Jan-Michael Vincent Dies at 73: Timeline of the 'Airwolf' Star's Final Year's
Q1: What was the exact cause of Jan-Michael Vincent's death?
A1: Jan-Michael Vincent died from sudden cardiac arrest on February 10, 2019. Buncombe County vital records confirmed the fatal event occurred while he was a patient at Mission Hospital Asheville in North Carolina.
Q2: Why was Jan-Michael Vincent’s leg amputated?
A2: In 2012, Vincent developed a severe, life-threatening infection in his right leg stemming from advanced peripheral artery disease (PAD). Surgeons performed an emergency amputation below the knee, followed by a second surgery to remove the limb above the knee after the infection persisted.
Q3: Why was the public not told about his death for an entire month?
A3: His passing was kept completely private by his surviving spouse, Patricia Ann Christ, and immediate family. Vincent had been out of the Hollywood limelight for years, and news of his death only reached the public when an online entertainment news outlet pulled Buncombe County public records in March 2019.
Q4: How much was Jan-Michael Vincent paid for Airwolf?
A4: At the peak of Airwolf’s popularity in the mid-1980s, CBS paid Vincent $200,000 per episode. That made him the highest-paid actor on American television during that era.
Q5: What happened to Jan-Michael Vincent’s voice later in life?
A5: Vincent sustained permanent damage to his vocal cords during a catastrophic 1996 car accident in California, during which he broke three vertebrae in his neck. The physical trauma and subsequent medical intubations left his voice raspy and hoarse.