A surf-loving golden boy of action films in the 1970s, he had a starring role on “Airwolf” in the mid-1980s, but his career cratered amid drug and alcohol use.
By Adam Bernstein Adam Bernstein Obituary editor Email Bio Follow March 8 at 3:29 PM Jan-Michael Vincent, a golden boy of Hollywood action films in the 1970s who starred on the mid-1980s TV adventure series “Airwolf” and saw his career crater amid drug and alcohol addiction, died Feb. 10 in Asheville, N.C.
A rare departure from form was “Buster and Billie” , an unsentimental look at 1940s high school students in rural Georgia, with Mr. Vincent giving an understated performance as the local jock who breaks — with violent results — with social conformity and expectations. Jan-Michael Vincent in 1986. While on the show, where he earned a reported per-episode salary of $40,000, Mr. Vincent spoke of addictions that for years had kept him off the A-list of movie roles. His erratic behavior and cocaine consumption was a major reason “Airwolf” was canceled in 1986.
His right leg was partially amputated in 2012 amid complications from peripheral artery disease. As late as 2014, he spoke of his continuing trouble with alcohol and owing $70,000 in back taxes. He had just served a stint in the California National Guard when a casting agent, marveling at his good looks, got him a contract with Universal Studios. By the late 1960s, he was appearing on “Dragnet,” “Lassie,” “Bonanza” and the prime-time soap opera “The Survivors,” among other TV shows. He made an impression as a hippie who goes into the Marine Corps in the drama “The Tribe” , with Darren McGavin as a tough gunnery sergent.
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