Jan-Michael Vincent

Jan-Michael Vincent (born July 15, 1944) is a retired American actor best known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s U.S. television series Airwolf (1984–86) and as the protagonist of John Milius’s 1978 surfing epic Big Wednesday.

Early life

Vincent was born July 15, 1944, in Denver, Colorado, to Doris and Lloyd Vincent. His family moved to Hanford, California, when Jan-Michael was young. Vincent attended Ventura College in Ventura, California.

Career

1960s

Vincent was finishing a stint in the California Army National Guard when a talent scout was struck by his looks. His first acting job was in the movie The Bandits (aka Los Banditos), co-directed by and starring Robert Conrad, in 1967.

Vincent’s career took off in the late 1960s when casting agent Dick Clayton signed him to Universal Studios. He made a shirtless appearance on the Dragnet 1968 episode “The Grenade,” as a muscular high school student who suffered an acid attack by a mentally unstable classmate (played by Mickey Sholdar). He also appeared in the Danger Island segments of Hanna-Barbera’s The Banana Splits series as Link (1968–69). Finally, in the fall of 1969 Vincent had a starring role in the prime-time soap opera The Survivors, alongside Lana Turner and George Hamilton; however, the series was canceled at mid-season.