John Saxon

The florid name should have been a tip-off (as well as the gayness) but he was one of Henry Willson's 'boys':

"Saxon, an Italian American, was born Carmine Orrico in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Anna (née Protettore) and Antonio Orrico, a dock worker. He attended New Utrecht High School, graduating in 1953. He then studied acting with famous acting coach Stella Adler. He started making 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, agent Willson saw Saxon's picture on the cover of a detective magazine and immediately contacted the boy's family in Brooklyn. With parents' permission, the 17-year-old Orrico signed with Willson, and he was renamed John Saxon. He signed with Universal Studios in April 1954 at $150 a week."

As a gayling in the 70s/80s ........... I thought he was pretty hot for a guy in his 40s/50s

Never heard of him, he's stunning in your photo OP.

He was gorgeous. One of those guys who tend to lose,their lips as they age.

On Falcon Crest, he played Lorenzo Lamas' father. He was middle aged, but unbelievably hot. Hotter than the rest of the cast. He had a couple of shirtless scenes that got me really hard for that hairy, muscular Daddy.

A friend of mine studied with him at Stella Adler's studio. She only had nice things to say about him.

Beautiful

I remember him guest starring on shows like Fantasy Island and Charlie's Angels and I was really attracted to him. Very hot body.

I first saw him in 'Enter the Dragon' as a kid.

He looks like Richard Benjamin in OP's pic, except a smaller nose.

Do you think he hustled as a youth? Did he put out for Willson?

Wigged??

I know him as Nancy's dad in Nightmare on Elm St 1,3&7 and the detective in Black Chrismas. He's like 102 but if I saw him in person I would still present hole for him. Any gossip?

when he was VERY young

Sal Mineo stole his career.

....

He had an extra part in the Central Park scene of "It Should Happen to You." Cukor directed that, so I've always wondered...

He was the go-to actor in the 70s to play really scary villains. I remember him best from The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.

He also did some good episodes of the Rockford Files.

His dark good looks and hairy chest made me notice him even as a young gayling.

I also remember him from Enter the Dragon and as the cop dad in Nightmare on Elm Street. I have some vague memory of him playing Dracula. Or was that Michael Nouri?

My fondest childhood memory of him was his guest starring role in the two-part episode of Wonder Woman, 'The Feminum Mystique'.

Saxon played on Another World in the mid-80s for a time as Edouard Gerard- he was the man who fell in love with a young Fanny Grady and while in Europe transformed her into romance novelist Felicia Gallant. Edouard came to Bay City to try to win Felicia back, but she chose fisherman Zane Lindquist instead. Edouard would eventually leave town.

He was a terrible actor. How did he have a career for all those years?

Even though most on here will swoon at his young teeenage years, it's the middle-aged John Saxon who always turned me on. I think he had a bedroom scene in that awful killer-bees flick "The Swarm".

One day, someone should post the names of all Henry Willson's clients, and attach a poll to it, to see who we think put out to get ahead in their career.

from 1950

Every horror fan should recognize him immediately.

Some horror fans should also know he co-starred in Mario Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much (AKA The Evil Eye)

Is he still alive? If only there was a way to find out...

I think there's something called goggle. Gaggle?

Reminds me of James Darren whom I met when Elvis died. He was still gorgeous. He told me how good Elvis was to him

John Saxon

BorntCarmine Orrico August 5, 1935 (age 81) Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.

If you met James Darren 40 years ago (when Elvis died), he certainly should still have been gorgeous.

I loved him in the movie The Cardinal (1963). You had the bonus of a shirtless Tom Tryon, too.

He's luscious in "The Unguarded Moment" as a HS kid who comes on to his teach Esther Williams, who foolishly rejects him. George Nader is a cop in that and there's a scene where George interrogates John that has a touch of sizzle.

He was also in the classic Argento horror film TENEBRE

Here's a recent pic

He's a scream queen

Forgettable tv guest star from the 60s. I think Reagan wanted him to be ambassador to Mexico. No one could not consider it a joke.

Obviously not that forgettable as he apparently got a lot of the old gals here panties moist

I always heard John Saxon (aka Carmine) was the son or the nephew of some minor mafia thug, and you didn't mess with him. But if he did do anything sexual it was with women. it was highly probably he fucked for money with older women with the hubby's consent. Whatever. He was lovely. I used to get him confused with George Maharis, who was a flaming queen and was barely able to hide it. He certainly didn't try. There are photos all over the internet of Maharis in drag or with his posse of cute boys.

R37, John Gavin was who Reagan appointed to the ambassadorship. Was Saxon really considered?

John Gavin was appointed ambassador to Mexico. It happened.

Did George Nader, John Gavin and John Saxon ever have a threeway?

John Saxon was one of those American actors who had a prolific career in Italy from the 1960s through the mid 1980s. As has been mentioned up thread, he was in a number of important gialli, most notably The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Mario Bava, and Tenebre by Dario Argento, and also appeared in various Italian horror movies in the 1980s (Cannibal Apocalypse, Scorpion with Two Tails).

