The death of his film partner David Soul is the latest tragedy in the life of Paul Michael Glaser.
Glaser, 80, played Detective Dave Starsky alongside Souls Detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson in the hit 1970s TV series Starsky & Hutch.
The duo is known for tearing around the streets of California in their distinctive red and white Ford Torino, looking endlessly cool despite their penchant for belted cardigans.
But Glaser's life off-screen was marked by both hardship and heartbreak. The actor and director lost his seven-year-old daughter Ariel and his beloved wife Elizabeth to HIV, which she contracted during a blood transfusion after Ariel's birth.
He eventually remarried, but separated from his second wife, Tracy Barone, in 2007, ending their ten-year marriage due to “irreconcilable differences.”
Glaser also spent many years “fearing for his safety” after being stalked by an obsessed fan who he found “lurking” in his Los Angeles apartment. He claims the woman even followed him to the UK when he was starring in Peter Pan.
Paul Michael Glaser, 80, played Detective Dave Starsky alongside Souls Detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson in the hit 1970s TV series “Starsky & Hutch.” They are pictured together
Paul Glaser lost his seven-year-old daughter Ariel and his beloved wife Elizabeth to HIV, which she contracted during a blood transfusion after Ariel's birth. He is pictured with Elizabeth and their young daughter
Glaser eventually remarried, but separated from his second wife, Tracy Barone, in 2007, ending their ten-year marriage due to “irreconcilable differences.” He and Tracy are pictured together in 1997
Glaser and Elizabeth had their first child together in August 1981 – their daughter Ariel.
Elizabeth had suffered bleeding during labor and received a transfusion of seven liters of blood, which was not tested for AIDS at the time.
About four years later, concerned about their daughter's persistent and severe stomach pain, the couple took Ariel to the doctor. She tested positive for HIV.
It turned out that Elizabeth had contracted HIV from the blood transfusion, and without knowing that she was carrying the virus, she began breastfeeding Ariel, thus passing the virus on to her daughter.
Three years later, when the Glasers did not yet know that Elizabeth was HIV-positive, they had a son, Jake, who also became infected with HIV in the womb. Paul was the only one whose test was negative.
Ariel died in 1988 at the age of seven years and one week. Elizabeth also died of HIV in 1994 at the age of 47 – but not before she vigorously campaigned for more research into the virus.
Jake survived and was previously reported to have taken medication to combat the effects of the virus.
He has continued his mother's advocacy through the Pediatric Aids Foundation and revealed in 2021 that he had experienced survivor's guilt as an adult.
“I resented my mother and my sister because, in my opinion, they were let down,” he told People Magazine. “And I was beating myself up and thinking, 'Why couldn't I have saved her?'
Glaser also felt guilt, bitterness, and sadness over the deaths of Elizabeth and Ariel. He told the Chron 11 years ago: “I started with an enormous amount of rage and anger, mostly directed at myself because I wasn't able to do anything about it.” And also guilt.
“But when I went through the experience of losing my wife and my daughter, I was probably more open to learning about helplessness, fear and where we are in this life.”
“I'm a completely different person now than I would have been if none of this had happened, so I feel very fortunate that I was able to learn these things and end up in a place I never could have imagined.”
In 1996 he married his second wife, film producer Tracy Barone. The couple had a daughter together, Zoe.
The couple divorced in 2007, with Glaser citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for ending his marriage in court documents filed in Los Angeles.
Glaser and Elzabeth's son, Jake, was infected with HIV in the womb. Paul Michael Glaser and Jake Glaser are pictured together
Glaser became a household name as Detective Dave Starsky in the crime series that ran from 1975 to 1979. The duo is pictured together
Shortly before her death, Elizabeth wrote a moving book called “In the Absence Of Angels,” in which she noted that after the diagnosis that the Glasers had long kept secret, “to so many we still seemed like a picture-perfect family.” .
“In private after the diagnosis I said: “Why me? Why me? Why me?” Glaser admitted in 2013, “but the only answer to that question is, 'Well, why not me?'
“In my darkest moments.” [after the deaths of Ariel and Elizabeth] “I probably thought about ending it,” he admits, “but I never had the chance…” he pauses. “It never made any sense. How do you do something like that?
So it never occurred to me. But over time I have learned that we are all helpless in the face of our mortality.
