Jack Canon

Jack Canon was born in 1934. Canon gave an especially strong and convincing performance as ruthless criminal gang ringleader Steele in Frederick R. Friedel's offbeat and unsettling drive-in horror cult classic Axe (1977). Friedel was so impressed with Jack's acting in Axe (1977) that he specifically wrote the lead role of weary and cynical small-time hoodlum Eddie Matlock for Jack to play in his equally quirky follow-up film Date with a Kidnapper (1976). After failing to secure a coveted role on a major TV series, Canon decided to stop acting full-time and instead went on to become a successful writer of novels which include "An Angel for Paradise" (1979), "No Love for Paradise" (1979), "A Hangman for Paradise" (1980), and "Sable and Gold" (1981). However, Jack did occasionally continue to pop up in small parts in such movies as Maximum Overdrive (1986) and Weekend at Bernie's (1989). Canon died at age 70 in 2004.