Jan Michael Vincent
I just found out today (March 8, 2019) that former teen idol Jan Michael Vincent died last month. Was he not important enough of a teen idol to inform the fans before now? I’m sad that he’s gone, but also kind of pissed that it took a month for the public to be told. Maybe I’m just angry at all the idols being taken from us. We just lost Luke Perry earlier this week. Kristoff St. John from the Young and the Restless died last month as did Katherine Helmond. We lost both James Ingram and Daryl Dragon the month before. It’s a sad time in pop culture.
Jan Michael Vincent was born on July 15, 1945 in Denver, Colorado. I guess he did live a pretty long life compared to Luke Perry and Kristoff St. John. Still, I think a lot of his “long” life was filled with sadness. We’ll talk about that later. Jan Michael Vincent is best known for his role in Airwolf, but I didn’t watch that. I first knew about him from the Disney movie The World’s Greatest Athlete in 1973. Then I saw him shirtless in my teen magazines. Yum. He was in my teen magazines early on as Mike Vincent. I’m not sure when he added the Jan and lengthened Mike to Michael.
Marriages
Jan Michael Vincent was married to his first wife from 1968 to 1977. Their daughter Amber was born in 1972. He married his second wife in 1986 and they were divorced in 1999. She filed a restraining order against him claiming he had abused her since the beginning of the marriage. Good for her for finally taking charge and getting the hell out.
Airwolf, which aired from 1984-1986, was the pinnacle of Jan Michael Vincent’s acting career. He was being paid $200,000-$250,000 per episode which was the most for any actor in the U.S. at the time. Jan Michael Vincent’s alcoholism and drug use began to have a serious impact on his acting during Airwolf. Acting roles, and life in general, went downhill severely after Airwolf was over.
JMV Timeline of Bad News
- 1977 – Arrested for possession of cocaine
- 1978 – Arrested for possession of cocaine
- 1979 – Arrested for possession of cocaine
- 1984 – Arrested for bar brawl
- 1985 – Arrested for bar brawl
- 1986 – Felony assault charges
- 1988 – Arrested for drunk driving
- 1992 – Near fatal car accident
- 1996 – Car accident; broken neck; charged with drunk driving
- 1998 – Severe car accident
There’s more, but I think you get the picture. In 2012, Jan Michael Vincent had to have his right leg amputated. He died on February 8, 2019 in North Carolina, but it wasn’t announced until March 8, 2019.
I mentioned earlier that I was sad that Luke Perry and Kristoff St. John were taken from us recently at such a young age. Both were 52 when they died which seems really young to me. But you know what? I think they lived a longer life than Jan Michael Vincent. His body was on this earth for 73 years, but how many of those years did he live? I wonder when he stopped living. Are you still living life?