‘Top Gun: Maverick’ actor James Handy stabbed to death in L.A.; girlfriend’s son is arrested
James Handy, a veteran actor who appeared in films such as Top Gun: Maverick and Jumanji, was found stabbed to death in Los Angeles on Wednesday, police said.
Michael Gledhill, the son of Handy’s girlfriend, has been arrested in connection with the killing.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers responded to a home in Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday morning after a 911 caller said, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
They found the 81-year-old in the front yard of a residence, unconscious and suffering from a stab wound to his chest. Paramedics took Handy to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The 44-year-old suspect, who lives at the residence with his mother, flagged down responding officers, police said, telling them he was the one they were looking for. Gledhill was arrested and transported to Van Nuys Jail, where he was booked on suspicion of one count of murder. His bail was set at $2 million, according to jail records.
Handy appeared in the TV series NYPD Blue.
Born in New York, Handy was known for his role as an exterminator in the 1995 film Jumanji and as bartender Jimmy in Tom Cruise’s 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick.
He also appeared in the 1990 movie Arachnophobia, as a coroner who examines spider-bite victims, as well as in TV crime dramas including NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI:NY, NYPD Blue and L.A. Law.
“With great sadness I can confirm that the gentleman who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy,” his agent, Pam Ellis-Evenas, said in a statement. “I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend.”
Writer Don Winslow, who co-created the 2001 TV crime drama UC: Undercover, posted on X: “James Handy was a terrific actor and we were honored to have him on UC: Undercover in a recurring role. His performances were always special.”
