Lisa Moffa 👑🌕🦀🌎💄🇺🇸

On February 10, 2019, Jan-Michael Vincent died of cardiac arrest in a hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. He was 74. The news did not become public until March 8, nearly four weeks later. Millions remembered him flying a helicopter on television. Now his death had passed almost unnoticed. In the 1980s, his face was everywhere. His blue eyes, surfer's physique, and quiet intensity made him a natural action hero. But the climb had started years earlier, far from Hollywood. Born in Denver and raised in California, Vincent preferred surfing to joining his family's billboard business. After serving in the California National Guard, he caught the attention of a talent scout. By the late 1960s, he was appearing on "Lassie" and "Bonanza." Then came "The Undefeated" (1969) with John Wayne and Rock Hudson. In "Going Home" (1971), he played Robert Mitchum's troubled son and earned a Golden Globe nomination. He could project anger and vulnerability without saying much. Charles Bronson worked opposite him in "The Mechanic" (1972). Burt Reynolds shared the screen with him in "Hooper" (1978). Vincent was also a dedicated surfer, which helped bring him to "Big Wednesday" (1978), a movie about friends confronting adulthood and changing times. In "The Winds of War" (1983), he earned another Golden Globe nomination. By then, television was ready to give him his biggest role. In January 1984, "Airwolf" premiered on CBS. Vincent played Stringfellow Hawke, a withdrawn pilot who carried the grief of his missing brother while flying a secret, heavily armed helicopter. Ernest Borgnine played his older friend Dominic Santini. The aerial sequences thrilled viewers, but Hawke's grief added something beyond explosions. Vincent became one of television's highest-paid performers. Yet his life away from the helicopter was becoming increasingly troubled. Alcohol and cocaine use affected his reliability, and his conduct created problems during production. He could still command a scene, but getting through the work was growing more difficult. In 1986, CBS ended the series after three seasons. Another network continued it with a new cast, without the actor who had made Hawke famous. Film offers continued, but their scale changed. The leading roles he had enjoyed beside major stars gave way to lower-budget action pictures and thrillers. His troubles followed him off the set. Arrests, drunken-driving incidents, and confrontations drew attention for reasons that had nothing to do with acting. Women, including a former wife, accused him of violence. His downward spiral harmed other people, too. In 1996, a serious automobile crash nearly killed him. A passenger was badly injured. Vincent suffered a broken neck, and damage to his vocal cords permanently altered his voice. The rugged leading man whose face and voice had once carried entire scenes now spoke with a rasp. The crash was another painful turning point in a career already badly damaged. The legal consequences continued. In 2000, he received a 60-day jail sentence after admitting probation violations involving public intoxication and assaulting his girlfriend. His screen appearances dwindled. His last film appearance came in "White Boy" (2002), not another major-studio production. Fans still encountered the fearless Stringfellow Hawke in reruns. Then his health deteriorated further. Complications from peripheral artery disease and infection led doctors to amputate his right leg below the knee in 2012. He used a prosthetic leg and sometimes a wheelchair. In a 2014 television interview, he spoke about continued struggles with alcohol and substantial tax debts. The dazzling pilot of the 1980s was living with limits no television script could erase. His third wife, Patricia, was part of his life during those difficult final years in North Carolina. On February 10, the actor whose career had brought him alongside Wayne, Bronson, Reynolds, and Borgnine died in a hospital far from Hollywood. The final scene belonged to a hospital, not a helicopter.

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🇺🇸📺On November 1, 1975, 'Schoolhouse Rock's' 'The Preamble' first aired on ABC