David Soul, the ‘Hutch’ on patrol with ‘Starsky’ in the legendary 70s series, dies

2024-01-05 21:14:57

Once upon a time there was a screen in which there were series whose episodes began and ended in half an hour, without elaborate or manual family or personal plots, which wove a network between seasons. One of the most popular themes was the police. It highlighted ‘Starsky and Hutch’, where two plainclothes detectives, aboard a red Ford Torino with a spectacular white lightning bolt on each side, fought crime and solved intricate problems driven by testosterone and high speed.

Made in the United States, the protagonists of the serial were almost transgressive: the couple, although heterosexual, was the closest thing at the time to what is now labeled as interracial. One was white, and very blonde, as indicated by the cliché that still persists. The other had, however, Latino and African American touches in his phenotype. The first was ‘Hutch’, played by David Soul, and the second, ‘Starsky’, played by Paul Michael Glaser. They were the precursors of what would come later, with companions in adventures like those in ‘Lethal Weapon’.

This Thursday Soul died at the age of 80, as announced by his widow, Helen Snell. «Beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother, David Soul died this Friday after a brave battle to live, accompanied with love by his family. “He shared his extraordinary gifts with the world, as an actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend,” his wife described to him. He was married five times and had four children.

Born in Chicago (United States) in 1943 with the name David Richard Solberg, the actor also made forays into the music industry, where he had a couple of hits in the United Kingdom and gave voice to Pablo Neruda in a podcast series. Despite remaining active until almost the end and working in films of different brands, Soul was always remembered for his role as detective Kenneth Hutchinson, alias ‘Hutch’.

The series ‘Starsky and Hutch’ lasted only four years – it was broadcast between 1975 and 1979 –, although reruns in dozens of countries were common during the 80s. Today it is not available on any streaming platform, but it remains in memory collective of those over 50 years of age.

West End of London

Within a world, which was then emerging, of canned television products designed to entertain without literary or novel aspirations, with characters that were simpler rather than complex, Soul began his career with a role in another production that also designed the universe of current series. In ‘Flipper’ he appeared for the first time on television, although he already had ties with a company that he had founded in the 60s, Firehouse Theatre, with which he also starred in entertainment programs, although as a masked singer.

With scripts full of chases, heroism, and love, Soul’s image emerged with such strength that his appearances in various films could not erase. She was a vampire killer with a crucifix in hand and a corduroy jacket in ‘Salem’s Lot’, a miniseries based on a story by Stephen King (1979); and before she shared the screen with Clint Eastwood in ‘Magnum Force’, another minor police officer (1973). Her last feature film was at the end of the 80s, in ‘In the line of duty: the FBI murders’.

Since the 90s he preferred the theater, in London’s West End, where he participated in well-known productions such as ‘Comic Potential’ and ‘Blood brothers’. In one of those works, ‘Deathtrap’, he met his last wife, Helen Snell, whom he married in 2010.