David Soul | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Soul in 1975 | |
| Born | David Richard Solberg (1943-08-28)August 28, 1943 |
| Died | January 4, 2024(2024-01-04) (aged 80) London, England |
| Citizenship |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1961–2014 |
| Known for | Joshua Bolt –Here Come the Brides Detective Kenneth Richard "Hutch" Hutchinson –Starsky & Hutch |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 6, includingChina Soul |
| Website | davidsoul |
David Soul (bornDavid Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943 – January 4, 2024) was an American-British actor and singer. With a career spanning five decades, he rose to prominence for portraying Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the American television seriesStarsky & Hutch from 1975 to 1979. His other notable roles included Joshua Bolt onHere Come the Brides from 1968 to 1970 and as the lead actor in the 1979 American TV movieSalem's Lot. Soul also portrayed Officer John Davis in the 1973 movieMagnum Force.
During his career, Soul also found success as a singer, achieving a number one single on the USBillboard Hot 100 in 1977 with "Don't Give Up on Us", which also peaked at number one in the United Kingdom and Canada. He achieved a further four top 10 entries and an additional number one single on theUK Singles Chart with "Silver Lady". In the 1990s, Soul moved to the UK and found renewed success on theWest End stage. He also made cameo appearances in British TV shows, includingLittle Britain,Holby City, andLewis.[1][2]
Soul was born on August 28, 1943, inChicago,Illinois,[3] and was of Norwegian descent. His mother, June Joanne (Nelson), was a teacher, and his father, Dr. Richard W. Solberg, was aLutheran minister, professor of History and Political Science, and director of Higher Education for theLutheran Church in America (now part of theELCA).[4] Both of Soul's grandfathers wereevangelists.[5] Dr. Solberg was also senior representative forLutheran World Relief during the reconstruction of Germany afterWorld War II from 1953 until 1956.[6] Because of this, the family moved frequently during Soul's youth, later learning Spanish.[2][7] David's brother Daniel became a Lutheran pastor.[8]
The family was living inSioux Falls, South Dakota, where Soul's father taught political science and history atAugustana College, when Soul graduated from that city'sWashington High School.[9][10] Soul attended Augustana College for two years before the family moved again, this time toMexico City, where he studied for one year at theUniversity of the Americas.[10]
While in Mexico, inspired by students who taught him to play the guitar, Soul changed his direction and decided to follow his passion for music.[11] Upon returning from Mexico, he was hired to sing in a club at theUniversity of Minnesota, The 10 O'Clock Scholar.[12]
Soul began performing on stage as an actor in the mid-1960s when he became a founding member of theFirehouse Theater in Minneapolis. He traveled with the company to New York City in 1965, appearing inBertolt Brecht'sBaal andJohn Arden'sSerjeant Musgrave's Dance.[13][14] Soul first gained national attention as the "Covered Man," appearing onThe Merv Griffin Show in 1966 and 1967, on which he sang while wearing a mask. He explained: "My name is David Soul, and I want to be known for my music."[15] The same year, he made his television debut inFlipper.[16]
In 1967, he signed a contract withColumbia Pictures[17] and following a number of guest roles, he landed the role of Joshua Bolt on the television programHere Come the Brides with co-starsRobert Brown,Bobby Sherman, andBridget Hanley.[18][19] The series was telecast on theABC television network from September 25, 1968, to September 18, 1970.[20] In 1972, he co-starred as Arthur Hill's law partner onOwen Marshall, Counselor at Law. Following numerous guest-starring roles on TV, includingThe Streets of San Francisco, he was cast withClint Eastwood in the filmMagnum Force.[21]
His breakthrough came when he portrayed Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson onStarsky & Hutch, a role he played from 1975 until 1979.[22][23] Soul also directed three episodes ofStarsky and Hutch.[18] During his career he made guest appearances onStar Trek,I Dream of Jeannie,McMillan & Wife,Cannon,Gunsmoke,All in the Family, and numerous TV movies and mini-series, includingHomeward Bound (1980),World War III, andRage (1980).[22] Soul also starred withJames Mason in the1979 TV miniseries adaptation ofStephen King's'Salem's Lot, which was edited and released as a theatrical feature film in some countries.[22][24]
During the mid-1970s, Soul returned to his singing roots. He scored one US hit with "Don't Give Up on Us" (1977) which reached No. 1 in the US and the UK.[25][26] "Silver Lady" (1977) hit No. 1 in the UK.[16] From 1976 to 1982, he toured extensively in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America.[27]
