---
name: "John Saxon"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-saxon"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "5 August 1935"
died: "25 July 2020"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 79
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T20:12:03.665178+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Saxon

Actor. Born 5 August 1935 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. Died 25 July 2020.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 5 August 1935, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 25 July 2020
- **Active:** 1984–1996
- **Also known as:** Carmine Orrico
- **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 83 (1), 1990s 75 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q470591, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768334/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11163

## Biography

John Saxon was an American actor and martial artist. Born Carmine Orrico in Brooklyn, New York, he studied acting with Stella Adler and began his career under contract to Universal Pictures.

He appeared in more than 200 film and television projects over six decades. Saxon played Roper in *Enter the Dragon* (1973) and Lt. Donald Thompson in *A Nightmare on Elm Street* (1984), reprising the role in *A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors* (1987) and appearing as himself in *Wes Craven's New Nightmare* (1994). He was also known for roles in Westerns and other horror films, including *Black Christmas* (1974).

Saxon received a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor. He died of pneumonia on 25 July 2020 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, web.archive.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *From Dusk Till Dawn* (1996), Fi1m 75, as FBI Agent Stanley Chase — [page](https://film.one/film/from-dusk-till-dawn.md)
- *A Nightmare on Elm Street* (1984), Fi1m 83, as Lt. Donald Thompson — [page](https://film.one/film/a-nightmare-on-elm-street.md)

## Also known for

- *Beverly Hills Cop III* (1994), Orrin Sanderson
- *Enter the Dragon* (1973), Roper
- *A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors* (1987), Thompson
- *Wes Craven's New Nightmare* (1994), John Saxon / Lt. Donald Thompson
- *CSI: Crime Scene Investigation* (2000), Walter Gordon
- *The A-Team* (1983), Martin James, Kalem
- *Black Christmas* (1974), Lt. Fuller
- *Old Dogs* (2009), Lee Robinson

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-saxon