Saturday, July 25, 2020

John Saxon Dead At 84


Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Saxon studied acting with Stella Adler before beginning his career as a contract actor for Universal Pictures, playing in such movies as Rock, Pretty Baby (1956) and Portrait in Black (1961). 

During the 1970s and 1980s, he would establish himself as a character actor, frequently portraying law enforcement officials in horror movies such as Black Christmas (1974), Dario Argento's Tenebrae (1982), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). 

 In addition to his roles in horror movies, Saxon co-starred with Bruce Lee in the martial arts movie Enter the Dragon (1973), and has supporting roles in the westerns Death of a Gunfighter (1969) and Joe Kidd (1972), as well as the adventure thriller Raid on Entebbe (1977). In the 1990s, Saxon occasionally appeared in movies, with small roles in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) and From Dusk till Dawn (1996).




John Saxon trained with Bruce Lee and was the real deal when it came to his martial arts. His role in Enter the Dragon was one of the first times that we saw a western actor embrace the martial arts fight choreography the way Saxon did.


And if that wasn't enough he was the robot of a thousand disguises, Maskatron on the Six Million Dollar Man. Who else can say they had one of the coolest action figures ever made in their likeness?





3 comments:

Count Robot said...

Maskatron rules!
RIP Mr. Saxon

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Oh, I hadn't heard this! John Saxon was a fave of mine when I was a kid. So very handsome. I always wondered why he didn't become a bigger movie star with his good looks and talent.

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

He did a lot of things. Over 200 movies in his career. He was huge in the 70s and 80s but was in the Hollywood for 60 years. Definately a fav of mine too.