John Saxon
Born in Brooklyn in 1935, John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico) was a versatile American character lead who worked from the mid-1950s into the 2010s. Genre audiences remember him for co-starring with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon (1973), and horror fans know him from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as Lt. Thompson and Bob Clark s Black Christmas (1974). He also worked with Clint Eastwood in Joe Kidd (1972) and appeared in Robert Rodriguez s From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Rough-edged, dependable and unusually athletic on screen, he was a fixture of American genre cinema across five decades.
John Saxon
101 Movies
42 Series
Born in Brooklyn in 1935, John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico) was a versatile American character lead who worked from the mid-1950s into the 2010s. Genre audiences remember him for co-starring with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon (1973), and horror fans know him from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as Lt. Thompson and Bob Clark s Black Christmas (1974). He also worked with Clint Eastwood in Joe Kidd (1972) and appeared in Robert Rodriguez s From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Rough-edged, dependable and unusually athletic on screen, he was a fixture of American genre cinema across five decades.
Movies
Plays Lt. Donald Thompson
A Nightmare on Elm Street
1984
Plays FBI Agent Stanley Chase
From Dusk Till Dawn
1996
Plays Roper
Enter the Dragon
1973
Plays Orrin Sanderson
Beverly Hills Cop III
1994
Plays Lee Robinson
Old Dogs
2009
Plays John Saxon / Lt. Donald Thompson
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
1994
Plays Lt. Fuller
Black Christmas
1974
Plays Luis Chama
Joe Kidd
1972
Plays Thompson
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
1987
Plays Sador
Battle Beyond the Stars
1980
Plays Otto Van Horne
Animal Instincts
1992
Plays Bullmer
Tenebre
1982
Plays Johnny Portugal
The Unforgiven
1960
Plays John Norman
The Bees
1978
Plays Hunt Sears
The Electric Horseman
1979
Plays Captain Pearson
Blood Beach
1980
Plays Pvt. Raymond Endore
War Hunt
1962
Plays Police Chief George Moreno
Final Payback
2001
Plays Herb Tamplin
Criminal Act
1989
Plays Lou Trinidad
Death of a Gunfighter
1969
Plays Seymour Kern
Posse from Hell
1961
Plays Frank Di Maggio
The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist
1977
Plays Byron Grant
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
1962
Plays Benny Rampell
The Cardinal
1963
Plays Mariano Beltrán
Fight to the Death
1975
Plays Chuy
The Appaloosa
1966
Director
Plays Colonel Gordon Burgess
Zombie Death House
1988
Plays Dr. Jack Costain
The Night Caller
1965
Plays Kleel
Prisoners of the Lost Universe
1983
Plays J.B. Johnson
Moonshine County Express
1977
Plays Larry Andrews
Beyond Evil
1980
Plays Robert Hayes
The Swiss Conspiracy
1976
Plays Captain Fuller
Maximum Force
1992
Plays Norman Hopper
Cannibal Apocalypse
1980
Plays Francis Turner
Hands of Steel
1986
Plays Wolvencroft
Lancelot: Guardian of Time
1997
Plays Dr. Marcello Bassi
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
1963
Plays Strycher
Nightmare Beach
1989
Plays Leonard Bennett
The Unguarded Moment
1956
Plays Ghost
The Final Alliance
1990
Plays Mr. Foster
The Party Crashers
1998
Plays Murphy
Night Class
2001
Plays David Parkson
The Reluctant Debutante
1958
Plays Charles Searage
Frame-Up II: The Cover-Up
1994
Plays Harry Thropen
My Mom's a Werewolf
1989
Plays Bill Tremaine
This Happy Feeling
1958
Plays John
Bring Me the Head of Lance Henriksen
2010
Plays Rev. Leo Hausman
Living in Fear
2000
Plays Leo (segment "Stanley's Girlfriend")
Trapped Ashes
2006
Plays Blake Richards
Portrait in Black
1960
TV Shows
Plays Dr. Theodore Stuart
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
1969
Plays Capt. Townshend
Once an Eagle
1976
Plays Captain Radl
Wonder Woman
1975
Plays Harry Vito
79 Park Avenue
1977
Plays Martin Cody
Hardcastle and McCormick
1983
Plays Dirk Fredericks
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
1983
Plays Richard Brooks
Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story
1995
Plays Alan Brocker
The Immigrants
1978
Plays Walter Gordon
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
Plays Jeb 'Pa' Jameson
Masters of Horror
2005
Plays Virgil Stanley
Gunsmoke
1955
Plays Marco Gambini
Murder, She Wrote
1984
Plays Martin James
The A-Team
1983
Plays Mike Tedesca
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
1970
Plays Ianto
Night Gallery
1970
Plays Maj. Frederick Sloan
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974
Plays Harry Clive
Hawaii Five-O
1968
Plays René Nadasy
Starsky & Hutch
1975
Plays Peter Max
The Name of the Game
1968
Plays Chief Jocova
Bonanza
1959
Plays Dave Delaroux
The Rockford Files
1974
Plays Eric Saginor
Ironside
1967
Plays Johnny Clay
Banyon
1972
Plays Publisher Charles Desskasa
Quincy, M.E.
1976
Plays Zach Donahue
Finder of Lost Loves
1984
Plays The Man in Black
Lucky Luke
1992
Plays Dead Man
It Takes a Thief
1968
Plays Roger Sullivan
Fantasy Island
1978
Plays Garth December
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1985
Plays John Franklin
Matlock
1986
Latest Trailers
Watch Trailer
The Green Fog
Full Filmography
The Dentros
George Dentro
2015
Film
Bring Me the Head of Lance Henriksen
John
2010
Film
Old Dogs
Lee Robinson
2009
Film
The Mercy Man
Father McMurray
2009
Film
War Wolves
Tony Ford
2009
Film
God's Ears
Lee Robinson
2008
Film
Masters of Horror
Jeb 'Pa' Jameson · 1 episode
2006
TV
Trapped Ashes
Leo (segment "Stanley's Girlfriend")
2006
Film
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Walter Gordon · 1 episode
2004–2005
TV
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is John Saxon still alive?
John Saxon passed away on July 25, 2020 at age 84.
What are the most famous roles of John Saxon?
John Saxon is best known for roles in From Dusk Till Dawn, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Beverly Hills Cop III.
How many movies has John Saxon been in?
Over a 66-year career (since 1954), John Saxon has appeared in 101 movies and 42 TV shows.
What was John Saxon's first movie?
The career of John Saxon began with It Should Happen to You (1954).
What is John Saxon's most recent movie or series?
John Saxon's most recent release is The Green Fog, which premiered on January 5, 2018.
What TV shows has John Saxon appeared in?
On television, John Saxon has appeared in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The A-Team, Wonder Woman, Bonanza.
John Saxon
1935-08-05 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1935 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor and martial artist who worked on more than 200 projects during a span of 60 years. Saxon is known for his work in Westerns and horror movies, often playing police officers and detectives.
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 established 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).
Saxon died of pneumonia in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on July 25, 2020.