Character Actor Peter Jason dies at 80

Prolific character actor Peter Jason, known for his association with dirctors John Carpenter and Walter Hill, has died at 80. With more than 275 big and small screen credits dating back to the 1960s (and more than 300 commercials), Jason was a familiar face to audiences who may not have known his name.

Jason made his TV debut in a sketch on The Red Skelton Show in the mid-60s, and guested on The F.B.I., Cimarron Strip, Here Come the Brides, Daniel Boone and Land of the Giants, before making his big screen debut in Howard Hawk's final film Rio Lobo (1970), where his character dies in the arms of John Wayne.

More TV roles followed with guest appearances on such shows as Hawaii Five-O, Kung Fu, Gunsmoke, One Day at a Time, Starsky and Hutch, B.J. and the Bear and The Incredible Hulk, along with TV movies The Return of Captain Nemo, With This Ring, Disaster on the Coastliner and Angel on My Shoulder.

Jason began an association with Carpenter beginning in 1987 with a role in Prince of Darkness, and appeared in six more films: They Live, Body Bags, In the Mouth of Madness, Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A. and Ghosts of Mars. Jason was also a favorite of director Hill with his most notable film role as a racist bartender in 48 Hrs., and his recurring role on HBO's Deadwood as card dealer Con Stapleton (Hill directed the pilot and helped Jason land the role). Other collaborations with Hill include The Driver, The Long Riders, Streets of Fire, Brewster's Millions, Red Heat, Johnny Handsome, and Wild Bill.

In addition to Deadwood, Jason was a regular on the 1997-1998 series Mike Hammer, Private Eye, and recurred on 1600 Penn, Arrested Development and Baskets. Other notable TV credits include Hart to Hart, Filthy Rich, Silver Spoons, The Blue and the Gray, Cagney & Lacey, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land, Mister Roberts, A Reason to Live, Cover Up, Riptide, Amazing Stories, Remington Steele, The Golden Girls, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The Betty Ford Story, The New Mike Hammer, Billionaire Boys Club, Laguna Heat, Webster, Knots Landing, Quantum Leap, Perfect Strangers, A Different World, Herman's Head, Dear John, Roseanne, Married... with Children, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Coach, A Whole New Ballgame, Murder, She Wrote, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, The Naked Truth, Pinky and the Brain, Murder One, Perversions of Science, The New Batman Adventures, Nash Bridges, Arli$$, Batman Beyond, Titus, JAG, Providence, Mister Sterling, Carnivale, Significant Others, Alien Apocalypse, Desperate Housewives, John from Cincinnati, Dirty Sexy Money, Mad Men, Castle, Cold Case, Justified, Chuck, Funny or Die Presents..., CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Scorpion, Longmire, and NCIS.

Film credits include The Baltimore Bullet, Nice Dreams, Texas Lightning, Butterfly, Mommie Dearest, Some Kind of Hero, Trick or Treats, Angel, The Karate Kid, Dreamscape, Oxford Blues, Impulse, Heartbreak Ridge, Sunset, Alien Nation, The Hunt for Red October, Arachnophobia, Marked for Death, The Demolitionist, Congo, Mortal Kombat, Rage, The Glimmer Man, Dante's Peak, Adaptation, Seabiscuit, Employee of the Month, Surviving Christmas, Kicking & Screaming, Richard III, Milk, Falling Up, How to Make Love to a Woman, Ghost of New Orleans, Willow Creek, Cesar Chavez, Return to Zero, Hail, Caesar!, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Saint Judy and We Are Gathered Here Today.

Jason has nine projects in various stages of production. He won the Best Director award for The Christmas Card from the Character and Morality in Entertainment Awards in 2007, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Heavenly Deposit at the International Christian Film Festival in 2020.

Initial reports of Jason's death on February 20 listed no cause but it as since been announced that he died following a long battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Eileen, and children Michael Andrew van Ameringen and Robin Goldwasser.