David Soul, the actor who earned fame as the blond half of a crime-fighting duo in a popular 1970’s television series, has died.

Soul portrayed Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside dark-haired Paul-Michael Glazer as David Starsky.  The show, “Starsky and Hutch”  ran on ABC from 1975-1979.

At the height of his fame, Soul also hit the music charts with the single “Don’t Give Up on Us”.

He suffered from COPD, something he blamed on a 50-year habit of smoking three packs of cigarettes a day.

David Soul was 80.