James Handy, 81-year-old New York actor who has participated in small roles in films such as Jumanji and, in addition to dozens of series, he has been murdered at the doors of his home in Los Angeles. The confessed killer is his girlfriend’s son, a man named Michael Gledhill, 44, who remains in prison on $2 million bail.
The news of Handy’s death has been known in several places. First, on Wednesday, it was learned that a man had been murdered in the town of Tarzana, northwest of Los Angeles. Then, on Thursday at noon, Handy’s death was made public. But it was not until hours later, late in the afternoon in California, when it was finally learned that the two cases were the same.
It was around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday when emergency services responded to Erwin Street, north of Tarzana, to treat a man lying in his front yard. They found him unconscious, with a stab wound in the chest, as reported by the Los Angeles Police Department and as they collected. He was taken to the hospital and there he was pronounced dead.
As it became known shortly after, it was a man who called 911 to report it. In the audio recorded by the service, he is heard saying: “I am the son of man, I have just killed the man of sin.” The police showed up at Handy’s home, blocking streets in the neighborhood and searching house by house. Finally, they arrested said man, who assured them that he was the murderer, and who was later identified as Michael Gledhill, 44 years old and resident in the same house. According to what he himself said, he lived there with his mother; apparently this was Handy’s girlfriend. Then they imposed that high bail that, for the moment, he has not been able to afford, and he was taken to the prison in the nearby town of Van Nuys. Authorities reported that this was an isolated incident.
A Tarzana man accused of fatally stabbing his mother’s boyfriend allegedly called 911 and declared, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,” before officers arrived at the home, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
— KTLA (@KTLA)
Already on Thursday, after learning of Handy’s death, it was his agent who sent a statement to the media. “It is with great sadness that we can confirm that the man who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy,” his representative, Pam Ellis-Evenas, told the local press.
Handy had a long career of supporting roles in film and television, with almost 150 titles under his belt. He had been working in the entertainment industry for almost 50 years. He was not a particularly well-known face, but rather one of those shadowy, tireless workers who try to forge a decades-long career with which to get ahead and enjoy their profession while earning a living.
His most popular role was probably that of Jimmy, the waiter at Top Gun: Maverickthe famous sequel to the 2022 action film, starring Tom Cruise; In addition, he could also be seen in Jumanjifrom 1995. Handy had begun his career in television series and movies, and his most recurring roles were the seven episodes he did in the series New York Police and the six of Melrose Placeboth in the mid-nineties, as well as the eight of , already in the early 2000s. His face and name will remain for posterity in dozens of popular titles, such as ER, Law & Order, The West Wing of the White House, Murder Written, The X-Files, Criminal Minds, Castle, CSI y Crossing Jordan.
