Remembering John Saxon (1935-2020)

My favorite bad guy, John Saxon, passed away yesterday from pneumonia.  He would have turned 85 next week.  I always thought he was handsome and he was always popping up as the bad guy: The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Murder, She Wrote.

He also appeared with Angela Lansbury in The Reluctant Debutante and with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.

Saxon won a Golden Globe in 1958 as Most Promising Newcomer - Male for his role in This Happy Feeling.

May he rest in peace.

Bruce Lee born in 1940

Outside!

Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, born November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, has probably been the biggest influence on martial arts in mainstream movies.  He was a year old when his family moved to Hong Kong.  He started appearing in minor films in children’s roles at 5 years old.  He took martial arts lessons for approximately five years.  After getting in trouble with Hong Kong police, his parents shipped him back to San Francisco’s Chinatown. 

Lee continued his martial arts, opening schools in Seattle and, after getting noticed by Hollywood, Oakland.  He landed the part of Kato, the Green Hornet’s sidekick in 1966 in the television series. 

His last film was Enter the Dragon, with John Saxon (a favorite actor of mine, too!) released in 1973.  

On July 20 of that year, he was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead from a cerebral edema. 

He and Chuck Norris trained together at one point, but Lee was never an instructor to Norris.

My favorite movies: 1968-1973

My favorite moview from 1968-1973.  I got to 1974 and it's going to be another year where there are so many movies it is going to be hard to choose.

1968: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes





1969: Hello, Dolly! starring Barbara Streisand and Walter Matthau



1970: Airport starring Dean Martin, Helen Hayes, George Kennedy and everybody else.




1971: Bedknobs and Broomsticks starring Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson



1972: The Poseidon Adventure starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and everybody else.



1972 (runner-up): What's Up, Doc? starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal.



1973: The Three Musketeers starring Michael York, Faye Dunaway, Charlton Heston and everybody else.



1973 (runner-up): Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee and John Saxon.