Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent (born July 15, 1944) is an American actor best-known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s U.S. television series Airwolf (1984–1986), which continues to enjoy a large cult fanbase. Vincent had an extensive television and film career that began in the late 1960s and lasted until the early 2000s.
Jan-Michael Vincent worked with Traci Lords in the 1991 suspense film Raw Nerve. In the latter half of the decade, Vincent was involved in two severe automobile accidents from which he barely escaped alive. As a result of one accident in 1996, in which Vincent broke three vertebrae in his neck, he sustained a permanent injury to his vocal cords from an emergency medical procedure. This has left him with a permanently raspy voice. It was while he was in the hospital that he was committed to a role in “Red Line” with Chad McQueen. He appeared in the film with a swollen face, scars, and still wearing the hospital ID bracelet.
In 1997 he had a small guest role on Nash Bridges playing the title character’s long-lost brother.
A notable exception to the downward trend in Vincent’s post-Airwolf career was his small role in the critically acclaimed independent film Buffalo ‘66, in 1998.
His last movie role was in the independent film White Boy, also titled
Menace (for the US video version), released in March 2002.
In an interview on the TV program The Insider on September 18, 2007, when asked about the 1996 car accident, he answered, “Y’know, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t remember being in an accident.” He later discussed being an alcoholic.
As of 2008, Vincent resides in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Vincent has a daughter, Amber Springbird Vincent, from his marriage to first wife Bonnie Portman.
