Top Gun: Maverick actor James Handy stabbed to death in Los Angeles as girlfriend's son arrested

US actor James Handy, who appeared in films including Top Gun: Maverick and Jumanji as well as numerous TV dramas, has been stabbed to death in Los Angeles.

His girlfriend's son Michael Gledhill, 44, was arrested following his death and is accused of murder.

Police went to a home on Wednesday morning after an emergency 911 call, in which the caller said: "I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin."

When they arrived, officers found the 81-year-old actor stabbed in the chest and unconscious in the front garden in Tarzana, northwest Los Angeles.

He was taken to hospital and was later pronounced dead, police said.

Gledhill, who lives at the property with his mother, told officers he was the person they were looking for, police added.

He has been arrested and is accused of one count of murder.

His bail was set at $2m (£1.5m) and he was still in custody on Thursday night.

Police said the stabbing appeared to be isolated and there was no danger to the public.

Handy was born in New York and appeared in films and television programmes over decades.

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"With great sadness I can confirm that the gentleman who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy," Handy's agent, Pam Ellis-Evenas, said.

"I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend than James Handy," she added.

He played an exterminator in the 1995 film Jumanji, and also appeared in the 1990 movie Arachnophobia.

Handy played a doctor in the 2017 film Logan, about the X-Men character Wolverine. More recently, he was the bartender Jimmy in the 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise.

Handy also appeared in TV crime dramas, including NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI:NY, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, The Closer and Cold Case. He was also in The X Files in 1993.

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