Hollywood actor James Handy, who appeared in hit films including Top Gun: Maverick and Jumanji, has been stabbed to death in Los Angeles.
His girlfriend’s son Michael Gledhill was arrested and has been booked on suspicion of the 81 year-old’s murder.
The LAPD said it attended a home in Tarzana Wednesday morning after receiving a 911 call in which a caller said: “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
When they arrived they found Handy stabbed in the chest on the front lawn. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Gledhill, who lives at the home with his mother, told cops he was the person they were looking for according to police.
The 44 year-old was arrested and booked at the Van Nuys jail on suspicion of one count of murder. Bail was set at $2m, according to jail records.
Investigators said they believed the stabbing was “an isolated incident” and that there was “no danger to the public at this time”.
No motive for the stabbing was disclosed and police requested anyone with additional information about the incident to get in touch with them.
Handy’s agent, Pam Ellis-Evenas, confirmed his death to The Independent: “With great sadness I can confirm that the gentleman who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy.
“I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend than James Handy.”
Handy worked across film and television for nearly 50 years, accumulating more than 150 screen credits.
Former colleagues have been paying tribute as the news emerged that he had been killed.
Scott Alan Smith, professor of Performing Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design, who directed James Handy in a play in 2018, has paid tribute to the actor in a post on Facebook.
“Jim was not only a truly great actor, he was also a prince of a man – kind and generous and giving to his cast and audience,” Smith wrote.
Actress Nancy Lipner recalled working with Handy when he was cast as her father in a play in New York City.
“He was only two or three years older than I, but somehow he brought it off, in large part because he was a terrific character actor and even though, as he told me, not particularly at home in anything resembling classic theatre,” she wrote.
Born in New York City, he made his screen debut in 1977 in the ABC daytime drama Ryan’s Hope.
He later appeared in TV series such as NYPD Blue, Alias, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, ER, The X-Files, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, and 9-1-1.
His film credits included The Verdict, Arachnophobia, The Rocketeer, Point of No Return, Unbreakable, and Logan.
In Top Gun: Maverick, released in 2022, Handy played the bartender Jimmy alongside Jennifer Connelly.
In the 1995 fantasy film Jumanji, starring Robin Williams, he appeared as an exterminator.