“We try all these illusions of empowerment: 'I built this… I own this… I can buy this…' but the nasty truth is that we have no power over our own mortality or that of others, for that matter, and that is ours.” only real fear.
“I still feel angry or mad or hurt or sad or depressed, but it takes a lot less time to deal with it now.” So I consider myself extremely lucky because I have a much greater level of peace than I ever imagined can.”
In the mid-80s there was a climate of fear about AIDS. Elizabeth wrote movingly about how some schools would not admit her children and that even certain school friends were not allowed to come to the Glaser house to play.
Undeterred, she founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation to further research into the virus and even lobbied Congress for more funding.
When Princess Diana heard of the Glasers' plight, she contacted Elizabeth and later admitted that Elizabeth's courage in the face of adversity had helped spark her own work for AIDS charities in Britain.
Glaser, now an abstract artist, is honorary chairman of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The charity was named in honor of his wife and daughter.
The actor was also forced to ask a Los Angeles judge for a restraining order against a woman who ran his official website in 2011.
Glaser filed for a restraining order to protect himself from the unnamed woman, claiming she was “lurking” in his apartment.
He claimed she followed him to the UK when he starred in Peter Pan in 2007 and attended the panto 23 times.
The actress also claimed that she sent him over 500 emails in two years. In the stream of emails, the woman showed “both a rational and a very irrational side,” according to the documents.
Glaser said at the time: “I fear for my safety.”
Soul as Detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside Paul Michael Glaser’s Detective Dave Starsky
In 2017, Glaser was seen pushing his old co-star David Soul in a wheelchair to Comic Con in Liverpool
Glaser became a household name as Detective Dave Starsky in the crime series that ran from 1975 to 1979.
Today, his Soul co-star, David Soul, who achieved cult status for his role in the series before topping the charts with his hit “Don't Give Up On Us,” died at the age of 80.
His heartbroken wife Helen Snell said the British-American star died surrounded by his family after a “courageous fight for life.”
She said in a statement: “David Soul – beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother – died yesterday in the loving company of his family after a brave fight for life.”
“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as an actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend.” His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he touched.”
Soul starred Detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside Glaser’s Detective Dave Starsky. The pair remained friends and in 2017 Glaser was seen pushing his old co-star in a wheelchair to Comic Con in Liverpool.
Soul married five times and is survived by five sons and a daughter. In 1964 he married actress Mirriam “Mim” Solberg for the first time, but this marriage only lasted a year.
Further connections followed with Karen Carlson, whom he met on the set of the television series “Here Comes the Brides”; Patti Carnel Sherman, the ex-wife of 1960s pop idol Bobby Sherman; and actress Julia NIckson.
Soul described how he “fell in love” with the UK after spending time there for work and lived in Maida Vale for many years – becoming a keen Arsenal fan. In 2004 he received citizenship. In 2002, he met Helen Snell, a public relations executive, at the stage production of “Deathtrap” and they married in 2010.
David Soul has died aged 80, his wife Helen Snell announced in a heartfelt statement this afternoon
David Soul as Hutch alongside Paul Michael Glaser as Starsky in the third season of Starsky and Hutch
Soul met Helen Snell, a PR manager, at the stage production of Deathtrap in 2002 and they married in 2010. They were seen together in London in 2015
Soul became an international star and pin-up thanks to Starsky and Hutch during the show's four-year run between 1975 and 1979.
He made a cameo appearance in a 2004 feature film remake of the hit series starring Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch, introducing the iconic characters to yet another younger generation.
The original series ran for four seasons from 1975 to 1979 on ABC and followed the title characters, detectives, as they fought crime on the streets of the fictional Bay City, California in a bright red Gran Torino, with Antonio Fargas playing their informant Huggy Bear.
Soul also enjoyed a brief pop career, scoring a number one hit in the US and UK in 1976 with the catchy ballad Don't Give Up On Us Baby.
More chart-toppers followed in 1977 with the singles “Going In With My Eyes Open” and “Silver Lady”, but Soul's foray as a singer ended twelve months later with the release of “It Sure Brings Out The Love In Your Eyes” – his fifth and final Album single.
Other memorable film roles included a vigilante cop in the Dirty Harry sequel “The Enforcer” and the lead role of nostalgic writer Ben Mears in the 1979 Stephen King adaptation “Salem's Lot.”