46 Facts About John Saxon

1.

John Saxon was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing police officers and detectives.

2.

John Saxon appeared in numerous Italian films from the early '60s.

3.

John Saxon's father, Antonio Orrico, was a New York-born dock worker, and his mother Anna was an immigrant from Calabria.

4.

Italian was the primary language spoken at home, though John Saxon spoke some Spanish.

5.

John Saxon attended New Utrecht High School and studied acting with famous acting coach Stella Adler.

6.

John Saxon entered show business as a teenager, when he was spotted by a modeling scout at a movie theatre.

7.

John Saxon contracted with Universal Studios in April 1954 at $150 a week.

8.

John Saxon spent 18 months at Universal before the studio first used him in a film.

9.

John Saxon's first significant role was a juvenile delinquent in Running Wild, co-starring Mamie Van Doren.

10.

John Saxon was then given a good role in The Unguarded Moment, playing a youth who seemingly stalks Esther Williams.

11.

John Saxon had the lead in a low-budget teen film, Rock, Pretty Baby, which became an unexpected success and established John Saxon as a teen idol.

12.

John Saxon quickly reprised his Rock, Pretty Baby role in a sequel, Summer Love.

13.

John Saxon then made Teach Me How to Cry with Sandra Dee, which was retitled The Restless Years.

14.

Universal put him in an "A" film, This Happy Feeling, directed by Blake Edwards, where John Saxon romanced Debbie Reynolds in support of Curt Jurgens.

15.

John Saxon was billed third, beneath Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall.

16.

John Saxon had a support role in a large-budget Biblical drama about Simon Peter, The Big Fisherman for director Frank Borzage, starring Howard Keel.

17.

John Saxon was meant to follow it with The Ballad at Cat Ballou.

18.

John Saxon played a serial-killer soldier in War Hunt and had a small role in the comedy success Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation.

19.

In 1963, John Saxon co-starred with Leticia Roman in Mario Bava's Italian giallo film The Girl Who Knew Too Much.

20.

John Saxon returned to Hollywood to perform in Otto Preminger's The Cardinal and an episode of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, then was back to Europe for The Cavern.

21.

John Saxon said he had lent a whole bunch of money to his father, and what he was saying to me was that his father ruined his life by losing all of his money.

22.

John Saxon portrayed Marco Polo in episode 26 of The Time Tunnel, originally broadcast on March 10,1967, and was a guest actor on Bonanza in 1967.

23.

In episode 19, season 5 of The Virginian John Saxon appeared in the title role alongside Harrison Ford, appearing in one of his first speaking roles.

24.

John Saxon spent three years playing Dr Theodore Stuart for the television series The Bold Ones: The New Doctors.

25.

John Saxon, who had done martial arts since 1957, appeared as the martial artist Roper in 1973's Enter the Dragon.

26.

John Saxon almost backed out of Enter the Dragon, on account of the script being too light.

27.

John Saxon was in such action films as Mitchell, The Swiss Conspiracy, Strange Shadows in an Empty Room, Napoli violenta, Mark Strikes Again, A Special Cop in Action, Cross Shot, and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist.

28.

John Saxon starred as Dylan Hunt in the 1974 Gene Roddenberry television pilot Planet Earth, replacing Alex Cord from Genesis II.

29.

John Saxon played Captain Radl in the two-part Wonder Woman episode "The Feminum Mystique".

30.

Moonshine County Express was a big success for Roger Corman's New World Pictures; John Saxon made another for that company, The Bees.

31.

John Saxon appeared in a Bollywood movie, Shalimar, then it was back to exploitation: Fast Company and The Glove.

32.

John Saxon played Hunt Sears, chief of a breakfast-cereal conglomerate, opposite Robert Redford and Jane Fonda in the 1979, Oscar-nominated film The Electric Horseman.

33.

John Saxon appeared twice on The A-Team, in 1983 and 1985.

34.

John Saxon reprised his role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and Wes Craven's New Nightmare as he played himself in a dual role.

35.

John Saxon made his directorial debut in 1987 with the horror film Zombie Death House, which starred Dennis Cole and Anthony Franciosa.

36.

John Saxon made a good on-screen cop and there's always roles for a cop actor in a slasher film.

37.

John Saxon starred in Maximum Force as Captain Fuller, and appeared in From Dusk till Dawn.

38.

John Saxon had a notable guest part in "Grave Danger", the fifth-season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which was directed by From Dusk till Dawn screenwriter and star Quentin Tarantino.

39.

John Saxon starred in the episode opposite fellow cult film luminary Andrew Prine.

40.

John Saxon appeared in an episode of the anthology horror series Masters of Horror, which reunited him with Tenebrae director Dario Argento.

41.

John Saxon's last acting role was in the film Bring Me the Head of Lance Henriksen, which as of his death was in postproduction.

42.

John Saxon was married three times, first to Mary Ann Saxon, a screen writer and television director of development, second, to Elizabeth Saxon a former investment banker, airline union negotiator, and psychologist.

43.

John Saxon had a son with Mary Ann Saxon, named Antonio.

44.

John Saxon held a black belt in Shotokan karate, having studied under Hidetaka Nishiyama, and was proficient in Judo.

45.

John Saxon died of complications from pneumonia, on July 25,2020, aged 83, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, where he had resided for several years.

46.

John Saxon was interred at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington, near his former co-star Bruce Lee.