Paul Michael Glaser Remembers ‘Starsky & Hutch’ Costar David Soul: ‘A Brother’
Paul Michael Glaser has spoken out about the loss of his “dear friend” David Soul, his costar on the 1970s TV show Starsky & Hutch, who died on January 4 at age 80.
“David was a brother, a friend, a caring man,” Glaser said in a statement to People. “We shall never see his like again.”
Glaser went on: “I find it difficult to comprehend David’s passing. Seems only yesterday that we were sharing loving insults on the phone. It just takes time, I tell myself; saying goodbye to such a dear friend and important part of my life, I suspect that I will let myself feel his loss, our loss, only gradually.”
The actor also sent support to Soul’s family and gratitude to the Starsky & Hutch fans: “I want to extend my condolences to dear Helen [Snell], whom he loved and cherished and who stood beside him through these difficult years. He could never tell me enough what she meant to him. To all his sons and his daughter, China, my deepest sympathies. And to all of you, our supportive and caring public who recognized a very special relationship and never stopped telling us. Thank you. We have all lost a dear friend who shall live on in our memories.”
Soul died “after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family,” Snell told BBC News on January 5.
On ABC’s Starsky & Hutch, Glaser played Det. Dave Starsky opposite Soul as Det. Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson. The action series — which also starred Antonio Fargas and the late Bernie Hamilton — ran for four seasons between 1975 and 1979.
Soul and Glaser reunited on screen in the 2004 big-screen version of Starsky & Hutch starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.
The duo also exchanged witty repartee on X in February 2023 amid chatter about a female-led Starsky & Hutch reboot.
“Why not just reboot Paul and me — as a couple of old farts solving piddly-ass crimes at the assisted living facility where we would now live?” Soul proposed.
“If you’re going to describe me as an ‘old fart,’ please leave ‘old’ out of it,” Glaser responded.
