James Handy, a character actor whose screen credits spanned four decades and included Top Gun: Maverick, Jumanji, and The Verdict, died on June 4, 2026, after being stabbed at a residential property in Tarzana, Los Angeles. He was 81.
Los Angeles police responded to a 911 call at around 9:30 a.m. and found Handy unconscious in the front yard of the home, having been stabbed in the chest. Paramedics transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The LAPD confirmed the death as a homicide.
The 911 caller told the dispatcher: "I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin." Suspect Michael Gledhill, 44, flagged down responding officers near the scene and identified himself. According to the LAPD, Gledhill and his mother both lived at the property with Handy, and his mother was Handy’s girlfriend. Officers arrested and booked Gledhill on suspicion of murder, with bail set at $2 million.
James Handy’s career in television and film
Born in New York City, Handy made his screen debut in 1977 in two episodes of the ABC soap opera Ryan’s Hope. He worked steadily in American television over the following decades, building an extensive list of credits on some of the genre’s most-watched shows. These include NYPD Blue, ER, The X-Files, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, and 9-1-1. Earlier credits include Cagney & Lacey, Matlock, Quantum Leap, LA Law, Murder She Wrote, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, and Walker Texas Ranger.
His film career ran parallel. He appeared in the Sidney Lumet courtroom drama The Verdict (1982) alongside Paul Newman, then continued through K-9 (1989), Arachnophobia (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Point of No Return (1993), and Jumanji (1995). His later film credits include Unbreakable (2000), directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and Logan (2017). His last major screen credit was Top Gun: Maverick (2022), the Tom Cruise sequel that grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide. It arrived 36 years after Tony Scott’s original Top Gun.
Handy worked primarily as a supporting actor throughout his career, taking on authority figures, law enforcement officers, and antagonist roles across crime procedurals, action films, and horror productions. He rarely anchored a project as the lead, but his sustained output placed him in front of audiences across several generations of American film and television. His screen career ran from the late 1970s through the early 2020s.
What we know about James Handy’s death
The LAPD investigation remains open. Gledhill faces a murder charge and has not yet gone to trial as of publication. Handy’s representatives have not issued a formal statement. No next-of-kin statement has been released.