Actor Jan-Michael Vincent, best known for playing helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on Airwolf in the mid ’80s, has died of cardiac arrest,
TMZ announced. It happened on February 10, but news of it has only just now been made public.

Vincent had also co-starred with The A Team‘s George Peppard in Damnation Alley, loosely based on a Roger Zelazny novel by the same name. His health was generally poor; he had suffered a long series of health issues, including a life-threatening infection that claimed his right leg below the knee in 2012.

Jan-Michael Vincent as Tommy in Defiance {image via American Internatioonal Pictures}

He was born July 15, 1944 in Denver, Colorado. He died February 10, 2019, in Asheville, North Carolina. Vincent had been in poor health for years, largely due to complications from heavy drinking and drug use.

Vincent’s acting career began in 1967, with The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Book and ended in 2002 with White Boy. In between those films he app0ared on The Banana Splits Afventure Hour in the “Danger Island” serial, in the mini-series The Winds of War, starred in the Disney movue The World’s Greatest Athlete, and appeared in a variety of TV shows and movies.

His science fiction, fantasy, and horror projects include:

Jackie Earle Haley, George Peppard, and Jan-Michael Vincent searched for other human survivors in Damnation Alley {image via 20th Century Fox}
  • Sandcastles
  • Shadow of the Hawk
  • Damnation Alley
  • The Return
  • Tarzan in Manhatten
  • Alienator
  • Deathstone
  • Xtro II: The Second Encounter\
  • Jurassic Women
  • Haunting Fear
  • Deadly Heroes
  • Lethal Orbit

Jan-Michael Vincent played a Tarzan-like college athlete, the pilot of a top secret helicopter, cops, military officers, truckers, lawbreakers, and lawmen. He is survived by his third wife, Patricia Anna Christ, and Amber Vincent, his daughter by his first wife, Bonnie Lynn Poorman.

Thank you for the adventures over the years, Jan-Michael Vincent, and our condolences to your family.

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Susan Macdonald
Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress ”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.