Soul destroying for David as 'baby' gives up on him
MADE in Hongkong; torn apart in Los Angeles. These were our thoughts when we heard how American actor David Soul was being sued for divorce by Julia Nickson, the actress he fell in love with when they were filming the (thankfully) almost-forgotten Harry's Hongkong in the 1980s.
Soul, 49, whose career reached its zenith when he starred in the 1970s series Starsky and Hutch with Paul Michael Glaser, has admitted his drinking fractured the union.
Singapore-born Nickson, 34, who has since starred in Rambo with Sylvester Stallone, filed for divorce in Los Angeles to end the five-year marriage.
Another cause of friction was the fact that Nickson, who also appeared in another Hongkong ''epic'', Noble House, found her career was ascending while her husband's withered.
Although both say the parting is amicable, Nickson is taking a hard line over money, including a demand that she should not pay Soul alimony.
She also wants custody of their daughter, China, who is almost five, even though normal practice in California is for parents to get joint legal custody of children, and she is looking for child support from Soul.
Thrice-married Soul admitted: ''The relationship was strained because I was drinking. Julia and I would fight over that.
''In 1989 she persuaded me to enter a rehabilitation clinic. Julia told me 'you're destroying yourself with your drinking - you've got to do something'.'' It's not been the best of starts to 1993 for Soul. Days after the divorce papers were filed, Tina Jones claimed he forced her into a bedroom after a dinner date and kept her there all night.
Looks like Soul, who flirted with a pop career with the hit, Don't Give Up on Us Baby, is haunted by the lyrics, which just keep coming back.
