Jan-Michael Vincent RIP

Jan-Michael Vincent, best known for playing daredevil pilot Stringfellow Hawke in 1980s TV series Airwolf, has died at the age of 74, it has emerged.

The US actor also appeared with Charles Bronson in The Mechanic, with Burt Reynolds in Hooper and in seminal surfing film Big Wednesday.
He was nominated for a Golden Globe for 1971 film Going Home and again in 1984 for miniseries The Winds of War.

Vincent died on 10 February, according to his death certificate.

BBC.com, news, March 8, 2019 - Jan-Michael Vincent, star of Airwolf and The Winds of War, dies at 74.

Wha?!!!

Another headline says "cardiac arrest". The interesting part is the "it [the news] has emerged..." because his passing was not announced when it happened back in February.

I always liked that dumb Disney movie, The World's Greatest Athlete. And if you grew up in the 80's you probably watched two shows, Knight Rider, and Airwolf.

RIP JMV.

One h3ll of a way to close out the week!!

Jan-Michael Vincent’s a real guy?

I’ve only ever heard the name from Rick and Morty.

a reply to: Quantumgamer1776

I was just about to say, He was awesome on inter-dimensional cable 2. RIP Jan.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Who didn't want to be a helicopter pilot ?


RiP Mr Vincent.

I always liked him.
One of my guilty pleasures is one of his early movies..

Damnation alley

It's so bad good...

a reply to: Quantumgamer1776

Thanks for the laugh!!



a reply to: gortex

Seems like more of the 80's slipping away. Half the fun was seeing the helo rise up to the bridge-deck level from below!!

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Man, I go way back to him on Danger Island, part of the Banana Splits Show.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

I think Ernest Borgnine with Jan-Michael Vincent and Airwolf was the perfect combination , it probably doesn't hold up today but in it's day it was a great action show.

Airwolf was the star though.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Airwolf was the star though.

And Borgnine. Vincent tanked the show with his moodiness and drug use. Had he been more reliable the show would have lasted.

a reply to: Monsieur Neary

Banana Splits...I remember that! Man, we're old

Damn,more sad news.

a reply to: gortex

In real life, Vincent was serving in the California Army National Guard back in the 1960s, when a talent scout spotted him, based on his looks. He got his first role in the 1967 film The Bandits, which led to him being signed [onto] Universal Studios, where he ended the '60s with TV roles on shows like Dragnet 1968, Danger Island, The Survivors and Lassie - along with a few film roles. In the 1970s, Vincent gained acclaim playing a hippie drafted into the Vietnam War in the TV movie Tribes, and added some action movie acclaim to his resume by starring in The Mechanic alongside Charles Bronson. TV movie roles in projects like Sandcastles and Disney's The World's Greatest Athlete would only expand his range. He would appear in films throughout the '70s, ending the decade with highlights like surfing film Big Wednesday and the Burt Reynolds stuntman movie Hooper. The '80s would see Vincent truly hit his stride, with a series of notable film roles (Hard Country, Last Plane Out) and a TV miniseries role (Winds of War) that would tee him up for his biggest career success with Airwolf. Vincent would fade out of the limelight during the '90s, with only small cameos in the TV show Nash Bridges (playing star Don Johnson's long-lost brother) and the Vincent Gallo movie Buffalo '66.

comicbook.com - 'Airwolf' Star Jan-Michael Vincent Dead At 74.

Pretty good summary of his acting career! Add in the movie from Rick and Morty and your cooking with gas!

I haven't watched re-runs on the re-runs channel but I think they are on there (stuck on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea!!) So now will have to keep an eye out for them!

You're probably right about them not standing the test of time but there are not much shows that do! Besides we all know it was about the cool, bad @ss helicopter anyway!

I think it is incredible that he made it to the age that he did, considering the demons that he fought for so long in the form of substance abuse.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
I always liked him.
One of my guilty pleasures is one of his early movies..

Damnation alley

It's so bad good...

I remember that! The part where they go to Salt Lake (I think) and the cockroaches are trying to eat them is my favorite part.

He was a hard drinker for like ever. One incident I remember that made the news was when he used the defense of having sex in his sleep, like sleep waking. I believe he was charged with rape but he claimed he had no knowledge of the sexual encounter until he woke up the next day with a condom on his pee-pee. He also survived a really bad car accident that messed him up pretty good.

He lived a really rough life after dropping out of the lime light, surprising he lived this long really. He was a good looking buff guy in his earlier years. I also remember him in Danger Island , World's Greatest Athlete and Damnation Alley. He also did a cameo appearance in the Cheech and Chong video "Born in East LA" as a cop, probably one of his last appearances before he couldn't function due to drug and alcohol abuse.

Regardless of his sorted life, I actually liked him as an actor and occasionally wondered what he was up to. I'm sad he died, but he lived a pretty long life considering all he had been through.

RIP , JMV.


May you patrol the skies forever.

When you think a man has it all, alcohol is a demon for some, all consuming. I’ve battle it every day, ten years sober and it still calls. Also coc aine is a hell of a drug!
RIP JMV

R.I.P. I loved that show Airwolf when I was little.