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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePeter Jason, the veteran character actor who played a soccer coach in The Karate Kid and card dealer Con Stapleton in HBO’s Deadwood, died February 20, 2025. He was 80. Jason worked in film, television and video games over a career spanning decades, including repeated collaborations with directors John Carpenter and Walter Hill.
Who was Peter Jason in The Karate Kid and Deadwood?
The Karate Kid
Jason played a soccer coach in the 1984 film. It was a supporting role, but it is one of the performances that connects his broad character-acting career to a widely known movie.
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Deadwood
On HBO’s Western drama, Jason played Con Stapleton, a card dealer who briefly became sheriff. The Gazette’s obituary says he appeared in 26 episodes of the series.
A long career as a character actor
Jason’s first feature-film appearance was in Howard Hawks’s Rio Lobo, according to his Apple TV biography. He went on to build a career playing supporting characters across genres rather than becoming known for a single leading role.
#1 Best Overall
- From Academy Award-winning director John G. Avildsen (1976, ROCKY) comes the highly entertaining, coming-of-age classic that will have you cheering! Starring Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki ?Pat? Morita in his Academy Award-nominated performance (Best Supporting Actor, 1984) as Mr. Miyagi.
Recurring work with John Carpenter and Walter Hill
Jason appeared in several films by John Carpenter, including Prince of Darkness, They Live, In the Mouth of Madness and Escape from L.A. He also worked with Walter Hill, playing a racist bartender in 48 Hrs. The repeated collaborations were a distinctive thread in a career built on returning to sets and bringing experience to varied parts.
Film, television and games
Other film credits named in The Gazette’s obituary include Arachnophobia, Alien Nation, Congo, Dante’s Peak and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. On television, he had multi-episode arcs on shows including Nash Bridges, Titus, Desperate Housewives, Arrested Development and Baskets. He also voiced Sergeant Arch Dornan in the video game Fallout 2.
Rank #2
- Returning with Daniel (Ralph Macchio) to his Okinawa home for the first time in 45 years, Miyagi (Noriyuki ?Pat? Morita) encounters Yukie (Nobu McCarthy), the woman he left behind when he immigrated to America.
Credit totals differ according to the source and what it counts. The Gazette’s obituary says Jason accumulated more than 250 film and television credits; a People report syndicated by Yahoo Entertainment counts 267 acting roles across movies, television series and video games. Both are publisher-reported totals, not independently audited tallies.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Tributes and cause of death
John Carpenter remembered Jason as “one of the great character actors in cinema” and a dear friend, in a tribute posted on X and reported by TVLine. Carpenter also noted that Jason’s first movie was Rio Lobo.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteRank #3
- From Academy Award�-winning director John G. Avildsen (1976, ROCKY) comes the highly entertaining, coming-of-age classic that will have you cheering! Starring Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki ?Pat? Morita in his Academy Award�-nominated performance (Best Supporting Actor, 1984) as Mr. Miyagi.
TVLine reported on February 21, 2025, that no cause of death had been disclosed; the People report syndicated by Yahoo said a cause was not immediately available. A definitive cause has not been established by those contemporary reports.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- When 12-year-old Dre Parker's mother's latest career move has landed him in China he is left with no friends in a strange land. Dre has nowhere to turn but to maintenance man Mr. Han, who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life
Rank #4
- In the original Karate Kid Trilogy, Mr. Miyagi trains Daniel LaRusso in karate and in life lessons. Then in The Next Karate Kid, Julie Pierce learns from the master. In 2010?s The Karate Kid, Dre Parker is trained by Mr. Han in kung fu. Finally, in Karate Kid: Legends, Li Fong, a kung fu prodigy, trains with the two legends, Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso, to face a new rival.
Sources
- The Gazette obituary, February 21, 2025
- Apple TV biography
- TVLine report, February 21, 2025
- People report syndicated by Yahoo Entertainment, February 21, 2025
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