Top Gun: Maverick actor James Handy fatally stabbed by his girlfriend's son

Actor James Handy, best known for his roles in Top Gun: Maverick and Jumanji, has been fatally stabbed. He was 81. According to a police statement, the actor died at his Los Angeles Home on Wednesday after being stabbed by his girlfriend’s son, Michael Gledhill. The police are still investigating the case

“On Wednesday, June 3, 2026, around 9:30 a.m., West Valley area patrol officers responded to a radio call of unknown trouble in the 19200 block of Erwin Street. The 911 caller stated, ‘I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.’ Upon their arrival, officers discovered 81-year-old James Handy in the front yard of the residence, unconscious and suffering from a stab wound to his chest. The victim was transported to a local hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics, where he was pronounced deceased,” the LAPD’s statement read.

Police stated that Gledhill “flagged down nearby responding officers” and told them that “he was the one they were looking for.”

Gledhill, 44, was arrested and taken to Van Nuys Jail, where he was booked on one count of murder.

James Handy’s acting project

The actor played a bartender in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick and also played an exterminator in the 1995 film Jumanji. In 2017, Handy portrayed a doctor in Logan opposite Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. He has also been part of several TV shows like Alias, The West Wing, Melrose Place, NYPD Blue, The Practice, Walker, Texas Ranger, and the Young and the Restless.