James Handy, an 81-year-old TV and movie actor with a career spanning almost 50 years, has been stabbed to death in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles. The LAPD has released a statement naming his partner’s son, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill, as the only suspect.
The LAPD has explained that on June 3, 2026, at around 09:30 local time, West Valley officers received a radio call alerting them to a disturbance on the 19200 block of Erwin Street. An individual had contacted 911 and told them, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
On arriving at the scene, officers discovered Handy unconscious in the front yard and bleeding from a stab wound to his chest. He was rushed to a local hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, but was pronounced deceased on arrival.
There was no manhunt, with the LAPD confirming that Gledhill approached responding officers and told them he was the man they were looking for. Gledhill was arrested at the scene and booked into the Van Nuys jail on one count of murder, with a $2 million bail requirement.
The LAPD has also reassured the public: “Detectives believe this is an isolated incident and there appears to be no danger to the public at this time”.
He was a familiar face
While you may not know Handy’s name, you’ve almost certainly seen him on the big or small screen. He played the bartender Jimmy in Top Gun: Maverick, a doctor who treated Wolverine in Logan, and the exterminator in the original Jumanji. He also played recurring roles in NYPD Blue, Melrose Place, The West Wing, and Alias, and appeared in The X-Files, NCIS: Los Angeles, and Quantum Leap.
Tributes from those who have worked with him have begun to appear, with Robert Davi saying he’s “shocked and saddened”, as the two worked on Profile together:
Shocked and saddened to hear of the murder of James Handy we worked on Profiler together – RIP https://t.co/Y4t1PhSyda
— Robert Davi (@RobertJohnDavi) June 5, 2026
A comment on Deadline from Carl Kurlander speaks warmly of Handy from personal experience, saying:
“Jim Handy was a great actor, but also I knew him as a kind and compassionate man, who was friends with my mother Jeanne Wechsler since the 1970s. When I started working in LA as a screenwriter, but wondered if my destiny was to be a “real writer” in NY, I sublet Jim’s apartment and was always grateful to the kindness he showed me and my mother. He was so dedicated to craft and I was so excited to see him get attention he deserved with The Verdict. RIP”