In the U.S., he continued to make guest appearances on various television series. He starred in the miniseriesThe Manions of America as Caleb Staunton in 1981.[28] He starred in the short-lived 1983 NBC seriesCasablanca,[29] playing nightclub owner Rick Blaine (the role that was made famous byHumphrey Bogart in the 1942 filmCasablanca),[30] and co-starred in theNBC seriesThe Yellow Rose during the 1983–1984 season.[22] He also starred in the television adaptation ofKen Follett's wartime dramaThe Key to Rebecca (1985) directed byDavid Hemmings.[31] He later starred as the infamous Florida robberMichael Lee Platt in the TV movieIn the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders (1988),[32] which depicted the1986 FBI Miami shootout, subsequently used as an FBI training film. Soul also directed the episode "No Exit" of the 1980s TV seriesMiami Vice.[33] In 1987, Soul was cast as Major Oldham in the movieThe Hanoi Hilton.[34]
In the mid-1990s, Soul moved to the United Kingdom, forging a new career on theWest End stage, including the role of Chandler Tate inComic Potential and The Narrator inBlood Brothers.[35] He also participated in the successful1997 election campaign of his friendMartin Bell who ran as anMP forTatton, as well as Bell's unsuccessful campaign inBrentwood in Essex in the2001 general election.[36]
In 2001 and 2002, he appeared inHolby City as Alan Fletcher.[37]
In 2003, he appeared (as himself) in the first series of theBBC'sLittle Britain.[27] In 2004, he appeared inAgatha Christie's Poirot –Death on the Nile in the role of Andrew Pennington (he had also starred in the 1989 film adaptation of Christie'sAppointment with Death).[27] Soul was a guest on the BBC'sTop Gear.[27] He was one of the fastest drivers to have appeared on the show, finishing the lap in 1:54:00,[38] but managed to break the car'sgearbox (and subsequently a backup car's) very close to the finish.[39]
On July 12, 2004, he took over playing the role ofJerry Springer inJerry Springer: The Opera at theCambridge Theatre in London, televised by the BBC in 2005.[40][41] He returned to the West End in 2006, playing Mack in a new production ofJerry Herman's musicalMack and Mabel at theCriterion Theatre.[42][43] The production co-starredJanie Dee and was directed byJohn Doyle.[43] He also appeared in the TV seriesDalziel & Pascoe ("A Game of Soldiers"). He had a brief cameo in the 2004 movie version ofStarsky & Hutch, alongside original co-starPaul Michael Glaser.[27]
In August 2008, Soul appeared in the reality TV talent show-themed television seriesMaestro onBBC Two mentored byNatalia Luis-Bassa.[44]
He appeared withFred Ward andWillem Dafoe in the filmFarewell directed by Christian Carion, which received its U.S. release in 2010.[45][46]
In June 2012, Soul made a one-week appearance withJerry Hall at theGaiety Theatre, Dublin, in a reprise of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play byA. R. Gurney,Love Letters.[47] On July 29, 2012, he appeared in an episode of the British television detective drama seriesLewis, playing a murder victim.[48] In 2013, Soul appeared in the Scottish filmFilth, singing "Silver Lady".[49] In 2014, Soul appeared in a British television commercial forNational Express singing "Silver Lady" while driving a coach.[27]
Soul was married five times and had five sons and a daughter.[7]
In 1964, Soul married Miriam "Mim" Russeth. The couple had one child before divorcing in 1965.[2][50][51]
Soul's second marriage was to actress Karen Carlson. They married in 1968 after they met on the set of the television seriesHere Come the Brides, in which Carlson had a role.[52] They had a son together, Jon-Kristjian, before they divorced in 1977.[52]
During the years he was filmingStarsky & Hutch, Soul had an open relationship with actressLynne Marta, who died seven days after he did.[53]
In 1980, Soul married Patti Carnel-Sherman, ex-wife ofBobby Sherman.[2] Soul was ordered to attend therapy classes for alcoholism and anger management after attacking her when she was seven months pregnant with his child.[54][2] Soul was step-father to Carnel-Sherman's children. The couple divorced in 1986.[2]
A year later, Soul married Singaporean-American actressJulia Nickson.[27] They had a daughter,China Soul, who is a singer-songwriter.[55] Nickson urged Soul to seek help for his excessive drinking, persuading him to enter a rehabilitation facility in 1989.[56]
Soul married his fifth wife, Helen Snell, in 2010.[57] They started a relationship in 2002 while working on the British stage production ofDeathtrap.[58][59]
In 2004, Soul obtainedBritish citizenship.[60]
Soul was a three-pack-a-day cigarette smoker for 50 years.[61] Although he stopped smoking ten years prior to his death, he was seriously affected byprogressive lung disease and also had alung removed due tocancer.[61][62] Soul died in London on January 4, 2024, at age 80.[27]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Johnny Got His Gun | Swede | [63] | |
| 1973 | Magnum Force | Officer John Davis | [22] | |
| 1975 | Dogpound Shuffle | Pritt | ||
| 1977 | The Stick Up | Duke Turnbeau | ||
| 1979 | Salem's Lot | Ben Mears | ||
| 1983 | Through Naked Eyes | William Parrish | ||
| 1985 | The Key to Rebecca | Alex Wolff | ||
| 1987 | The Hanoi Hilton | Maj Oldham | ||
| 1988 | Appointment with Death | Jefferson Cope | ||
| 1989 | Prime Target | Peter Armetage | ||
| 1992 | Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive | Sam Haney | ||
| 1994 | Pentathlon | Mueller | ||
| 2004 | Starsky & Hutch | The Original Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson | Cameo | [64] |
