Airwolf star Jan-Michael Vincent dies at 73

Jan-Michael Vincent, the actor who played attack helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the television series Airwolf, has died, TMZ is reporting. He was 73.

Vincent died on February 10 after suffering cardiac arrest while a patient at a North Carolina hospital. 

Airwolf, which ran from 1984 until 1987, centered on an experimental high-tech military helicopter and its crew as they went on espionage-themed missions. While on the show, Vincent was one of the highest paid people on TV, reportedly getting paid $200,000 per episode. Upon being told that he was the highest-paid actor at the time, Vincent said: “This is the first time I ever thought about that. I never thought about being the highest paid. I just wanted to be someone that people cared about watching and I feel I'm a good actor.”

In 2012, Vincent suffered from an infection as a result of complications from peripheral artery disease that required his right leg to be amputated.

The actor also starred opposite Burt Reynolds in the 1978 film, Hooper, and Kim Basinger in the 1981 film, Hard Country. His most recent film was the 2002 indie White Boy. 

Vincent was refererred to in a segment in the Season 2 episode of Rick and Morty: "Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate."