Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Iconic '80s Series Knight Rider?

In 1982, NBC launched a show about a former cop who gets a new face and drives around in a car that can talk, think, and outrun nearly anything on four wheels. This show, "Knight Rider," became a defining piece of television in the 1980s. 

David Hasselhoff played Michael Knight, who fought crime with the help of KITT, an artificially intelligent Trans Am. The pairing of a charismatic lead and a sarcastic car shouldn't have worked as well as it did, but four seasons and 90 episodes later, nobody was arguing. KITT remains one of the most unforgettable cars to ever appear on-screen. Those opening credits and the theme music are instantly recognizable to anyone who spent time near a TV during the mid-1980s.

"Knight Rider" didn't reinvent storytelling, but it secured a lasting place in the hearts of fans. Four decades after the original series wrapped up, Hasselhoff's fame grew in ways that had nothing to do with talking cars or the Foundation for Law and Government. Of course, fame isn't always smooth sailing, and over the years, Hasselhoff dealt with his own ups and downs (including some major money troubles), but his connection to the show and its fans remained strong. The rest of the cast went their separate ways, with some finding surprising new paths.

Starring opposite the unforgettable KITT, the artificially intelligent supercar, David Hasselhoff became a household name as a crime-fighting hero. After "Knight Rider" wrapped, Hasselhoff's biggest move was "Baywatch." He stepped in as executive producer and helped bring it back after NBC dropped it. Outside TV, his 1989 single "Looking for Freedom" hit No. 1 in West Germany as the Berlin Wall fell. Later, he told Time, "I was just a man who sang a song about freedom."

In 2006, Hasselhoff joined the inaugural judging panel on "America's Got Talent" and stayed through Season 4, helping launch some memorable stars. But the same period brought personal turmoil. His divorce from actress Pamela Bach played out publicly, and in 2007, a private video leaked showing him intoxicated and struggling to eat a burger on the floor. Hasselhoff later revealed that one of his daughters had recorded it. In a statement reported by CBS, he said, "I have seen the tape. I have learned from it and I am back on my game."

In 2021, The Sun reported that Hasselhoff sold off his functional KITT car for at least £350,000. In March 2025, his ex-wife Bach died by suicide in Los Angeles. Hasselhoff posted a family statement on X: "We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support during this difficult period." Hasselhoffcurrently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Welsh model Hayley Roberts, whom he met in 2011. He has two daughters from his marriage to Bach, Taylor-Ann and Hayley Amber. In May 2026, Page Six reported that Hasselhoff is recovering from knee surgery he had in 2025. The outlet noted he was seen being pushed in a wheelchair.

William Daniels voiced KITT on "Knight Rider," but that was running alongside his on-camera work as Dr. Mark Craig on "St. Elsewhere," the role that won him two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1993, he took the role of George Feeny on "Boy Meets World," but nearly didn't. Daniels later explained his hesitation: "I was afraid [Feeny] would be the butt of the joke [but then] I realized the plot would be written with respect" (via Us Weekly).

Daniels also took on a very un-showbiz role as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1999 to 2001. He took the job seriously. During a strike, he wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times defending actor residuals, stating plainly, "That's wrong. And actors from the well-known to the unknown won't stand for it." When he stepped down in 2001, he told the Los Angeles Times, "This is not a career job for me."

Outside of acting, Daniels has led an eventful life. In 2018, at 91, he scared off a burglary suspect at his Los Angeles home, and a spokesperson told People that "Mr. Daniels was able to frighten away the person and the LAPD quickly responded." He has been married to actress Bonnie Bartlett since 1951. "Now, it seems like in Hollywood there are no marriages that are 73 years old, so we seem to break records," he told People in 2024. Reflecting on his career, he told People in 2025 that he's grateful his work is still appreciated. In March 2026, when asked about nearing 100, he said, "I certainly don't feel 99 years old, that's for sure. ...Oh, I don't want to be a hundred. Who wants to be a hundred?" (via People).

Edward Mulhare had a long career before "Knight Rider," with film credits including "Von Ryan's Express" and "Caprice," along with a television run on "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" in the late 1960s. But for most viewers who remember him at all, he's Devon Miles, the British handler who gave Michael Knight his assignments. After "Knight Rider" ended, he hosted a paranormal series called "Secrets & Mysteries" in the mid-1980s, and continued picking up work into the 1990s. His final television appearance was on "Baywatch Nights" in December 1996, alongside Hasselhoff and fellow "Baywatch" cast members.

