Once upon a time there was a screen on which there were series whose episodes began and ended in half an hour, without elaborate or manual family or personal plots, which weaved a network between seasons. One of the most popular themes was that of the police. And 'Starky & Hutch' stood out, where two detectives drove in a red car with a white stripe, and solved intricate problems driven by testosterone and great speed.
American-made, they were also almost transgressive, since the couple, although heterosexual, was the closest thing 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 Glaser. They were the precursors of what would come many years later, with couples like 'Lethal Weapon'.
On Thursday, Soul died at the age of 80, as his widow, Helen Snell, announced the next day. «Beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother, David Suol died yesterday 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.” He was married five times and had four children.
From Flipper to singer
Born in Chicago (United States) in 1943 with the name David Richard Solberg, the actor also ventured 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 quality, Soul was remembered for his role as Detective Kenneth Hutchinson, alias Hutch.
The 'Starsky & Hutch' series lasted only four years, and aired between 1975 and 1979, although reruns in dozens of countries were common until the 1980s. Today it is not available on streaming platforms but it remains in the collective memory of those over 50, marking an era, without becoming idols or transferring their physique to best-selling dolls.
Within a complex nascent world of canned goods made to entertain without literary or novel aspirations, with characters that were more simple than complex, Soul began his career with a role in another production that also designed the universe of the current series: in Flipper he appeared for the first time on television, although he already had plans with a company that he had founded in the sixties, the Firehouse Theatre, with which he also appeared on entertainment programs, although as a masked singer.
London West End
The “smile”, which his widow evokes in the statement announcing his death, was widely displayed recently with the motorcyclists series. With scripts full of persecution, heroism, and love, Soul's image emerged so strongly that her appearances in various films could not be erased. The smell of skidding tires would haunt him.
He 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 that he shared the screen with Clint Eastwood in 'Magnum Force', another minor police crime (1973). Her last feature film was at the end of the eighties, in 'In the line of duty: the FBI murders' (not to be confused with the British series 'Line of duty').
Since the nineties 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 productions, 'Deathtrap', he met his last wife, Helen Snell, whom he married in 2010.
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