David Soul

***David Soul*** (born David Richard Solberg on August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the ABC television series Starsky & Hutch from 1975 to 1979.

#### Career

Soul first gained attention as the "Covered Man" appearing on The Merv Griffin Show in 1966 and 1967, on which he sang while wearing a mask. He explained: "My name is David Soul, and I want to be known for my music." The same year, he made his television debut in Flipper.

In 1967, he signed a contract with Columbia Pictures and following a number of guest appearances, including the episode "The Apple" from the second season of Star Trek, he landed the role of Joshua Bolt on the television program Here Come the Brides. In 1972 he co-starred as Arthur Hill's law partner on Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law. Following numerous guest-starring roles on TV, including Streets of San Francisco, he was cast by Clint Eastwood in the film Magnum Force.

His breakthrough came when he portrayed Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson on Starsky and Hutch, a role he played from 1975 until 1979. Throughout his career, he has also made guest appearances on I Dream of Jeannie, McMillan & Wife, Cannon, Gunsmoke, All in the Family, and numerous TV movies and mini-series including Homeward Bound (1980), World War III (1983) and Rage (1980), a TV movie commended on the floor of the US Senate and for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. Soul also starred with James Mason in the 1979 TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot, which was also edited and released as a theatrical feature film in some countries.

During the mid- to late-1970s, Soul returned to his singing roots. Produced by Tony Macaulay, he recorded hits including "Don't Give Up on Us" (1977) which reached No. 1 in the US and the UK, and "Silver Lady" (1977) which also topped the charts in the UK. From 1976 until 1978, he had five UK Top 20 singles and two Top 10 albums. From 1976 to 1982 he toured extensively in the US, Europe, Far East and South America.

In the U.S., he starred in "The Manions of America"(1981), and the short-lived 1983 NBC series Casablanca, playing nightclub owner Rick Blaine (the role made famous by Humphrey Bogart in the 1942 film), and co-starred in the NBC series The Yellow Rose during the 1983-1984 season. He also starred in the television adaptation of Ken Follett's wartime drama The Key to Rebecca (1985) directed by David Hemmings. He later starred as the infamous Florida robber Michael Platt in the TV film In the Line of Duty: The FBI Murders (1988), which depicted the 1986 FBI Miami shootout and which was subsequently used as an FBI training film. Soul also directed the episode "No Exit" of the 1980s TV series Miami Vice. In 1987 Soul was cast as Major Oldham in the movie The Hanoi Hilton.

In the mid-1990s, Soul took up residence in London, United Kingdom (becoming a British citizen in 2004), forging a new career on the West End stage, including the role of Chandler Tate in Comic Potential. He also participated in the successful 1997 election campaign of his personal friend Martin Bell who ran as an MP for Tatton, as well as Bell's unsuccessful campaign in Brentwood in Essex in the 2001 General Election.

#### Personal life

Soul has been married five times and has five sons and a daughter. He first married the actress Mirriam "Mim" Solberg (née Russeth), in 1964. The couple had one child together, but the marriage only lasted a year.

Soul then married actress Karen Carlson in 1968, after they had met on the set of the television series Here Come The Brides. The couple also had a child together, but they divorced in 1977.

Soul's third wife was Patti Carnel Sherman (the ex-wife of fellow Here Come the Brides co-star and teen pop idol Bobby Sherman), whom he married in 1980. They had a child together, but the marriage disintegrated due to Soul's alcohol abuse and violent temper, which had affected both of his previous marriages. The couple divorced in 1986.

Soul married again in 1987, to actress Julia Nickson. The couple had one child, China Soul, who is a singer/songwriter. Soul and Nickson divorced in 1993.

When Soul emigrated to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s, he settled in London with his girlfriend, American actress Alexa Hamilton, though the couple later broke up.

#### Selected filmography

* 1971: Johnny Got His Gun
* 1973: Magnum Force
* 1974: The Disappearance of Flight 412
* 1977: The Stick Up
* 1986: The Fifth Missile
* 1988: Appointment with Death

#### Selected television

* 1968–1970: Here Come the Brides
* 1975–1979: Starsky & Hutch
* 1979: Salem's Lot
* 1980: Rage!
* 1982: World War III
* 1983: Casablanca
* 1983–1984: The Yellow Rose
* 1985: The Key to Rebecca

#### Selected discography

* 1976: David Soul - UK #2
	+ ***"Don't Give Up On Us"*** - UK #1, US #1
		- Riding high on the success of playing in the hit TV show Starsky and Hutch, Soul returned to one of his early career choices as a singer. His debut, the Tony Macaulay-written-and-produced "Don't Give Up on Us" was a worldwide smash, spending four weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart from January 15, 1977, and a single week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1977. In addition, the song spent one week at No. 1 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart. It has sold 1.16 million copies in the UK.

* 1977: Playing To An Audience Of One – UK #8
	+ "Going In With My Eyes Open" - UK #2, US #54
	+ ***"Silver Lady"*** - UK #1, US #52
		- Written by Tony Macaulay and Geoff Stephens and produced by Macaulay, "Silver Lady" was the second and final number one hit in the UK Singles Chart for David Soul, spending three weeks at the top from October 8, 1977. It had spent five weeks in the top ten before eventually toppling Elvis Presley. The single fared less well in his homeland peaking at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number #23 on the Easy Listening chart.