John Saxon (actor)

Infobox actor
name = John Saxon


birthname = Carmine Orrico
birthdate = birth date and age|1936|8|5
birthplace = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
occupation = Film, television actor
yearsactive = 1955 - present
goldenglobeawards = Most Promising Newcomer - Male
1958

John Saxon (born August 5, 1936) is an American actor.

Biography

Early life

Saxon, an Italian American,cite news|last=Hopper|first=Hedda|coauthors=|title=John Saxon's The Brooklyn Italian Type|pages=|publisher=The Hartford Courant|date=1957-09-01|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/912456952.html?dids=912456952:912456952&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Sep+01%2C+1957&author=Hedda+Hopper&pub=The+Hartford+Courant&desc=John+Saxon's+The+Brooklyn+Italian+Type&pqatl=google|accessdate=2007-12-10] was born Carmine Orrico in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Anna (née Protettore) and Antonio Orrico, [http://www.filmreference.com/film/25/John-Saxon.html John Saxon Biography (1936-) ] ] a dock worker. He attended New Utrecht High School and studied acting with famous acting coach Stella Adler and broke into films in the mid-1950s, playing teenage roles. According to Robert Hofler's 2005 biography, "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson", [cite book
first=Robert
last=Hofler
title=The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson
publisher=Carroll & Graf
year=2005
isbn=078671607X] agent Willson saw Saxon's picture on the cover of a detective magazine and immediately contacted the boy's family in Brooklyn. He brought the 16-year-old Orrico to Hollywood and renamed him Saxon.

Career

In his early career, Saxon worked with many notable directors including Vincente Minnelli, Blake Edwards, John Huston, Frank Borzage, and Otto Preminger but, despite this, never developed into a major star. He portrayed Marco Polo in episode 26 of "The Time Tunnel" ("Attack Of The Barbarians"), originally airing March 10 1967. In films he appeared primarily in supporting roles, and won a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of a Mexican bandit in the 1966 film "The Appaloosa". He was top-billed in his most famous film "Enter the Dragon" (1973), although that film's main actor was Bruce Lee. In 1975 he starred in several episodes of the ABC produced mega-hit series "The Six Million Dollar Man" playing a number of characters, including the role of Major Frederick Sloan. His roles also extended into "The Bionic Woman". The actor's likeness was later used for the Kenner action-figure doll called 'Maskatron' which was based on the series.

Saxon has also appeared in many Italian films, mainly in the spaghetti western and police thriller genres. He was also the second incarnation of Dylan Hunt from the Gene Roddenberry shows called "Planet Earth" and "Strange New World". More recently, Saxon may be best known as a supporting player in horror films, most notably Bob Clark's "Black Christmas" (1974) as the relatively smart leader of a bunch of dumb cops; in Dario Argento's "Tenebrae" (1982) as the writer hero's shifty agent; in Mitchell (1975) as the murderous union lawyer and prostitute provider Walter Deaney, in "Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980) as Sador and in Wes Craven's "A Nightmare On Elm Street" (1984) as the heroine's (Nancy Thompson's) father.

He has also starred in Bollywood film "Shalimar" (1978) co-starring opposite Dharmendra. In recent years, he has been seen in a number of independent films and has appeared in several television series, perhaps most notably "" and more recently the hit Showtime series "Masters Of Horror".

References

External links

*imdb name|0768334|John Saxon
*amg name|2:110020|John Saxon