Peter Jason Dies: ‘Deadwood’ Actor And Favorite Of John Carpenter And Walter Hill Was 80
His death was announced Thursday by, among other colleagues, director Carpenter, who called him "one of the great character actors in cinema."
February 21, 2025 7:30amServices to share this page.
Peter Jason at HBO's 'Deadwood: The Movie' Premiere, 2019. Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection
Peter Jason, a prolific character best known for his role of Deadwood‘s dim-witted card dealer Con Stapleton and numerous performances in the films of John Carpenter and Walter Hill, died Thursday. He was 80.
A cause of death was not immediately available.
His death was announced Thursday evening by, among other colleagues, Halloween director Carpenter, who called him “one of the great character actors in cinema.” Wrote Carpenter on X, “He was a dear friend and I’ll miss him terribly.”
Other friends and colleagues also shared the news. Actor Billy Zane wrote on X, “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,” and Matthew Asner, son of the late actor Ed Asner, wrote on Facebook, “I am heartbroken. My dear friend and my father’s best friend, Peter Jason, passed away today. 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.”
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With more than 260 film and TV credits, including his role on Deadwood that included 26 episodes through the 2004-2006 run of the HBO Western series as well as the 2019 film version, Jason was prolific and familiar face through screen performances dating back to the 1960s.
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To give just a sampling: Early TV credits include guest shots on ’60s series such as Judd For The Defense, Here Come The Brides and Land Of The Giants and the following decades would include Hart To Hart, The Golden Girls, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Dirty Sexy Money, Justified, NCIS and beginning in 2017 a recurring role in Zach Galifianakis’ FX comedy series Baskets playing the brother of Louis Anderson’s Christine Baskets.
Film roles, to name a few, include 1970’s Rio Lobo, 1984’s The Karate Kid, 1990’s The Hunt for Red October, 2003’s Seabiscuit, and, in 2018, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, in which he played the role of Senator Sherwood.
Jason’s most prolific collaborations were with directors Carpenter and Hill. For Carpenter, he appeared in seven films between 1987 and 2001 including Prince of Darkness, They Live, Body Bags, In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A. and Ghosts of Mars. The actor also appeared frequently in Hills’ movies and TV series including some episodes of Deadwood. Perhaps Jason’s most memorable appearance in a Hill movie was his performance as a racist bartender in the 1982 comedy 48 Hrs. starring Eddie Murphy.
Born in Hollywood on July 22, 1944, Jason grew up in Newport Beach and would go on to study drama at Carnegie Mellon University.
He is survived by wife Eileen and other family. Complete survivor information was not immediately available.
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