John Mahon

After graduating from the University of Scranton, noted character actor John Mahon moved to New York City, where acting work was far more plentiful. But his road to stardom would prove to be difficult. In order to support himself, Mahon took on a series of odd jobs, including a bus boy and welfare worker, all while using any free time he had to audition. In 1965, his good friend from Scranton, actor and Pulitzer Prize- winning playwright, Jason Miller, moved in with him. It would be the start of a lifelong friendship that would ultimately result in Mahon's first screen role in 1973's "The Exorcist," which also earned Miller an Oscar nod for his supporting role as Father Karras. From there Mahon's career took off and throughout the '70s and '80s he landed dozens of guest-starring roles on some of the most acclaimed cop dramas of the era, including "The Rockford Files," "Cagney & Lacey," and "Hill Street Blues." Mahon made a brief return to movies in the '90s, appearing in small roles in such celebrated dramas as 1992's "One False Move," Rob Reiner's "The American President," and 1997's "L.A. Confidential." By the first half of the 2000s, however, Mahon returned to television acting, where he was relegated to mostly small roles. In 2006 he received another big break, however, after he was cast in a recurring role on the short-lived Aaron Sorkin comedy, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." John Mahon died on May 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 82.