John Saxon, the stoic but charismatic actor who starred in many iconic horror, western, and genre movies, died in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, after a battle with pneumonia, according to multiple reports. He was 84 years old.
The daughter of her “Enter the Dragon” co-star Bruce Lee paid tribute on the late martial arts actor’s Twitter page.
Saxon’s most iconic roles were playing Donald Thompson in the original 1984 “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” as well as two of the sequels, and Roper in the 1973 martial arts epic “Enter the Dragon.” He starred in dozens of influential horror films, including Dario Argento’s 1982 film “Tenebrae”, 1974’s “Black Christmas” and 1996’s “From Dusk Till Dawn”. Saxon also made his mark on westerns as the 1960 film. John Huston’s “The Unforgiven”, “Death of a Gunfighter” from 1969 and “Joe Kidd” from 1972.
During a career that spanned over 60 years, Saxon’s roles were varied and filmed around the world. He began to garner attention as a teenage heartthrob in the 1956 movie “Rock, Pretty Baby,” which led to roles opposite stars like Debbie Reynolds and Sandra Dee. As Saxon grew older, he became a character actor, working across Europe in the 1960s, including roles in Mario Bava’s seminal giallo “The Girl Who Knew Too Much,” and other films filmed in Italy, the Philippines, and Britain. The 1966 western “The Appaloosa” earned him the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe nomination, in a role opposite Marlon Brando.
After the early success of “Enter the Dragon” and “Black Christmas” made it ubiquitous for fans of the genre, Saxon’s work took off more than ever. Special television appearances from the 1970s such as “The Six Million Dollar Man”, “The Bionic Woman”, “Starsky and Hutch” and “The Rockford Files” brought him recognition on the small screen.
Among his more than 200 credits, he is best known for playing the patriarch police officer in the series “Nightmare”, which appears in the first entry, as well as in the 1987 sequel “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” and the 1994 meta chapter “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare”, where he revived his role and played a fictional version of himself.
Saxon’s final role was in the 2017 movie “The Extra”.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.
