Jan-Michael Vincent obit

Jan-Michael Vincent, star of Airwolf and The Winds of War, dies at 74

He was not on the list.

Jan-Michael Vincent, best known for playing daredevil pilot Stringfellow Hawke in 1980s TV series Airwolf, has died at the age of 74, it has emerged.

The US actor also appeared with Charles Bronson in The Mechanic, with Burt Reynolds in Hooper and in seminal surfing film Big Wednesday.

He was nominated for a Golden Globe for 1971 film Going Home and again in 1984 for miniseries The Winds of War.

Vincent died on 10 February, according to his death certificate. The document states he was an inpatient at a hospital in North Carolina and is survived by his third wife, Patricia Ann Christ.

Vincent was born 15 July 1944 in Denver, Colorado. He made his first appearance on screen in the 1967 television film The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk, under the name Mike Vincent.

Vincent was finishing a tour of duty in the California Army National Guard when a talent scout was struck by his looks. His first acting job was in the movie The Bandits (aka Los Bandidos), co-directed by and starring Robert Conrad, in 1967.

Vincent's career took off in the late 1960s when casting agent Dick Clayton signed him to Universal Studios. He made an appearance on the Dragnet 1968 episode "The Grenade" as a muscular high school student who suffered an acid attack by a mentally unstable classmate (played by Mickey Sholdar). He also appeared in the Danger Island segments of Hanna-Barbera's The Banana Splits series as Link (1968–69). Finally, in the fall of 1969 Vincent had a starring role in the prime-time soap opera The Survivors, alongside Lana Turner and George Hamilton; the series was canceled mid-season.

Vincent also performed in several movies in that period, such as the 1969 Twentieth Century Fox movie The Undefeated (as Bubba Wilkes) starring John Wayne, Rock Hudson, and Antonio Aguilar. His name appeared as Michael Vincent in the credits of the movie. Vincent guest-starred in three episodes of Lassie with actor Tony Dow and two episodes of Bonanza.

In 1970, Vincent garnered critical praise for his role in the made-for-TV film Tribes (also known as The Soldier Who Declared Peace in Europe and the UK), co-starring Darren McGavin, about a tough Marine boot-camp drill instructor dealing with a hippie draftee (Vincent) who will not follow the rules. He gave a complex performance opposite Robert Mitchum in Going Home ('71). That same year, he appeared in the Gunsmoke episode "The Legend". In 1972, he co-starred with Charles Bronson in the crime film The Mechanic and a made-for-TV love story Sandcastles. In 1973 he starred in the Disney comedy The World's Greatest Athlete with Tim Conway and John Amos. He played Richie, an alcoholic teen in a 1973 episode of Marcus Welby, M.D., "Catch a Ring That Isn't There".

Vincent also starred in the 1974 romance Buster and Billie as the antihero Buster Lane, where he startled audiences with his full-frontal nudity. In 1975's Bite the Bullet, he played opposite Gene Hackman, James Coburn, and Candice Bergen. He also starred in the trucker movie White Line Fever ('75); in 1976's Baby Blue Marine, a war film directed by John D. Hancock, which also starred Glynnis O'Connor; and in 1976's Shadow of the Hawk co-starring Marilyn Hassett. Vincent also appeared in Damnation Alley, based on Roger Zelazny's science fiction novel, in 1977. Two more notable 1978 appearance were the surfing film Big Wednesday with William Katt and Gary Busey, and Hooper with Burt Reynolds, in which Vincent played a young stuntman.

Vincent worked steadily throughout the 1970s and 80s, notably working with Kris Kristofferson and Victoria Principal on the 1976 film Vigilante Force. He also starred alongside Kim Basinger in 1981's Hard Country.

Vincent took on his most famous role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke in the CBS action series Airwolf in 1984, in which he starred with the late Ernest Borgnine. He was reportedly paid $200,000 for every episode he starred in.Vincent's career waned after his Airwolf heyday and he retired from acting in 2009.

His last feature film was the 2002 gang movie White Boy.

In 2012 a leg infection required him to have the lower half of his right leg amputated.

His filmography:

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1967      The Bandits         Taye "Boy" Brown            Drama film written by Edward di Lorenzo, Robert Conrad, & Alfredo Zacarias and directed by Conrad and Zacarias

1968      Journey to Shiloh              Little Bit Lucket

    Western film written by Gene L. Coon and directed by William Hale

    Based on the novel of the same name by Will Henry first published in 1960.[44]

    Credited as Michael Vincent

1969      The Undefeated               Lt. Bubba Wilkes, C.S.A.

    Western and Civil War era film written by Lawrence B. Marcus and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen & John Wayne (uncredited)

    Credited as Michael Vincent

1971      Going Home       Jimmy Graham

    Drama film directed and produced by Herbert B. Leonard

    Nominated for a Golden Globe award at the 29th for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture[45]

