Eric Karson

Eric Karson died of natural causes on August 24, 2026, while in hospice care in Henderson, Nevada. He was 86. His brother Gil Karson confirmed the death to The Hollywood Reporter, which reported it at the end of October 2026, about two months later. No public memorial service had been announced at the time of writing.

Eric Karson was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 5, 1940, one of four children. His father, Lee Karson, was a television writer who created The Gale Storm Show (also known as Oh! Susanna), which ran on CBS and ABC from 1956 to 1959, and wrote for shows including The Restless Gun, Wagon Train and The Detectives. His mother, Mary, had been a theater actress before becoming a homemaker.

The family moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s and lived on Highland Avenue in Hancock Park, next door to John Wayne. Karson started out as an actor and graduated from Cal State Northridge.

Karson began his directing career making commercials and documentaries in Australia. Returning to Los Angeles, he directed spots for The Peterson Company, then a leading commercial production house, and served as a vice president there.

His break came while he was working for the Los Angeles company American Cinema Productions, which offered him his feature directorial debut, The Octagon (1980). Written by Leigh Chapman at the dawn of the ninja movie craze, it starred Chuck Norris as Scott James, a retired karate champion who takes on a band of assassins led by his estranged foster brother, played by Tadashi Yamashita.

He next directed Opposing Force (1986), an action film starring Tom Skerritt and Lisa Eichhorn. At Imperial Entertainment he directed Jean-Claude Van Damme in Black Eagle (1988), then reunited with the Belgian martial artist as producer of Lionheart (1990), directed by Sheldon Lettich. Van Damme's role as a French Foreign Legion deserter turned street fighter made him a leading man in the United States.

Karson directed Olivier Gruner in his first film, Angel Town (1990), and produced his second, Nemesis (1992). He also appeared on screen as a CIA chief in Black Eagle and as a doctor in Lionheart.

Karson was married to his wife, Tara, for two decades. His brother Gil Karson is a musician who has also worked as a film editor, and he had two other siblings, Lisa and Michael, as well as nieces Sylvia and Jackie Lee and a nephew, Josh.

Karson's films were made for audiences rather than critics, but they found a lasting following on home video and cable. The Octagon is remembered as one of the defining films of the early 1980s ninja boom, Lionheart turned Van Damme into a leading man, and Olivier Gruner credited Karson as a mentor who launched his screen career.