James Handy, known for “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Jumanji,” and “Arachnophobia,” died at 81 after police say he was stabbed in Tarzana. The LAPD says the suspect, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill, made a strange 911 call and was arrested on a murder charge with bail se
James Handy’s name will be remembered in the steady way longtime character actors are—seen across movies and TV for decades, familiar even when the credit card in your head doesn’t catch up.
But on Wednesday morning. the familiarity ended with a stabbing in Tarzana and a death that police say unfolded in front of a home tied closely to his personal life. James Handy, 81, was found with a stab wound to the chest in front of a Tarzana residence. Officers say he was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Handy’s screen credits included “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Jumanji,” and “Arachnophobia.” Over a career spanning five decades, he built a body of work that reached more than 100 acting credits—making the circumstances of his death feel especially brutal to those who recognized his face.
LAPD says the person accused of killing him is 44-year-old Michael Gledhill. Before officers arrived, police say Gledhill made a bizarre 911 call. In that call, he allegedly told dispatchers, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
When police reached the scene, authorities say Gledhill flagged them down and admitted he was the person they were looking for. Investigators also say he lived at the home with his mother, who was Handy’s girlfriend.
Gledhill was arrested and booked for murder, with his bail set at $2M. Investigators have not publicly discussed a possible motive.
The sequence of events—an overnight 911 call, an on-scene admission, and a life connected through a girlfriend—has left investigators and the public with the same aching question: how a familiar Hollywood face ends up in a police case with relationships so tightly interwoven.
James Handy Top Gun: Maverick Jumanji Arachnophobia LAPD Michael Gledhill Tarzana Hollywood actor death stabbing 911 call