MURFREESBORO, Tenn.– John Saxon, the rugged actor who kicked around with Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon” and appeared in three “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies, died here of pneumonia July 25. He was 83.
An Italian-American from Brooklyn, Saxon played characters of various ethnicities during his long career.
MSTies will of course remember his performance as kingpin Walter Deaney in the movie in episode 512- MITCHELL. Saxon was also mentioned in a host segment in episode 301- CAVE DWELLERS.
The Hollywood Reporter has the story.
Thanks to Paul for the heads up.
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He was also both attempts to reboot Gene Roddenberry’s “Genesis II” pilot: “Planet Earth” and “Strange New World”.
“For a bad guy he sure has a lot of presents”
RIP
wasn’t John Saxon in this movie?
He was the villain in a movie that would have been perfect bot fodder: Roger Corman’s Battle Beyond the Stars.
That’s the first time I’ve seen the term “bot fodder”! Now my go-to phrase for describing a bad movie.
Thank goodness for the MST3K channel on Twitch. With no sports on TV, that has been my choice for creative time-filling. As of Friday, I am proud to say I’ve watched 113 episodes, including many I hadn’t seen in ages, and a lot I don’t ever recall seeing at all! Have watched most of S1 for the first time. On the other hand, there are still lines I will not cross–I don’t care how bored I am, I am NOT watching Santa Claus Conquers the Martians–and I’ve been reminded why I never watched some eps more than once (Angels Revenge! Castle of Fu Manchu!! The Master Ninjas!!!). As Huey Lewis once sang, sometimes bad is BAD . . .
Rifftrax’s Prisoners of the Lost Universe. Exquisite. Kay Lenz was a bonus. “Ride, discount Dothraki!”
My lovely Wife is absolutely devastated. She has watched Mitchell for years to get a look at him- she once said he was one of the best looking men she had ever seen. RIP.
It goes back to the heyday of MST3K, when there were plenty of text-based MSTings, everything from film scripts to fanfics. I did one myself, of the classic poem, A visit from St Nicholas, aka Twas The Night before Christmas.
Then give her the gift of a very young and extremely confident John Saxon, wrapped in a total weeper, called The Unguarded Moment. I’m currently downloading a copy from one of Those Sites Whose Name We Cannot mention, and it’s available on Amazon. Check out imdb. Trust me.
Damn. Another great one gone
Well… this is awkward…
I thought he was already dead…
Several obits point out (why?) that Saxon, unlike his costars, was not a true martial artist in “Enter The Dragon” From what I’ve read, Jim Kelly was supposed to have played Roper, but the Producers switched Saxon & Kelly’s roles at the last minute, because Kelly’s Acting chops were below par. This explains the hard-to-believe fight between Saxon and Bolo Yeung (Yang See) and Kelly’s absence from the finale. R.I.P. to them all….
Master Ninja is the best!
“If that’s John Saxon, I’m dead.”
I remember when he guest-starred on CSI.
His guest appearance amounted to just him standing in the shadows, before unceremoniously blowing himself up.
His expression in that picture definitely says “Wasn’t I in this movie?”
Someone has posted on here that several obits on Mr. Saxon said he was “unlike his costars, not a true martial artist”. This is only correct from a certain point of view. John Saxon was indeed a martial artist and possessed a brown belly in karate. He was quite physically active and had done many stunts in his acting career. Even into his old age, he had a home gym.
Now, on the other hand, it is quite obvious that he did not compare as a martial artist next to Bruce Lee or Jim Kelly, who were martial artists first, and actors second. It was also obvious that Jim Kelly (who was appearing in his first film) did not possess the acting ability to play the part of Roper. No disrespect intended, he was a top notch martial artist and from everything I’ve seen and read, a real classic act human being, may he Rest In Peace. Let’s face it, Saxon was easily the best actor in ETD. The rest of the posting is spot on fact.
One final note, I met John Saxon at Monster Bash in 2014 and he was fantastic to the fans, put up up politely with my questions on Bruce Lee (he’s been asked about Lee MANY times in his life) and had nothing but good things to say about Lee and Kelly (whom we also lost in 2013).