| 2009 | Farewell | Hutton, Ronald Reagan's adviser | [46] | |
| 2013 | Filth | Punter | [65] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | I Dream of Jeannie | Gerhard – the Orderly | 1 episode: "My Master, the Weakling" | [22] |
| 1967 | Flipper | Ranger Dennis Blake | 1 episode | [16] |
| Star Trek | Makora | Episode: "The Apple" | [22] | |
| 1968–1970 | Here Come the Brides | Joshua Bolt | 52 episodes | |
| 1971 | All in the Family | Szabo Daborda | 1 episode | |
| 1971–1974 | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | Pete, Doug, Ted Warrick | 7 episodes | |
| 1972 | The F.B.I. | Clifford Wade | 1 episode: "The Runner" | [66] |
| The Streets of San Francisco | Jim Martin | 1 episode: "Hall of Mirrors" | [22] | |
| 1973 | Cannon | Sean Cadden, Udo Giesen | 2 episodes | |
| Circle of Fear | James Barlow | 1 episode: "The Phantom of Herald Square" | [67] | |
| 1974 | The Disappearance of Flight 412 | Captain Roy Bishop | Television film | [22] |
| 1975–1979 | Starsky & Hutch | Detective Sergeant Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson | 92 episodes | |
| 1977 | Little Ladies of the Night | Lyle York | Television film | |
| 1979 | Salem's Lot | Ben Mears | Miniseries | |
| 1980 | Rage! | Cal Morrisey | Television film | |
| 1982 | World War III | Colonel Jake Caffey | Miniseries | |
| 1983 | Casablanca | Rick Blaine | 5 episodes | [30][29] |
| 1983–1984 | The Yellow Rose | Roy Champion | 22 episodes | [22] |
| 1985 | The Key to Rebecca | Alex Wolff | Television film | |
| 1986 | The Fifth Missile | Capt. Kevin Harris | ||
| 1988 | The Secret of the Sahara | Lieutenant Riker | 4 episodes | [68] |
| In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders | Mike Lee Platt | Television film | [22] | |
| 1989 | Unsub | John Westley "Westy" Grayson | 8 episodes | [69] |
| Prime Target | Peter Armetage | Television film | [22] | |
| 1990 | The Young Riders | Jeremy Styles | "Gathering Clouds", 2 episodes | [70] |
| 1991-1993 | Murder, She Wrote | Wes McCorley/Jordan Bartlett | 2 episodes | [22] |
| 2001-2002 | Holby City | Professor Alan Fletcher | 2 episodes | [22] |
| 2003 | Little Britain | Himself | 1 episode | [71] |
| 2004 | Poirot | Andrew Pennington | Episode "Death on the Nile" | [70] |
| 2004 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Gus D'Amato | Episode: "A Game of Soldiers" | |
| 2005 | Jerry Springer: The Opera | Jerry Springer | ||
| 2012 | Lewis | Paul Yelland | 1 episode |
| Year | Title | Details | AUS[72] | NL[73] | NZ[74] | UK[75] | US[76] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | David Soul |
| 8 | 13 | 17 | 2 | 40 |
| 1977 | Playing to an Audience of One |
| 30 | - | 9 | 8 | 86 |
| 1979 | Band of Friends |
| - | - | - | 94 | 163 |
| 1982 | The Best Days of My Life[77] |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1997 | Leave a Light On...[78] |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Year | Title | Details | UK[75] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Moods |
| - |
| 1990 | The Best Of... |
| - |
| 1993 | The Magic Collection |
| - |
| 1994 | The Best Of |
| - |
| 2008 | Looking Back – The Very Best Of |
| - |
| 2010 | Don't Give Up on Us – The Very Best of David Soul |
| - |
| 2020 | Gold |
| 28 |
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS[72] | BE (FLA)[79] | BE (WA)[80] | CAN | CAN AC | IRE[81] | NL 40[82] | NL 100[83] | NZ[84] | UK[75] | US[85] | US AC[86] | ||
| 1966 | "The Covered Man" (promo; US-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Before" (US-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1967 | "No One's Gonna Cry (For You Baby)" (promo; US-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | "The Train" (US-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | "The Road Is Long" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1976 | "Don't Give Up on Us" | 1 | 4 | 40 | 1[87] | 1[88] | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1977 | "Going in with My Eyes Open" | 10 | 12 | 49 | 58[89] | 14[90] | 7 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 54 | 14 |
| "Silver Lady" | 5 | 12 | 39 | 70[91] | 36[92] | 1 | 20 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 52 | 23 | |
| "Let's Have a Quiet Night In" | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | |
| 1978 | "It Sure Brings Out the Love in Your Eyes" | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | 12 | — | — |
| 1980 | "Surrender to Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1981 | "Fool for Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Dreamers" (Netherlands-only release) | - | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | |
| "I Can't Afford That Feeling Anymore" (U.K.and Netherlands-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | "How Can You Tell You Got It (If You Don't Ever Give It Away)" (UK-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1985 | "Amoureus Sans Bagages" (with Claire Séverac; France and Italy-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988 | "Dream with Me" (with Claire Séverac; France and Italy-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995 | "Smoke with No Fire" (with Claire Séverac; France-only release) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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