Peter Jason, the renowned actor who has starred in several films by John Carpenter and the original The Karate Kid, has died at age of 80. News of Jason’s death started showing up on social media Thursday night, with John Carpenter commenting on the death of his colleague. A cause of death has not been given at this time. Jason’s catalog of films and TV shows is extensive, working with filmmakers like Carpenter and Walter Hill, among others.
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“Peter Jason, one of the great character actors in cinema, has died. His first movie was Howard Hawks’ RIO LOBO. He was a dear friend and I’ll miss him terribly,” John Carpenter said on X (formerly Twitter). Jason’s partnership with the horror icon started in 1987 with Prince of Darkness and spanned three decades and seven films. Before teaming with Carpenter, Jason played a soccer coach in 1984’s The Karate Kid.
[RELATED: Chad McQueen, Karate Kid Star and Son of Steve Mcqueen Dies at 63]
Another filmmaker that Peter Jason has a lengthy history with is Walter Hill. Jason worked with Hill on eight different projects ranging from 48 Hrs. to HBO’s Deadwood, where he played the dim-witted marshal Con Stapleton across 26 episodes and the reunion movie. Other TV roles include Remington Steele, Hawaii Five-O, Starsky & Hutch, The Incredible Hulk, Quantum Leap, Batman: The Animated Series, Murder, She Wrote, and NCIS, to name a few.
Other colleagues paid their respects to Peter Jason on social media. “My dear, dear friend, the brightest light, most generous soul and gregarious of men, the supremely talented and kind Peter Jason has left the set,” Billy Zane wrote on X.
“I am heartbroken. My dear friend and my father’s best friend, Peter Jason, passed away today,” Matthew Asner, son of the late actor Ed Asner, wrote on Facebook. “What a loss He was truly one of the sweetest people on the planet. My heart goes out to his wife and daughter. Peter, I hope you and my dad are up there laughing your asses off.”
Jason spoke of how he first got cast by John Carpenter for Prince of Darkness. “Well that was my first John Carpenter movie. I had done a movie with his wife called The Long Riders. Sandy King was script supervisor on that movie and she recommended me to John,” Jason told a Prince of Darkness fan site.
“So he called me in for a meeting and said that he liked my acting style, said it was very realistic. And he needed realistic actors for the heightened reality of Prince of Darkness, to make it more believable,” he said. “So he gave me the script and asked me what I’d like to so with this character of Dr. Leahy. Usually nobody asks me what I want to do with a character, they just tell me and I go and do it.”
Peter Jason was born on July 22, 1944 in Hollywood, CA. He grew up in Newport Beach and studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University. ComicBook sends our condolences to Jason’s family, friends, and fans.
