Reports of James Handy’s murder were confirmed after Los Angeles police said the 81-year-old actor was fatally stabbed at a home in Tarzana, Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Police Department said officers responded on Wednesday, June 3, after a 911 caller reported killing someone. Officers found Handy unconscious in the front yard of a residence on Erwin Street with a stab wound to the chest.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics took Handy to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A representative for the actor later confirmed that Handy was the person killed in the attack.
Police identified the suspect as 44-year-old Michael Gledhill. Investigators said Gledhill flagged down responding officers and identified himself as the person they were looking for.
Police said Gledhill lived at the property with his mother, who was Handy’s girlfriend. He was arrested and booked at Van Nuys Jail on one count of murder, with bail set at $2 million.
Detectives described the killing as an isolated incident and said there was no continuing danger to the public.
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Handy made his first screen appearance in 1977 and built a nearly five-decade career across film and television. He played the bartender in “Top Gun: Maverick,” the exterminator in “Jumanji,” and a doctor in “Logan.”
His other credits included “Arachnophobia,” “The Rocketeer,” “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “The Verdict,” “K-9,” “Alias,” “Melrose Place”, and “NYPD Blue.”
