Jan-Michael Vincent

Jan-Michael Vincent (July 15, 1944 – February 10, 2019) was an American actor. He emerged as a leading man in the 1970s, playing notable roles in films like Going Home (1971), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture; The Mechanic (1972), Damnation Alley (1977), and Big Wednesday (1978). He earned his second Golden Globe nomination for his role on the television miniseries The Winds of War (1983), before starring as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the television series Airwolf (1984–87).

At the height of his career, Vincent was the highest-paid actor on American television.

Lloyd Vincent and Doris met in 1940 when she was 15 and Lloyd had finished high school. Lloyd was stationed in Denver in 1941 as a B-25 bomber pilot during World War II, and he married Doris there when she was sixteen. Vincent's mistrust of authority came from seeing his father in the Army being told what to do and when to do it. Vincent's sister, Jaqueline "Jacquie" Vincent, was born in 1947. His brother, Christopher, was born in 1952. After the war, Lloyd became a painter, like Vincent's grandfather, and later developed alcoholism. By the time Vincent was born in 1944, his parents owned a sign company in Hanford. Vincent later served in the California Army National Guard and remained in the National Guard Reserve until 1971.

Career

Vincent's first acting job was in 1967 in The Bandits, starring and co-directed by Robert Conrad.

Vincent also acted in several movies in the late 1960s, including the 1969 20th Century Fox movie The Undefeated (as Bubba Wilkes), starring John Wayne, Rock Hudson, and Antonio Aguilar. His name appeared as Michael Vincent in the credits of the movie. Vincent guest-starred in three episodes of Lassie with actor Tony Dow and two episodes of Bonanza. That same year, he appeared in the Gunsmoke episode "The Legend".

In 1972, Vincent appeared with Charles Bronson in the crime film The Mechanic In 1973, Vincent starred in the Disney comedy The World's Greatest Athlete, with Tim Conway and John Amos.

Vincent starred as the anti-hero Buster Lane in the 1974 romance Buster and Billie, In Bite the Bullet (1975), he played opposite Gene Hackman, James Coburn, and Candice Bergen. He starred in the trucker movie White Line Fever (1975); in Baby Blue Marine (1976), a war film directed by John D. Hancock, which also starred Glynnis O'Connor; and in Shadow of the Hawk (1976) co-starring Marilyn Hassett. Vincent also starred in Damnation Alley (1977), based on Roger Zelazny's science fiction novel. Two more 1978 appearances were the surfing film Big Wednesday with William Katt and Gary Busey, and Hooper with Burt Reynolds, in which Vincent played a young stuntman. While filming Airwolf, Vincent admitted to drug and alcohol problems for which he acknowledged seeking help. After Airwolf, he found roles in smaller-budget and lower-exposure film projects.

Vincent worked with Traci Lords in the 1991 suspense film Raw Nerve. He also co-starred with Clint Howard in the 1995 black comedy/horror film Ice Cream Man, which had a very limited theatrical release but eventually reached cult status via home video as an unintentional comedy. In 1994, he played in a South African-produced movie called Ipi Tombi, produced and directed by Tommie Meyer and based on a musical by Bertha Egnos.

While in the hospital in 1996, Vincent was committed to a role in Red Line with Chad McQueen as Keller. He appeared in the film with a swollen face and scars, and still wearing his hospital ID bracelet. In 1997, he had a small guest role on Nash Bridges, playing the title character's long-lost brother, and in 1998 he had a cameo role in the independent film Buffalo '66. His last role was in the independent film White Boy (titled Menace for the US video market), released in March 2003.

Personal life

Vincent married Bonnie Poorman in 1968, and they had a daughter in 1973. The couple's divorce was finalized in 1986.

Vincent remarried in 1986. His second wife, Joanne Robinson, left him and filed a restraining order against him in 1998, alleging that he had abused her during their marriage.

Substance abuse and health issues

He 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.

In 1986, he was charged with felony assault, but was acquitted after his attorney argued that the woman tripped and fell on a telephone cord in his home.

In the 1990s, he was involved in three severe automobile collisions, which he barely survived. The first near-fatal accident occurred in February 1992. In the second accident, in August 1996, Vincent broke three vertebrae in his neck. He sustained a permanent injury to his vocal cords from an emergency medical procedure, leaving him with a permanently raspy voice.

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

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. In 2008, Vincent was involved in another automobile accident.

In an October 2014 interview with the National Enquirer, Vincent revealed that his right leg had been 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, although he was sometimes forced to use a wheelchair.

Death

Vincent died on February 10, 2019, at the age of 74 in Asheville, North Carolina, due to cardiac arrest while hospitalized at Mission Hospital.

