[R.I.P.] John Saxon, Star of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Black Christmas’ Has Passed Away

It is with a heavy heart that we must tell you that we’ve lost yet another horror legend in John Saxon, who passed away Saturday at the age of 83.

Saxon died of pneumonia in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, his wife, Gloria, told The Hollywood Reporter.

While known for other roles such as starring alongside Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, Saxon is an important name in the horror genre having not only starred in Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974), but also Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

Saxon had a major role in the birth of slasher icon Freddy Krueger. He played Nancy Thompson’s father in the first Elm Street and was one of the parents who murdered the child killer after he was freed off a technicality.

He would return to the role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) where he would battle Freddy Krueger’s skeleton, and eventually appeared as himself in Craven’s concept-bending New Nightmare (1994).

THR, who also wrote a more detailed obit, notes that Saxon’s 200+ film résumé also included Mario Bava’s Evil Eye (1963), Otto Preminger’s The Cardinal (1963), Blood Beast From Outer Space (1965), The Swiss Conspiracy (1976), Wrong Is Right (1982), Richard Brooks’ Fever Pitch (1985), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), and God’s Ears (2008).

He will forever be remembered by the horror community as we send our thoughts and prayers to his surviving family and friends.