Mulhare also finished work on "Out to Sea," which came out in 1997 after he had died. After returning from a trip to New York in January 1997, Mulhare was diagnosed with lung cancer. The Los Angeles Times reported that his publicist attributed the illness in part to Mulhare's earlier smoking habit. At one point, he reportedly went through as many as five packs a day before quitting in 1979. He died at his home in Van Nuys, California, on May 24, 1997, at 74. The New York Times confirmed the cause as lung cancer following a five-month illness.

Mulhare remained a bachelor and had no children. His closest immediate family were his brothers, Thomas and John Mulhare, who lived in Ireland. According to the Los Angeles Times, his publicist said, "When someone announced he was ill, he started getting fan mail from all these people who had seen 'The Ghost and Mrs. Muir' when they were kids, and now were in their 30s and 40s, saying, 'We never missed your show.'"

Richard Basehart narrated the opening of "Knight Rider," giving the show its authoritative tone every week. For Basehart, though, it was a late chapter in a career that had already run for nearly 40 years. He played Ishmael in John Huston's 1956 adaptation of "Moby Dick" and worked internationally as well, including in the German film "Jons und Erdme." He later received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures.

His best-known longer-running role was as Admiral Harriman Nelson on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." He also did plenty of narration work outside "Knight Rider," including the TV movies "They've Killed President Lincoln!" and "The Crowded Life." One of his last major appearances came in Los Angeles in 1984, when he narrated the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics — only weeks before his death. United Press International reported that he died after a series of strokes. According to The New York Times, he spent his later years lobbying for human rights in Central America and for animal protection in the California legislature. His wife, Diana, told the Los Angeles Times in 1986 of her husband's death, "I felt I was drowning continually. ... We were married three months under 26 years, a marriage of total loving."

Basehart had three children — daughters Jenna and Gayla with Diana, and a son, Jackie, from his earlier marriage to Italian actress Valentina Cortese. Jackie Basehart died in 2015, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In 2024, after Diana's death, Gayla posted an Instagram photo of her parents as founders of the animal welfare group Actors and Others and asked for donations to support pet animals.

Not everyone from 1980s television ended up chasing relevance. Some stars live like normal people. After "Knight Rider," Patricia McPherson continued working in television through the late 1980s and into 1991, appearing on shows including "Dynasty," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and "Matlock." Then, she largely stepped away from acting and redirected her energy toward environmental activism. She worked with the Sierra Club and, in 1993, founded the Grassroots Coalition, focusing much of her advocacy on the Ballona Wetlands in Los Angeles. In 2019, she delivered a formal presentation to the California Coastal Commission on the ecological history of the site. That's a three-decade commitment to a single cause. 

In February 2026, The Sun shared photos of McPherson at her Los Angeles home repairing her roof. McPherson played Bonnie Barstow, the mechanic who kept KITT running, during the first season of "Knight Rider." At the end of that 1983 season, she was let go and replaced by Rebecca Holden, who joined the series as a new character, April Curtis. Explaining the change, executive producer Robert Foster said, "We wanted to try something different, something glitzy, and they hired a shapely redhead, Rebecca Holden" (via the Daily Mail).

The Daily Mail also reported that David Hasselhoff later reflected on McPherson's exit with some regret. "They let Patti go and I didn't have enough guts to fight for her because I was still fighting for myself," he said. "In the second year I really wanted her back." According to the same outlet, McPherson eventually returned in Season 3 after a producer apologized and asked her to come back. "I said yes almost immediately," she recalled.

Rebecca Holden joined "Knight Rider" in Season 2 as April Curtis, brought in after Patricia McPherson's character Bonnie Barstow was written out. However, McPherson returned as Bonnie in Season 3, and April Curtis effectively vanished from the show's world.

In a 2019 interview with Fox, she said that, at the time, she followed her team's guidance as opportunities opened up elsewhere. "I'm mature and wiser now. But at the time, I was younger and did what management told me to do." Looking back, she added, "But I probably would have stayed because I was having such a blast." Outside of acting, Holden's post-"Knight Rider" life included humanitarian work that doesn't get mentioned enough. According to her website, Holden served on the board of Operation California and also took part in medical aid airlifts to Ethiopia. 

The actress aged like fine wine in and out of the spotlight, returning to more prominent roles again in recent years. In 2020, she took the role of Sister Sara Sunday in "Canaan Land," and yes, she actually got to sing. In 2023, she appeared in the Western "Was Once a Hero" with Darby Hinton and John Carter Cash. Holden also appeared as a featured celebrity guest at the NorthEast ComicCon & Collectibles Extravaganza in Massachusetts in November 2025 and at Retro Con in Pennsylvania in May 2026.

