Handy’s career as a character actor spanned decades throughout many movies and television series.

Jumanji actor James Handy made last public appearance 9 years before being fatally stabbed at 81

Handy's career as a character actor spanned decades throughout many movies and television series.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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June 5, 2026 5:00 p.m. ET

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James Handy at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, Calif., in 2017. Credit:

Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

- James Handy's last public appearance took place in 2017, years before the character actor was fatally stabbed outside his home.

- Handy had stepped out in Sherman Oaks, Calif. in support of the mockumentary *Senior Entourage*.

- Among Handy's many acting credits are *Jumanji*, *Top Gun: Maverick*, *The West Wing *and *The Young and The Restless*.

Longtime character actor James Handy's final outing came almost a decade before he was fatally stabbed.

The *Jumanji** *actor*, *who was killed on June 3 in Tarzana, Calif., made his last public appearance at a screening for the mockumentary *Senior Entourage*.

Handy was photographed in September 2017 with David Lockhart, Ed Asner (who died in 2021), Mark Rydell, Brian Connors, and Helen Reddy (who died in 2020) at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, Calif. The movie is "a wild, wacky mockumentary comedy," with the "freewheeling unscripted improvisational feel of *Curb Your Enthusiasm* for the elderly or *Seinfeld* for seniors."

The mockumentary, which came out in 2021, was among Handy's final performances, appearing as Father MacGuffin. Per IMDb, his last on-screen appearance was as a bartender in *Top Gun: Maverick*.

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Authorities reported that Handy was fatally stabbed on Wednesday morning in his Los Angeles home. The 911 caller stated, “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.” When police arrived to the scene, they found Handy in the front yard with a stab wound to his chest. He was brought to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

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Michael Gledhill, who is the son of Handy's girlfriend, is in custody. The 44-year-old has been charged with one count of murder and his bail has been set at $2 million. Authorities believe that the stabbing was "an isolated incident and there appears to be no danger to the public at this time."

Handy's agent, Pam Ellis-Evans, confirmed the actor's death in a statement to **. "With great sadness I can confirm that the gentleman who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy."

David Lockhart, Ed Asner, Mark Rydell, Brian Connors, James Handy, and Helen Reddy in 2017.

Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Among his acting credits are films *Arachnophobia,* *The Rocketeer*,* Brighton Beach Memoirs, Bird, Point of No Return, Murder in Mind, **Logan**, *and* Suburbicon*, along with television series such as *Alias*, *The West Wing*, *Melrose Place*, *NYPD Blue*, *The Practice*, *Walker, Texas Ranger*, and the *Young and the Restless*.

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Source: “EW Movies”