Lifestyle
David Soul, of TV's 'Starsky and Hutch,' dies at 80
David Soul is photographed at an event in Los Angeles on Dec. 6, 1983. Soul, who hit fame as blond half of crime-fighting duo “Starsky and Hutch” in a popular 1970s television series, has died at age 80.
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David Soul is photographed at an event in Los Angeles on Dec. 6, 1983. Soul, who hit fame as blond half of crime-fighting duo “Starsky and Hutch” in a popular 1970s television series, has died at age 80.
Wally Fong/AP
LONDON — Actor-singer David Soul, a 1970s heartthrob who co-starred as the blond half of the crime-fighting duo “Starsky & Hutch” and topped the music charts with the ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us,” has died at the age of 80.
His wife, Helen Snell, said Friday that “David Soul – beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother – died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family.”
“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend,” Snell said in a statement. “His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”
Born David Solberg, Soul was a Chicago native whose acting career dated back to the 1960s, when he joined the avant-garde Firehouse Theater in Minnesota. He continued to appear on stage and screen well into the 20th century, but he was best known for his work in the 1970s.
Soul portrayed detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside dark-haired Paul Michael Glaser as detective David Starsky in “Starsky & Hutch, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979 and grew so popular it spawned a line of children’s toys.
David Soul (from left), Paul Michael Glaser and Antonio Fargas, stars of the 1970s “Starsky and Hutch” television series, arrive at the British premiere of the new movie of the same name in London on March 11, 2004.
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David Soul (from left), Paul Michael Glaser and Antonio Fargas, stars of the 1970s “Starsky and Hutch” television series, arrive at the British premiere of the new movie of the same name in London on March 11, 2004.
John D McHugh/AP
He also had success as a singer, starting in 1976 with “Don’t Give Up on Us” and following with such hits as “Going in With My Eyes Open” and “Silver Lady.”
Soul first gained national fame in the 1960s appearing on “The Merv Griffin Show” as “The Covered Man,” a singer disguised in a stocking cap who shouted out lyrics such as “That is why I hide my face, because a man has to be free.”
His other TV credits included early appearances on “Star Trek,” “All in the Family” and “I Dream of Jeannie,” the miniseries “Salem’s Lot” and a short-lived version of the film classic “Casablanca,” in which Soul took on Humphrey Bogart’s role as nightclub owner Rock Blaine.
Soul’s movies included “Magnum Force,” “The Hanoi Hilton” and a cameo with Glaser in the 2004 big-screen remake of “Starsky & Hutch,” starring Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch.
By the 1990s, Soul had moved to Britain, where he performed several stage roles. In 2001, he won a libel case against a journalist who called “The Dead Monkey,” a play that Soul was in, the worst production he had ever seen – without having seen it. He also played the titular talk-show host in “Jerry Springer – The Opera” in London’s West End.
Sunday Puzzle
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On-air challenge
I’m going to read you some sentences. Each sentence conceals the name of a major U.S. city in consecutive letters. As a hint, the answer’s state also appears in the sentence. Every answer has at least six letters. (Ex. The Kentucky bodybuilders will be flexing tonight. –> LEXINGTON)
1. Space enthusiasts in Oregon support landing on Mars.
2. Contact your insurance branch or agent in Alaska.
3. The Ohio company has a sale from today to next Sunday.
4. The Colorado trial ended in a sudden verdict.
5. Fans voted the Virginia tennis matches a peak experience.
6. I bought a shamrock for decorating my house in Illinois.
7. All the Connecticut things they knew have now changed.
8. Can you help a software developer in Texas?
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge came from Mike Reiss, who’s a showrunner, writer, and producer for “The Simpsons.” Think of a famous living singer. The last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last name spell a bird. Change the first letter of the singer’s first name. Then the first three letters of that first name and the last five letters of his last name together spell another bird. What singer is this?
Challenge answer
Placido Domingo
Winner
Brock Hammill of Corvallis, Montana.
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from Robert Flood, of Allen, Texas. Name a famous female singer of the past (five letters in the first name, seven letters in the last name). Remove the last letter of her first name and you can rearrange all the remaining letters to name the capital of a country (six letters) and a food product that its nation is famous for (five letters).
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, December 18 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.
Lucy Dacus performs at Spotlight: Lucy Dacus at GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live on October 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
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This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, guest judge and scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Lucy Dacus and panelists Adam Burke, Helen Hong, and Tom Bodett. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
Who’s Alzo This Time
Mega Media Merger; Cars, They’re Just Like Us; The Swag Gap
Panel Questions
An Hourly Marriage
Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell three stories about a new TV show making headlines, only one of which is true.
Not My Job: Lucy Dacus answers our questions about boy geniuses
Singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus, one third of the supergroup boygenius, plays our game called, “boygenius, meet Boy Geniuses” Three questions about child prodigies.
Panel Questions
Bedroom Rules; Japan Solves its Bear Problem
Limericks
Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: NHL Superlatives; Terrible Mouthwash; The Most Holy and Most Stylish
Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else
Predictions
Our panelists predict what will be the next big merger in the news.
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