Veteran character actor James Handy, who appeared in box office smashes such as Jumanji and Top Gun: Maverick, was brutally stabbed to death in his front yard.
The Hollywood star, 81, was allegedly slain by his girlfriend’s son, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill. The suspect alerted police and flagged them down before being arrested.
The chilling chain of events began when Los Angeles police said they received a disturbing call at around 9.30am Wednesday.
‘I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,’ the caller told police.
Officers then raced to Handy’s home on Erwin Street in Tarzana, where they found the actor unconscious in the front yard and suffering from a stab wound to the chest.
Handy was then rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
His death was an eerie reminder of the brutal stabbing of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner by their disturbed son Nick just miles away in Hollywood.
Actor James Handy was found brutally murdered in his front yard on Wednesday
Officers raced to Handy’s home on Erwin Street in Tarzana, where they found the 81-year-old unconscious in the front yard and suffering from at least one stab wound to his chest
Surveillance footage from the scene caught a man casually walking past the suburban home
Gledhill was apprehended at the scene.
Surveillance footage from the scene later showed a man casually walking past the suburban home.
Authorities say the suspect later allegedly flagged down the responding officers, and told them he is the one they were looking for as law enforcement blocked nearby streets.
Investigators say Gledhill lived at the home with his mother, but a motive for the stabbing remains unclear.
Gledhill is now being held on a $2 million bond.
Handy was born in New York City and made his first on-screen appearance in 1977’s Taps in ABC’s Ryan’s Hope that same year.
Evidence markers were erected outside Handy’s home following his murder on Wednesday
The actor most recently appeared alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick
Handy’s other film credits include an appearance in Logan as the doctor who treated Hugh Jackman’s titular character
Handy is pictured as the exterminator in the film Jumanji
He most recently appeared in Top Gun: Maverick as the bartender, Jimmy.
Handy’s other film credits include an appearance in Logan as the doctor who treated Hugh Jackman’s titular character, and in the 1995 hit Jumanji, Handy played the exterminator.
The actor also had recurring roles on shows like NYPD Blue, on which he played Captain Haverhill, on Alias, on which he played Arthur Devlin, and on Profile, on which he played Lou Handleman.
Handy made appearances on numerous other television shows as well including The West Wing, Castle and The X-Files.
His career stretches back to the 1970s and includes more than 100 acting credits.
Following the news of his death, Scott Alan Smith, professor of Performing Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design, shared how he directed Handy at the Road Theater Company of the Lyons in 2018.
‘Jim was not only a truly great actor, he was also a prince of a man – kind and generous and giving to his cast and audience,’ Smith recounted on Facebook.
Another woman, Nancy Lipner, recounted how Handy had been cast as her father in a play when they were both non-union actors in New York City.
‘He was only two or three years older than I, but somehow he brought it off, in large part because he was a terrific character actor and even though, as he told me, not particularly at home in anything resembling classic theatre,’ she wrote.
Handy is pictured in an episode of ABC’s hit show Castle, one of his many on-screen credits over his five-decade career
Handy appeared in the X-Files alongside David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
‘I was so glad for how his career took off after The Verdict,’ she continued, noting that she had not spoken to Handy in years but would check his IMDB page from time to time to see how he was doing.
‘This is just awful,’ Lipner wrote.
Fans also took to social media to remember Handy for the many roles he played over the years.
‘James Handy was a great ’90s character actor – always delivered solid, memorable supporting work,’ one X user posted, noting that he was ‘reliable every time.’
Other X users called him a ‘fine character actor’ and ‘the ultimate “that guy” actor, with one fan writing that the first time he saw Handy ‘was in a small but effective role in the movie The Verdict.’
‘Rest in peace, James Handy – you were in everything,’ another netizen posted.
Social media users also lamented the tragedy of Handy’s death, with one X user writing: ‘Wow, Rob Reiner, now James Handy. Just crazy.’
Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle Reiner, were found dead inside their home in December
In February their son Nick, 32, pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents
Renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were found dead with their throats slit inside their $13.5 million home in upscale Brentwood, California in December.
Their youngest son, Nick, 32, was later arrested in connection with their deaths.
He had been seen having a loud argument with his father at a holiday party thrown by TV’s Conan O’Brien just hours before his parents’ bodies were found.
It was their daughter, Romy, who made the grisly discovery inside the sprawling six-bedroom estate.
But Nick, who has a history of mental health issues, has pleaded not guilty to six felony charges, two of first degree murder, two of special circumstances involving multiple murder and two counts of special circumstances using a deadly weapon, a knife.
He remains behind bars prior to his next court appearance in September.