Peter Parros joined "Knight Rider" in its final season as Reginald Cornelius III. After the series, he moved quickly into steady TV work, starring from 1989 to 1991 on "The New Adam-12." He then became a familiar face in daytime dramas, with roles on "The Young and the Restless," "Santa Barbara," and "One Life to Live" from 1994 to 1995. His most well-known role after "Knight Rider" came in 2013, when Tyler Perry cast him as Judge David Harrington on OWN's "The Haves and the Have Nots."

Parros is also an avid sailor. In a 2017 interview with TheGrio, when asked what he would do if he stopped acting, he said, "I would probably sail about the world." A year earlier, speaking to Parlé Mag, he confirmed the habit had only deepened. "I've gotten into sailing quite a bit. I have a boat; the title of the boat is called Hans Christian, a 33-foot Hans Christian." In 2017, he posted on Facebook from the ocean. The sailing continued into 2025, when he marked Father's Day on the water and shared that his family would be scattering his late father's ashes in the Pacific (via Facebook).

Parros has two children with his ex-wife Jerri Morgan, a son, Clayton, and a daughter, Petra, and he frequently shares family pride on X, Instagram, and Facebook. In a 2014 interview with StarryMag, he said of Clayton, "[M]y son who runs track went to the World Championships in Poland. He ran the qualifying round and won the gold. He set a world record for the 400m indoor!" In March 2026, Parros shared another milestone on Instagram, announcing that he would serve as co-chair of the International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Peter Cullen voiced KARR, KITT's malicious counterpart, on "Knight Rider." By then, though, he had already created his signature role: Optimus Prime in the 1984 animated series "Transformers." Nearly everything that followed has been shaped by that character. Cullen has returned to Prime again and again across decades of animation and video games, and eventually as the voice of Optimus in Michael Bay's live-action "Transformers" films. In a nod to his influence, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura once said, "There's, there's no discussion without him really, you know, unless he didn't want it" (via ComicBook.com).

His resume, meanwhile, stretches far beyond Autobots. He has voiced Eeyore in "Winnie the Pooh," contributed the Predator's unnerving creature sounds, and appeared across other fan staples like "Voltron," "G.I. Joe," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Cullen has always expressed deep respect for what Optimus Prime represents. Speaking with SlashFilm, he said, "It's a responsibility now, because so many people would be offended if it changed." That devotion to the role earned Cullen and Optimus Prime a handprint-footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in 2014, and in 2023, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

According to Cullen, the Optimus voice was inspired by his older brother, Larry, a former Marine. In a 2008 interview with Gizmodo, Cullen said, "He had returned from Vietnam. He was with the Marine Corps, and he saw some pretty heavy experience." His most recent announcement came in February 2026, when TFcon Los Angeles confirmed he would be attending as a guest to celebrate the 40th anniversary of "The Transformers: The Movie."

Ann Turkel had a memorable double turn on "Knight Rider," first as the villainous Adrianne Margeaux and later as Bianca Morgan in Season 3. She had already earned a Golden Globe nomination for new star of the year in 1975, and after the series, she stayed busy through the late '80s and '90s with roles in films like "Deep Space" and "The Fear." She also branched into business; her website lists projects including Now or Never Mobile Fitness and a greeting-card line called "Say What U Mean." Even so, her personal life often drew the most attention.

Turkel married Irish actor Richard Harris in Beverly Hills in 1974, but the relationship ended in 1981, as the Los Angeles Times confirmed. Harris later played Dumbledore in the first two "Harry Potter" films before his death in 2002. Meanwhile, Turkel has confessed that the relationship never really left her. In a 2003 interview with Hello! archived on her website, she reflected, "I was never able to marry again after that. I couldn't. I'd imagine the look on Richard's face and how it would kill him." True to her word, Turkel never remarried, and on Instagram, she often shares throwback photos of Harris, her parents, her dog Emma, and other loved ones she's lost.

The Vogue cover model lives in Beverly Hills and occasionally shares photos of the sky on Instagram. In January 2026, Parade reported that she attended the Los Angeles premiere of "A Murder Between Friends," her first red carpet in more than three years. A few weeks later, on Valentine's Day 2026, she offered a warm note to her Instagram followers: "To all of you I love — and that truly means each and every one of you — I send an abundance of hugs and kisses."