Gay.

I remember his sex scene in ENTER THE DRAGON impressed my young self. I must not have seen many because it was mainly Ahna Capri riding him cowgirl style, but it worked for me. Also enjoyed him as the villainous Rashid Ahmed on DYNASTY.

Holy cow! Hadn't thought of Saxon for years! I think when I was young he toured oz to promote 'enter tha dragon' or something - and had a lot of press and tv appearances?

My young gayling self certainly felt a frisson of something not quite yet identifiable - and my ears still prick up when he's mentioned...

In a couple of the very young pictures he has a touch of the Louis Jordan about him - don't you think?

Hard to believe that Wilson's stable of male beauties weren't giving and receiving whatever they wanted - or whatever they thought they needed to do to further their careers....

Just wish some of the surviving ones would be really open and honest and tell us what really went down back when they had the world at their collective feet - or knees - or wherever...

Actually, in the Henry Willson bio, there is a mention of his client Saxon NOT putting out for him. But who knows.

I can see the Jourdan resemblance somewhat, now that you mention it. I think LJ had a slightly more elegant look, but that might be due to,his mannerisms and the kind of roles he often had.

With George Nader and Esther Williams.

So who topped in that trio?

R49 - odds on it was Esther - she was one ballsy Dame!

And sorry R47 - I had Jordan not Jourdan - mea culpa! Reading and responding to DL on my iPhone while walking my dogs - not exactly sensible or conducive to coherent sentences and correct spelling! Mea culpa!

Well, I knew who you meant, and that was a good observation you made. Ever see him in "Madame Bovary?" It has that amazing waltz sequence with the breaking windows (which seems very sexual, now that I think of it).

As for George Maharis, he may have been a flaming queen but he was a rough top the night I had him around 1980. Hung, too.

I seem to remember that That Unguarded Moment has a plot point that John Saxon goes after Esther Williams because he has a hard time finding a girlfriend. As if! He is so gorgeous who would not want him?!

R40/41 John Gavin gave up Ambassador job after his life was threatened several times. His wife is actress Constance Towers, most-recently on "General Hospital."

R52 did he take-off his toupee?

The Reluctant Debutante is a great movie, spoiled only by the total lack of chemistry between Sandra Dee and John Saxon. Angela Lansbury is laugh out loud funny, and the lovely Kay Kendall (whom I was unaware of prior to seeing this film) and husband Rex Harrison are excellent.

I adored Kay Kendall i n that movie the first time I saw it about 20 years ago. So sad. She had an affair with Rex Harrison while he was married to Lili Palmer. Anyway, Kay developed Leukemia, and was dying, but she didn't know and was never told. When Rex discovered this he married her and never told her she was dying. They had only two or three years together. Sad!

John Saxon and James Darren were my go to crushes. I adored them. Saxon looks good for a guy in his 80's.

I love old movies. The films from the b50's were filled with sexual innnuendo. I guess the 60's were too.

That's not George Nader at r48. Hot, but not George.

The Reluctant Debutante must have been a huge coup for John Saxon way back then. A List cast and director Vincente Minnelli. And for me, anyway, he comes through very memorably and perfectly fills the bill of the cute American boyfriend.

Though I guess the film is ultimately best remembered for Kay Kendall, who truly was unique and has so few credits on her imdb list. And fabulous Angela Lansbury as the bitchy friend who steals every scene she's in. She still had a few years to go before international fame and leading lady status via Mame on Broadway. Funny how a woman who made such a long career playing cold bitches in supporting roles was able to turn it around by playing one of the warmest and zaniest ladies ever written.

r53 Esther Williams actually wrote the script for "The Unguarded Moment."

r63 Sorry wrong star.

The origin of "The Unguarded Moment" is as surprising as Esther Williams' casting in it. According to biographer Bernard F. Dick in Forever Mame: The Life of Rosalind Russell, the story idea came from writer Larry Marcus and Rosalind Russell, as a possible vehicle for herself. (Marcus had written scripts for Russell's own production company.)

The first draft of the screenplay by Marcus and Russell (under the pseudonym C.A. McKnight, her mother's maiden name) had a working title of Teach Me to Love and was completed by 1951.

In a 1951 draft of the story, Harry Graham was a fellow teacher instead of a policeman, and Leonard Bennett was revealed to be responsible for the murders, before being killed

According to Esther Williams, Rosalind Russell came up to me at a party and said, 'I hear you're doing my script.' I looked at her blankly until she explained that she had written it under the pseudonym C. A. McKnight. 'I wrote the part for me, but I got too old.'"

r62 for r61

How odd. This weekend on Saturday I was channel surfing and caught sight of some CNN anchor who reminded me of Saxon so I watched awhile. It was the thick dark eyebrows and thinning hair on top. He wasn't as good-looking or hot as Saxon, but I hadn't thought of Saxon in a long time and didn't know he was still alive. Never did catch the name of the anchor.

r64 Is it Boris Sanchez?

