JOHN SAXON

(5 August 1936 - 25 July 2020)

The American actor John Saxon, who has died aged 83 from pneumonia, had a busy film and TV career for over 60 years. Born Carmina Orrico to Italian-American parents, he studied acting with the Method teachings of Stella Adler. Discovered by a model agent, he was given a contract at Universal Studios. A couple of uncredited appearances in It Should Happen to You and A Star Is Born in 1954 led to his first film role in Running Wild with Mamie Van Doren, followed by The Unguarded Moment with Esther Williams, Rock, Pretty Baby! with Sal Mineo, Summer Love with Rod McKuen, Blake Edwards’ This Happy Feeling with Debbie Reynolds, and Vincente Minnelli’s The Reluctant Debutante, the first of three films he made with Sandra Dee. Heftier roles came in The Big Fisherman, Cry Tough, John Huston’s The Unforgiven, Posse From Hell and War Hunt, Denis Sanders’ take on the Korean War. The 1960s saw Saxon filming in Italy including on Otto Preminger’s The Cardinal. As a martial arts expert, he was often cast in macho roles such as The Appaloosa with Marlon Brando, the Don Siegel (as Allen Smithee) Western Death of a Gunfighter, John Sturges’ Joe Kidd with Clint Eastwood, and Enter the Dragon with the iconic Bruce Lee. There was also TV – Dr Kildare, Bonanza, Ironside, The Virginian, Gunsmoke, The Bold Ones etc – but the films were not first grade, except for Sydney Pollack’s The Electric Horseman and perhaps Richard Brooks’ comedic thriller Wrong is Right (released in the UK as The Man with the Deadly Lens) with Sean Connery, Dario Argento’s Tenebrae, Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (and a sequel) and Beverly Hills Cop III. More TV included Fantasy Island, Dynasty, Falcon Crest and Murder, She Wrote. John Saxon was married three times, first to Mary Ann Saxon, then Elizabeth Saxon and finally Gloria Martel. With his first wife they have a son, Antonio.

MICHAEL DARVELL