Actor James Handy, a veteran in the industry who most recently starred in Top Gun: Maverick, was found stabbed to death outside a home in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to investigators. He was 81.
Police said in a statement on Thursday that the suspect, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill, waved down officers, telling them he was the one they were looking for after a 911 call was made to a residence in the Tarzana neighbourhood, an area in the northwest Los Angeles area, around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The 911 caller said, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,” according to the police statement.
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Police found Handy unconscious in the front yard of a residence with a stab wound to the chest. He was taken to a local hospital by the Los Angeles Fire Department, where he was pronounced dead, according to the statement.
The suspect’s mother was Handy’s girlfriend, police said, who lived with his mother at the property where Handy’s body was found.
Handy’s agent Pam Ellis-Evenas confirmed his death to Global News.
“It is with great sadness that I can confirm that the gentleman who was killed in Tarzana on Wednesday was actor James Handy,” she wrote in an email statement.
“I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend than James Handy. He was respected among his peers and an absolute joy to work with,” she concluded.
This image made from video provided by KABC shows the scene at a home where authorities were investigating the fatal stabbing of actor James Handy on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Los Angeles.
KABC via AP
Detectives said they believe the stabbing was an isolated incident and that there is no immediate threat to public safety. They did not provide a motive.
Gledhill was arrested and transported to Van Nuys jail, where he was booked on one count of murder, with bail set at US$2 million.
In addition to his role as the bartender Jimmy in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick, Handy appeared in the films Arachnophobia and Jumanji, as well as numerous television productions.
He played a doctor in the 2017 film Logan and had TV roles in ER, Matlock, Quantum Leap, NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI: New York, NYPD Blue and Law & Order, among others.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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