1972      The Mechanic    Steve McKenna Action-Crime film written by Lewis John Carlino and directed by Michael Winner

1973      The World's Greatest Athlete     Nanu     Walt Disney Productions film directed by Robert Scheerer

1974      Buster and Billie                Buster Lane       

1975      Bite the Bullet    Carbo   

White Line Fever              Carrol Jo Hummer           

1976      Baby Blue Marine             Marion

Shadow of the Hawk       Mike     

Vigilante Force Ben Arnold         

1977      Damnation Alley               Tanner

1978      Big Wednesday Matt Johnson   

Hooper                 Ski         

1980      The Return          Wayne

Defiance              Tommy                

1981      Hard Country     Kyle       

1983      Last Plane Out   Jack Cox              

1985      Get Out of My Room       Immigration Officer        

1987      Enemy Territory                Parker  

Born in East L.A.                McCalister           Music video; Born in East L.A. (I.C.E. cop)

1989      Demonstone      Andy Buck          

Hit List Jack Collins         

Deadly Embrace                Stewart Moreland            Direct-to-video

Dirty Games       Kepler West       

Alienator              Commander      

1990      Haunting Fear    Detective James Trent    Direct-to-video

1991      Xtro II: The Second Encounter     Dr. Ron Shepherd           

Hangfire               Colonel Johnson              

Raw Nerve          Lt. Bruce Ellis     

1992      Beyond the Call of Duty                 Len Jordan         

The Divine Enforcer         Father Thomas Direct to video

Animal Instincts                Fletcher Ross     Direct to video

1993      Midnight Witness             Lance   

Sins of Desire     Warren Robillard             

Hidden Obsession            Ben Scanlon       

Deadly Heroes   Cody Grant        

Indecent Behavior           Tom Mathis       

1995      Abducted II: The Reunion              Brad Allen          

Body Count         Detective Reinhart          

Ice Cream Man Detective Gifford            

Red Line               Keller    Direct to video

1996      The Last Kill        unknown            

1998      No Rest for the Wicked Sheriff Juan Ramirez      

1998      Buffalo '66          Sonny   

2000      The Thundering 8th         unknown            

Escape to Grizzly Mountain          Trapper               

2003      White Boy           Ron Masters       Final role

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1967      The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk              Tony Prito          

    Credited as Mike Vincent

    Made-for-TV-Movie written by Richard Murphy and dircted by Larry Peerce

    Intended as a pilot for a television series

    Based on the novel of the same name by Franklin W. Dixon[46]

Dragnet                Rick Schneiderman         

    Episode: "The Grenade" (S 2:Ep 1)

    Credited as Michael Vincent

1968      Lassie    Chris Hanford    

    Episodes: "Hanford's Point", Parts 1–3 (S 14:Ep 26–28)

    Credited as Michael Vincent

Bonanza               Eddie MaKay     

    Episode: "The Arrival of Eddie" (S 9:Ep 30)

    Credited as Michael Vincent

1968–70               The Banana Splits Adventure Hour           Lincoln 'Link' Simmons  

    Recurring (10 episodes)

    Credited as Michael Vincent

1969      Bonanza               Rick Miller          

    Episode: "The Unwanted" (S 10:Ep 27)

    Credited as Michael Vincent

1969–70               The Survivors1   Jeffrey Hastings                Main cast (10 episodes)

1970      Tribes    Adrian   Made-for-TV-Movie written by Marvin Schwartz & Tracy Keenan Wynn and directed by Joseph Sargent

1971      Dan August         Kevin Colter        Episode: "Death Chain" (S 1:Ep 15)2

Men at Law         Guest    Episode: "One American" (S 1:Ep 23)

The Persuaders!               Helicopter pilot                

    Episode: "The Gold Napoleon" (S 1:Ep 2)

    Uncredited

The Last of the Powerseekers1   Jeffrey Hastings                Made-for-TV-Movie written by Richard M. Bluel, Michael Gleason, Norman Katkov, J.M. Richards, and John Wilder

Gunsmoke          Travis Colter       Episode "The Legend" (S 17:Ep 6)

1972      The Catcher        Sam Callende     Made-for-TV-Movie written by David Freeman and directd by Allen H. Miner

Sandcastles         Michael               

    Made-for-TV-Movie story by Peter Berneis

    Teleplay by Steven Karpf, Elinor Karpf, and James M. Miller

    Directed by Ted Post

1973      Marcus Welby, M.D.       Ritchie Manning               Episode: "Catch a Ring That Isn't There" (S 4:Ep 20)

Deliver Us from Evil         Nick Fleming      Made-for-TV-Movie written by Jack B. Sowards and directed by Boris Sagal

Toma     Billy Haskell        Episode: "Blockhouse Breakdown"

1973–1975          Police Story        Warren Yates

Dave Hauser       Episodes:

"Incident in the Kill Zone"

"Line of Fire"

1975      Dinah!   Himself                 1 episode

1975      The Mike Douglas Show                Himself                 1 episode

1983      The Winds of War            Byron Henry       Miniseries

1984–1986          Airwolf Helicopter pilot and aviator Stringfellow Hawke Main cast (55 episodes)

1986      Hotel     Nick Hauser        Episode "Undercurrents"

1987      Six Against the Rock        Miran 'Buddy' Thompson              Made-for-TV-Movie

1989      Tarzan in Manhattan      Brightmore

1991      The Final Heist   David King

1993      Singapore Sling Billy

1994      Renegade            Max       Episode: "Hard Rider"

1996      Jurassic Women                Zepp      Made-for-TV-Movie

Lethal Orbit        Riff

1997      Nash Bridges      Bobby Chase      Episode "Revelations"