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| rowspan="2" | 1967

| The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk

| Tony Prito

| The Bandits

| Taye "Boy" Brown

| 1968

| Journey to Shiloh

| "Little Bit" Lucket

| 1969

| The Undefeated

| Lt. Bubba Wilkes

| 1971

| Going Home

| Jimmy Graham

| 1972

| The Mechanic

| Steve McKenna

| 1973

| The World's Greatest Athlete

| Nanu

| 1974

| Buster and Billie

| Buster Lane

| rowspan="2" | 1975

| Bite the Bullet

| Carbo

| White Line Fever

| Carrol Jo Hummer

| rowspan="3" | 1976

| Baby Blue Marine

| Marion

| Shadow of the Hawk

| Mike

| Vigilante Force

| Ben Arnold

| 1977

| Damnation Alley

| Tanner

| rowspan="2" | 1978

| Big Wednesday

| Matt Johnson

| Hooper

| Delmore "Ski" Shidski

| rowspan="2" | 1980

| Defiance

| Tommy

| The Return

| Wayne

| 1981

| Hard Country

| Kyle

| 1983

| Last Plane Out

| Jack Cox

| 1984

| Airwolf: The Movie

| Stringfellow Hawke

| 1985

| Get Out of My Room

| Immigration Officer

| rowspan="2" | 1987

| Enemy Territory

| Parker

| Born in East L.A.

| McCalister

| rowspan="5" | 1989

| Hit List

| Jack Collins

| Deadly Embrace

| Stewart Moreland

| direct-to-video

| Dirty Games

| Kepler West

| Alienator

| Commander

| Demonstone

| Andy Buck

| rowspan="3" | 1990

| Xtro II: The Second Encounter

| Dr. Ron Shepherd

| Haunting Fear

| Detective James Trent

| direct-to-video

| In Gold We Trust

| Oliver Moss

| rowspan="2" | 1991

| Hangfire

| Colonel Johnson

| Raw Nerve

| Lieutenant Bruce Ellis

| rowspan="3" | 1992

| The Divine Enforcer

| Father Thomas

| rowspan="2" | direct-to-video

| Animal Instincts

| Fletcher Ross

| Beyond the Call of Duty

| Len Jordan

| rowspan="5" | 1993

| Midnight Witness

| Lance

| Sins of Desire

| Warren Robillard

| Hidden Obsession

| Ben Scanlon

| Deadly Heroes

| Cody Grant

| Indecent Behavior

| Tom Mathis

| 1994

| Ipi Tombi

| Steven Gilbert

| rowspan="5" | 1995

| Abducted II: The Reunion

| Brad Allen

| Body Count

| Detective Reinhart

| Ice Cream Man

| Detective Gifford

| rowspan="2" | direct-to-video

| Red Line

| Keller

| Russian Roulette: Moscow 95

| Captain Nazarov

| 1996

| The Last Kill

| rowspan="2" | 1998

| Buffalo '66

| Sonny

| No Rest for the Wicked

| Sheriff Juan Ramirez

| rowspan="2" | 2000

| Escape to Grizzly Mountain

| Trapper

| The Thundering 8th

| Captain Otis Buchwald

| 2003

| White Boy

| Ron Masters

Television

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

| rowspan="2" | 1967

| The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk

| Tony Prito

| Dragnet

| Rick Schneiderman

| rowspan="2" | 1968

| Lassie

| Chris Hanford

| Bonanza

| Eddie MaKay

| 1968–1969

| The Banana Splits Adventure Hour<br>Danger Island

| Lincoln "Link" Simmons

| 1969

| Bonanza

| Rick Miller

| 1969–1970

| The Survivors

| Jeffrey Hastings

| main cast (10 episodes)

| 1970

| Tribes

| Adrian

| rowspan="5" | 1971

| Dan August

| Kevin Colter

| episode: "Death Chain" (S 1:Ep 15)

| Men at Law

| episode: "One American" (S 1:Ep 23)

| The Persuaders!

| Helicopter Pilot

| The Last of the Powerseekers

| Jeffrey Hastings

| Gunsmoke

| Travis Colter

| episode "The Legend" (S 17:Ep 6)

| rowspan="2" | 1972

| The Catcher

| Sam Callende

| Sandcastles

| Michael

| rowspan="3" | 1973

| Marcus Welby, M.D.

| Ritchie Manning

| episode: "Catch a Ring That Isn't There" (S 4:Ep 20)

| Deliver Us from Evil

| Nick Fleming

| Toma

| Billy Haskell

| episode: "Blockhouse Breakdown"

| 1973–1975

| Police Story

| Warren Yates / Dave Hauser

| episodes:<br />"Incident in the Kill Zone"<br />"Line of Fire"

| rowspan="2" | 1975

| Dinah!

| rowspan="2" | Himself

| rowspan="2" | 1 episode

| The Mike Douglas Show

| 1983

| The Winds of War

| Byron Henry

| miniseries

| 1984–1986

| Airwolf

| Stringfellow Hawke

| main cast (55 episodes)

| 1986

| Hotel

| Nick Hauser

| episode "Undercurrents"

| 1987

| Six Against the Rock

| Miran "Buddy" Thompson

| rowspan="4" |

| 1989

| Tarzan in Manhattan

| Brightmore

| 1991

| The Final Heist

| David King

| 1993

| Singapore Sling

| Billy

| 1994

| Renegade

| Max

| episode: "Hard Rider"

| rowspan="2" | 1996

| Jurassic Women

| Zepp

| rowspan="2" |

| Lethal Orbit

| Riff

| 1997

| Nash Bridges

| Bobby Chase

| episode "Revelations"

References

In 1971, a TV movie titled The Last of the Powerseekers aired on ABC. Universal Television re-edited two of The Survivors episodes into the TV movie.
In 1980, a TV movie titled Dan August: Once Is Never Enough aired on ABC. This was a re-editing of episode 15 "Death Chain" with episode 25 "Prognosis: Homicide".
Jan-Michael Vincent: Edge of Greatness does not have page numbers. Use specific section of book for reference.

Bibliography

External links

Whatever Happened To: Jan Michael Vincent