David Soul, who starred alongside Paul Michael Glaser on the 1970s ABC Buddy Cop Show Starsky and Hutch and had a No. 1 hit with the song “Don’t Give Up on Us,” has died. He was 80.

Soul died Thursday after “a brave fight for life in the loving company of his family,” his wife, Helen Snell, said in a statement.

“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as an actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend,” she said. “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he touched.”

Soul also appeared on the ABC show for two seasons in 1968-70 Here come the brides, played one of the corrupt young motorcycle cops brought down by Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan in the thriller Magnum Force (1973) and stood out as a frightened vampire hunter in the 1979 Stephen King CBS miniseries Salem’s property.

He played Rick Blaine on two NBC shows in 1983-84 Casablancaa TV prequel to the Humphrey Bogart classic, and starred alongside Sam Elliott and Cybill Shepherd in the primetime soap The yellow rose.

As Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson, an undercover cop from Minnesota working in the fictional Southern California town of Bay City, the blonde, blue-eyed soul appeared in all 92 episodes of Starsky and Hutchwhich lasted four seasons, from April 1975 to May 1979.

The series, created by William Blinn and executive produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg, also starred Glaser as Hutch’s partner and police academy graduate David Starsky; Antonio Fargas as street informant Huggy Bear; and a red and white Ford Gran Torino.

“We had no idea it would be so successful. This only happened in the second year,” Soul said in an interview in 2020. “Paul and I basically directed the filming – the streets were our playground and we drove around while people shouted, ‘It’s Starsky and Hutch !’ But we took it very seriously. We improvised a lot and trusted each other completely. There was no taking advantage or anything like that.”

Before his career-defining role, Soul was also a singer who opened for the likes of Frank Zappa, The Byrds and The Lovin’ Spoonful.

“Don’t give up on us” – written and produced by Englishman Tony Macaulay and released in the USA in January 1977 during the second season of Starsky and Hutch – spent a week at the top of the Billboard 100 and also reached No. 1 in the UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. This year he had another hit with “Silver Lady”.

Soul was born David Richard Solberg on August 28, 1943 in Chicago. His parents, June and Richard, were teachers. His father was also a Lutheran minister who helped rebuild Europe after World War II.

The family spent time between Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Berlin before Soul graduated from Washington High School in Sioux Falls in 1961. After turning down an offer from the Chicago White Sox baseball team, he attended Augustana College for two years and then spent a year at Washington High School in Sioux Falls at the University of the Americas in Mexico City, where he learned to play guitar and developed a passion for music.

Back in the United States, after hitchhiking to Minneapolis, he made a living singing Mexican folk songs at a coffeehouse where Bob Dylan had recently performed, then made his acting debut in New York in John Ardens. Sergeant Musgrave’s dance.

He adopted the surname Soul, donned a cap with holes cut out for his eyes and mouth, and sent a rehearsal tape of himself singing as “The Covered Man” to the William Morris Agency, which hired him (literally) in 1965. signed unseen.

He also received a contract with MGM Records and appeared there several times The Merv Griffin Show (He eventually took off his mask) and then attended a “young talent program” at Columbia Pictures in LA

In 1967 he appeared on television Pinball, I dream about Jeannie And Star Trek (as Makora in “The Apple” episode) and then got the role of middle brother Joshua Bolt alongside Bobby Sherman and Robert Brown Here come the brides.

After that show ended, Soul remained busy in 1971, playing guest roles in episodes of Dan August, Everyone in the family, Iron side And Owen Marshall, legal advisor and appearance in the anti-war film Dalton Trumbo Johnny got his gun.

He turns on Magnum Force and in a 1974 episode of the ABC series Spelling-Goldberg The rookiesplus a recurring role as a lawyer on Owen Marshallhelped hire him Starsky and Hutch. (Producers had difficulty casting his partner until Glaser came along.)

Soul directed three episodes of the series as well as several episodes of it MiamiVice And Crime storytwo series produced by Michael Mann, who was responsible for the story as editor Starsky and Hutch.

He also played a divorced father in the 1980 CBS television film Homeward and a real-life killer in the 1988 NBC TV movie On Duty: The FBI Murders and appeared on the big screen The Hanoi Hilton (1987), Appointment with death (1988), Tides of War (1990) and dirt (2013).

He and Glazer returned for a cameo appearance in 2004 Starsky & Hutch Film starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, who fittingly sang “Don’t Give Up on Us” in the film.

Soul left the US in 1993 and became a naturalized British citizen in 2004. A year later he starred in a West End production of ” Jerry Springer – The Opera. In recent years he has struggled with health problems.

Survivors include his fifth wife, British public relations executive Snell, whom he married in June 2010, and his six children, including his only daughter, China, a singer-songwriter. His third wife, Patti Carnel, was married to him brides Co-star Sherman. (She described in detail the abuse he inflicted on her in 1983 People Cover story.)