Cliff Pinckard
cleveland.com
LOS ANGELES — James Handy, a longtime actor who appeared in “Top Gun: Maverick” and other major films, was stabbed to death Wednesday by the son of his girlfriend, police say.
A news release from the Los Angeles Police Department said the stabbing occurred around 9:30 a.m. in the West Valley area. Police say a man called 911 and told the dispatcher “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
When officers arrived, they found Handy, 81, unconscious in the front yard of a home with a stab wound to the chest. He was taken to a hospital but died of his wound, police said.
The suspect, identified as 44-year-old Michael Gledhill, flagged down officers and told them he was the one they were looking for, according to police. Gledhill lives at the home where the stabbing occurred with his mother, who is Handy’s girlfriend.
Gledhill is being held in jail on $2 million bail for one count of murder.
Handy’s first acting credit was in 1977 in two episodes of the soap opera “Ryan’s Hope.” His first major film role was as the sheriff in the 1981 film “Taps,” which starred George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise.
His career continued with appearances in multiple hit TV shows such as “Cagney & Lacey,” the original “Matlock,” “Quantum Leap,” “NYPD Blue” and “ER.”
His final credited role was as a bartender in 2022 in “Top Gun: Maverick.”
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