He must have guest starred on Aaron Spelling shows at least a thousand times in the 70s...is he gay? I do know that he has a son.

Didn't know he was Italian. Though Latino crossed my mind.

Yeah, Boris Sanchez!

So, if it's not George Nader in,the photo at 48, who is it?

He was very hot in the 1974 TV-movie, "Planet Earth," co-starring DL Fave, Diana Muldaur!

Hottie

I imagine he could throw a rough fuck, back in the day.

R69 I remember that movie esp because John is put up for auction and the ladies rip open his shirt to get a look at the goods.

How about a mean fuck?

"Did he put out for Willson?"

We all did..

Of course that's fucking George Nader giving Carmine, er, John, the eye, with Esther intruding, as was Esther's wont.

What year is that color photo of John Gavin, Ambassador to Mexico from?

I'm guessing about 1970, before he was Ambassador.

The story is that In the bedroom scene, in Psycho, Hitchcock was not getting the performance he wanted from Gavin, so he told Janet Leigh to stimulate Gavin. Gavin got a hardon and gave the scene the engagement (or engorgement) that Hitch wanted.

Saxon was in a movie called Cry Tough, which had a hot love scene with a topless Linda Cristal..

John Saxon at 80 looks like the old Italian he is. Not a bad thing!

R77, Whence that "story"? I've read a lot about Hitchcock's films, but never that alleged tidbit.

R58, It's George Nader.

George was Lebanese and John is Sicilian. What children they might have had!

It was hot, R72. But you didn't explain the premise, it was because women ruled the earth and men were all sex slaves.

Stephen Rebello wrote a book about Psycho, in which he claims that Janet Leigh mentioned the incident. It's ambiguous as to the manner in which Leigh " encouraged" Gavin.

She talks about the problem in the making of documentary on the Collector's Edition DVD too.

How come John Saxon was never able to rise above B-movie status? His IMDB filmography is a long, long list of movie and TV schlock.

Guinea

Yes, John Saxon, " never rose above B movie status," but at least he kept working, martial arts, spaceship movies, whatever crap he could find as well as TV. When I think of the three hotties from that time, George Maharis, James Darren, and John Saxon, Saxon seems like the only one who was able to keep paying the bills through acting.

My personal favorite was James Darren who really was a decent actor. I saw him in one of those neo noir movies, "Let No Man Write My Epitaph." I think Shelley Winters played his drug addict mother, and Burl Ives was in it. It was a very gritty, black & white movie but he had real acting chops.

He also starred in some crap like Diamond Head with Charleton Heston, and some war movie, the genre was very popular back then, but he never rose above it. He was relegated into being a lounge singer, doing Vegas with Buddy Hackett. He was also a drunk. I shouldn't use "was" because he's still alive ,and sings standards now, pretending to be Frank Sinatra at local state fairs.

Don't know WTF ever happened to George Maharis. I Remember him from Exodus. Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Sal Mineo and Peter Lawford. Maharis played an Israeli terrorist. He was good. YOu know, we could lump George Chakiris in, too. Because yes, he won that Oscar for Bernardo in WWS, but he played in a lot of crap after that and sort of faded away.

Fun fact: Jim Moret (CNN, Inside Edition) is James Darren's son.

The Bold Ones. He played a doctor. There are a ton of these old tv series that haven't been revived on the nostalgia channels. I'm sure it's terrible but I'd still like to see it and Name of the a Game again.

A clip from the iconic SMDM episode: DAY OF THE ROBOT!

John Saxon and James Darren are certainly handsome old guys.

Did they ever fuck? They both knew Sandra Dee.

All are graduates of The Lee Majors School Of Acting.

Sandra Dee was only about 15 when she played in "The Reluctant Debutante". Hilarious movie with Kendall's clothes are to die for.

James Darren also had a recurring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a holodeck character (Vic Fontaine) who was a singer in Las Vegas. He had several appearances and if I recall correctly was in the finale at the party as the cast was leaving, it was he singing "The Way You Look Tonight".

James Darren didn't "end up" a lounge singer - he was singer from the beginning of hos career and had some major hit songs. Goodbye Cruel World and Her Royal Majesty, just to name two.

Darren from 2015

He looks good for his age

The young Saxon... confused.

Saxon was a cut above Darren IMHO. Much more "complexity" to his looks and n=manner.

r99 Is that Ed Platt (aka "Chief," from "Get Smart?")

^ Affirmative

Is "The Reluctant Debutante" about Our Miss Lindsey?

No, Miss Lindsey was NOT a reluctant debutante! She was a quite willing debutante!

Funny. I never noticed how much Sam Witwer resembles a young Saxon.

SW has a wonky nose and certainly not the sculpted, luscious Saxon lips.

What's the most risque scene Saxon has ever done on film?

Total pussy. If he had crossed examined The Carters, Jo would've gotten her baby back.

The most risqué Saxan Scene that I’ve seen in in ENTER THE DRAGON. He’s being ridden cowgirl style by Ahna Capri.

He had a weird posture.