LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 14: Peter Jason attends the “Deadwood” Movie Premiere on May 14, 2019 in Los … [+]
Character actor Peter Jason, who played Con Stapleton in the drama Deadwood and appeared in a number of John Carpenter and Walter Hill directed films, has died. He was 80 and the cause of his death was not available at press time.
Born in Hollywood on July 22, 1944, Peter Jason accumulated over 270 acting credits, according to his IMDb page. While studying drama at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Jason began working on the stage. His early TV appearances included movie A Bell for Adano and episodes of dramas The F.B.I., Cimarron Strip, Judd for the Defense and Here Come the Brides in the late 1960s.
Jason made his film debut in Howard Hawks’ final film, Rio Lobo, in 1970. At the same time, there were more TV guest spots, including on Land of the Giants, Hawaii Five-O, Kung Fu and three episodes of western Gunsmoke. Other TV show guest appearances through the course of his acting career included One Day at a Time, Starksy and Hutch, The Incredible Hulk, Cagney & Lacey, Remington Steele, The Golden Girls, Knots Landing, Roseanne, Coach, Arrested Development and NCIS.
Jason’s film roles included 48 Hrs. (1982), The Prince of Darkness (1987), Clint Eastwood’s Heartbreak Ridge (1986), They Live (1988), Alien Nation (1988), Arachnophobia (1990) and Seabiscuit (2003).
Jason also frequently acted in plays and TV commercials. He sang in musical stage productions such as The Music Man, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off and Threepenny Opera. And he voiced Sergeant Dornan in the video game Fallout 2.
“Peter Jason, one of the great character actors in cinema, has died,” wrote John Carpenter on X. “His first movie was Howard Hawks’ RIO LOBO. He was a dear friend and I’ll miss him terribly.”
A number of Jason’s recent acting appearances are reportedly in pre-production and post-production.
