A veteran character actor known for roles in , , and was stabbed to death at a home in Tarzana on Wednesday morning. The suspect, the son of the actor's longtime girlfriend, called 911 and confessed to the killing.
Veteran actor James Handy, known for roles in Top Gun: Maverick, Jumanji, and Logan, was stabbed to death at a Tarzana home. The suspect, Michael Gledhill, 44, is the son of Handy's girlfriend. Murder charges are paused pending a mental competency exam.
A veteran character actor known for roles in , , and was stabbed to death at a home in Tarzana on Wednesday morning. The suspect, the son of the actor's longtime girlfriend, called 911 and confessed to the killing.
Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to a home in the 19200 block of Erwin Street near Tampa Avenue and Victory Boulevard at approximately 9:30 a.m. on June 3. The 911 caller delivered a chilling and cryptic message to dispatchers.
"I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin."
When officers arrived, they found James Handy, 81, unconscious in the front yard with a stab wound to his chest, according to the LAPD. Paramedics transported Handy to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The caller identified himself as Michael Ray Gledhill, 44. Gledhill flagged down responding officers at the scene and told them he was the one they were looking for, police said.
Gledhill lives at the Erwin Street residence with his mother, Wendy Gledhill, who was in a relationship with Handy. Close friends of the actor told the Los Angeles Times that Handy and Wendy had been together for more than a decade.
Gledhill was arrested and booked at Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of murder. His bail was set at $2 million.
Gledhill did not appear at his arraignment on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. His attorney, public defender Javier Trincado, told the court that Gledhill was unable to assist in his defense, according to AP News.
Superior Court Judge John H. Reid ordered that Gledhill be transferred to mental health court and undergo psychological evaluations. A competency hearing is scheduled for June 22 in a Hollywood court, Deadline reported.
If found competent and convicted, Gledhill faces 26 years to life in prison on one count of murder under Penal Code section 187(a), with a special allegation that he personally used a deadly weapon.
Friends and family say Gledhill had been struggling with mental illness. According to TMZ, Wendy Gledhill told reporters that her son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia last July. She said he had stopped taking his prescribed medication about a week before Handy was killed and had become increasingly paranoid.
Actor James DeMarse, a close friend of Handy for decades, told the Los Angeles Times that Handy and Wendy had discussed Gledhill's mental health issues with friends. Gledhill had moved into a renovated garage at the couple's home to serve as living quarters.
"Handy and his partner told them last year that they felt threatened by Gledhill," DeMarse said. "But they had spoken to Handy around Memorial Day, and he said things were much better."
Handy was born in New York City on March 19, 1945. He began his acting career in 1977 and accumulated more than 150 screen credits across film and television, according to IMDb and Wikipedia.
His most recognizable recent role was as Jimmy, the bartender at Penny's bar in Top Gun: Maverick (2022), alongside Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly. He also appeared as a doctor in Logan (2017) opposite Hugh Jackman, as an exterminator in Jumanji (1995), and as Milton Briggs in Arachnophobia (1990).
On television, Handy had recurring roles in Alias as CIA director Arthur Devlin, NYPD Blue as Captain Jim Haverhill, and Profiler as Lou Handleman. He also appeared in episodes of The X-Files, Law & Order, The West Wing, Criminal Minds, Murder, She Wrote, Castle, Cold Case, and 9-1-1.
His final television role was as a character named Felix on an episode of 9-1-1. At the time of his death, Handy was in pre-production on a film called Kickback, V, according to the New York Daily News.
Colleagues described Handy as humble, generous, and deeply committed to his craft.
"I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend than James Handy," said Pam Ellis-Evenas of the Ellis Talent Group, in a statement to the Associated Press.
Actor Brian Delate, who knew Handy for more than 40 years through a Vietnam veterans theater company in New York, told the AP that Handy had a great sense of humor and was always curious.
"If he'd just passed away from an illness or something like this, this would be a very different experience," Delate said. "But because of the nature of how he died and the fact that we lived in an arena of killing back in the '60s, it has a different resonance."
Handy was a Vietnam veteran, DeMarse told the Times.
"To think he'd go through all this stuff, and survive all this terrible, horrible violence in Vietnam, and now he's stabbed to death on the front lawn of his girlfriend's house. Just doesn't make any sense," DeMarse said.
Director Brian Connors, who worked with Handy on the 2021 film Senior Entourage, told the Times he had known the actor for more than 40 years. The two would hike Fryman Canyon together.
"He was a wonderful, kind, generous friend," Connors said. "He had a very funny sense of humor. He was loyal and helpful to me over many, many years. There's nothing that I know about Jim that explains this."
The LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division, Valley Section, is continuing its investigation. Detectives said they believe this was an isolated incident and there appears to be no remaining danger to the public, according to FOX 11.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled Handy's cause of death as a stab wound to the torso and neck compression. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, according to digital records cited by the New York Daily News.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detectives Simonyan or Lopez at (818) 374-9550, or call LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
"This is not how anyone's life should end, stabbed in the chest and left dying in the front yard of a home," District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a Friday statement. "The victim deserved to live out his later years enjoying what he had worked so hard for and enjoying it with those he loved and cared about. Like all murder victims, his life mattered and the person who inexplicably and violently took it must be held accountable for his actions."
This article was generated with AI assistance.