James Handy, a character actor in such films as “Logan,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Arachnophobia,” was found stabbed to death at a home in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, the police said. He was 81.
A 44-year-old man who is the son of Mr. Handy’s girlfriend was arrested on a murder charge, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department.
The police said they were alerted to the crime when someone called 911 at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, saying: “I am the son of man. I just killed the man of sin.”
Upon arriving at the home, in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, police officers found Mr. Handy unconscious in the front yard with a stab wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
The suspect, Michael Gledhill, who lived at the home with his mother, flagged down police officers and told them he was the person they were looking for, the police said.
Mr. Gledhill was being held on $2 million bail. He was expected to make his initial court appearance on Friday, when the district attorney’s office is likely to file formal charges.
Joheina Quibol, a neighbor of Mr. Handy, on Friday described him and his girlfriend as “the nicest couple.” She said they often greeted her in the morning when they ran into one another.
“I feel really devastated, because they were, like, the nicest ever to us,” Ms. Quibol, 23, said. “I feel so sad right now.”
It was a different story with the suspect, she said. Ms. Quibol said her father had warned her to stay away from Mr. Gledhill, who once knocked on their door to complain about the family’s outdoor camera security system.
“My dad told us he was being aggressive and paranoid,” she said. “He said to be cautious around him.”
Mr. Handy had appeared in major films, but often as a supporting character in cameo-like roles.
In the gory 2017 film “Logan,” which starred Hugh Jackman as the clawed antihero Wolverine, Mr. Handy played a doctor who tended to Wolverine’s injuries in an urgent-care clinic.
In “Top Gun: Maverick,” the 2022 film that was led by Tom Cruise as a fighter pilot, Mr. Handy portrayed a bartender, Jimmy, at a beachfront bar frequented by military personnel. Mr. Cruise and Mr. Handy were also castmates in the 1981 film “Taps,” one of Mr. Cruise’s earliest projects.
Mr. Handy played an exterminator in the 1995 film “Jumanji” and was a coroner named Milton Briggs in 1990 movie “Arachnophobia.”
One of Mr. Handy’s most notable and consistent television roles was playing Arthur Devlin, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, in the thriller series “Alias.” He also has credits in television shows such as “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “CSI: NY” and “Law and Order.”
“I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend than James Handy,” his talent agent, Pam Ellis-Evenas of the Ellis Talent Group, said in an email.
Georgia Gee contributed research. Rebecca Fairley Raney and Emmanuel Morgan contributed reporting.