Jan-Michael Vincent RIP

Jan-Michael Vincent, star of Airwolf and The Winds of War, dies at 74

Jan-Michael Vincent

I saw a picture of him some time back and I hardly recognised the handsome swine that had been in a few Disney films and Danger Island(when part of The Banana Splits show) Only last year I was catching up on episodes of AIRWOLF that he had been in and I had wondered what he was up to since then. I saw him a few years ago playing a villain in a soft porn tv film and he looked okay - not great acting for a B-movie but I suppose he needed the money. It is always sad to read of people you virtually grew up with or remembered from television or films. I hope he didn't suffer and is at rest.

The poor chap had been in a lot of trouble over the last few decades. Awful happenings, many of them brought on by his own failings and excesses. From Wiki:

Vincent married Bonnie Poorman in 1968 and they had a daughter, Amber Vincent, in 1972.[5][6] Their divorce was finalized on January 2, 1977. His second wife, Joanne Robinson, left him and had a restraining order entered against him in 1998, alleging that he had abused her since their marriage in 1986.[7]

Vincent battled alcoholism and intravenous drug use for much of his life. In 1977, 1978 and 1979 he was arrested for possession of cocaine and in 1984 and 1985 he was arrested after two bar brawls.[8] He also received a felony assault charge in 1986, of which he was acquitted, after his attorney argued that the woman tripped and fell on a telephone cord in his home.[8] He then was arrested for drunk driving but avoided jail by entering rehab in 1988. In 2000 a $374,000 default judgment was made against him after his former girlfriend alleged he had physically assaulted her after their breakup and caused her to miscarry their child.[9]

During the 1990s, he was involved in three severe automobile collisions, which he barely survived. In an accident in August 1996 Vincent broke three vertebrae in his neck.[10] He also sustained a permanent injury to his vocal cords from an emergency medical procedure, leaving him with a permanently raspy voice. The first near fatal accident occurred in February 1992 and the third happened in September 1997. [11]

Vincent was charged with drunk driving again after his 1996 accident and once again sentenced to rehab and placed on probation. In an interview on the TV program The Insider on September 18, 2007, when asked about his 1996 car accident, he answered, "Y'know, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't remember being in an accident."[1][12]

In 2000 Vincent violated probation for his prior alcohol-related arrests by appearing drunk in public three times and assaulting his fiancée. As a result, he was sentenced to 60 days in the Orange County Jail.[13]

Vincent was involved in another automobile accident in 2008.[14]

In an interview that took place on October 24, 2014, with National Enquirer, Vincent revealed that his right leg was amputated just below the knee in 2012 after he contracted a leg infection as a result of complications from peripheral artery disease. After that he walked with a prosthetic limb, though he was sometimes forced to use a wheelchair.[15] He also revealed he had a tax debt in excess of $70,000.[16]

Vincent died on February 10, 2019 in North Carolina following a cardiac arrest. It wasn't confirmed until March 8th which said no autopsy had been performed and he was cremated. His memorial location is unknown.

Blimey been a bad week

Air wolf was my no 1 show as a kid

He was good in winds of war to

Stringfellow Hawke.
My boyhood television hero growing up.
Airwolf.
My favourite show to watch as a kid. To this day I have all the box sets of all the series in which Jan-Michael Vincent played Hawke.
The combination of him alongside Ernest Borgnine playing Dominic Santini resonates with me to this very day. And that helicopter. Oh that helicopter .
Fantasy maybe but if ever there was a machine I truly loved it was Airwolf.

For all the troubled times Vincent went through I still choose to remember his part in the show I cherished most as a child and one that still holds a special place in my heart to this very day. God bless Jan-Michael Vincent and the show he served so well.

(08-03-2019 20:13 )snookered Wrote:  Stringfellow Hawke.


For all the troubled times Vincent went through I still choose to remember his part in the show I cherished most as a child and one that still holds a special place in my heart to this very day. God bless Jan-Michael Vincent and the show he served so well.

Hi

How true, at least he is at peace, the demons behind him

God Bless and RIP Jan-Michael

Airwolf was one of those iconic 80s shows from my childhood

RIP Jan Michael Vincent

I do remember (& pretty sure) it was shown a lot on ITV on Saturday mornings or teatime and you had A-Team following it And have to admit it was an awesome helicopter.

RIP Jan and thank you for a wonderful programme...

Not a huge surprise given his drug & alcohol problems but I'm amazed he made it to 74.

The original Bell222 used in the show later became an Air Ambulance in Germany. It crashed into a mountain during a thunderstorm killing everyone on board.