Jan-Michael Vincent plays the reclusive pilot Stringfellow Hawke, who works for the Firm, a divison of the CIA, that fly's the top secret helicopter Airwolf on missions of national importance, while the Firm tries to recover his brother St, John who has been missing in action since the Vietnam War. Stringfellow had a Master's degree in Applied Physics and, while often hot-tempered, could be pragmatic. An avid fisherman, and lives in seclusion in a log cabin by Lake Hemet (outside Los Angeles) with his Bluetick Coonhound "Tet" (named after the 1968 communist Tet Offensive).

​

Jan made a name for himself portraying rebellious young men bucking the system, as in Tribes (1970), White Line Fever (1975) and Baby Blue Marine (1976) or as a man of action on either side of the law, as in The Mechanic (1972), Vigilante Force (1976) and Winds of War (1983).

​

Jan died on Feb. 10, 2019 at a hospital near his home in Asheville, N.C. He was 73. The cause was cardiac arrest, according to a death certificate released by the Buncombe County Register of Deeds. His death was not widely reported until Friday.

​

Jan's salary for Airwolf was $250 000 /week.