 1977. One of the successes of the series was the chemistry that existed between the two protagonists, somewhat antagonistic in appearance and character, in addition of the thrilling chases they made in a legendary car, the Striped Tomato, a fast Ford Gran Torino, from 1975, red in color with white stripes. When Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson starred in the film adaptation of the series in 2004, Soul and Glaser did not hesitate to participate in the film by making a fun cameo.
But in addition to Starsky and Hutch, David Soul intervened in other successful series during that same decade of the seventies, such as Star Trek: And he also managed to play important roles in the cinema. Highlights include his appearances in Magnum Force, in which he shared a scene with Clint Eastwood, and El misterio de Salem’s Lot, a miniseries based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, alongside James Mason.
But in the eighties everything changed. David Soul, who did not know how to manage success, fell into alcoholism and his career fell into disrepair. Not only did he squander his fortune and sold his percentage of the rights to the series for about 90,000 euros, but his character became violent and he even assaulted his third wife, Patti Carnel, when she was pregnant with seven months He went to prison and did therapy for a couple of years, which also marked his life. After overcoming the theft, he dedicated himself to visiting prisons to raise awareness among inmates about the problems of domestic violence and alcoholism.
With six children and five marriages, David Soul’s love life was also marked by instability. Finally, in the mid-nineties, the performer moved to live in London, where he met his last wife, Helen Snell, and where he resumed his career as an actor on the West End stage. Afflicted with health problems due to his past with alcohol and tobacco, and after cancer, David Soul, who asked his girlfriend in his famous song Don’t Give up on us
