Cameron was born Nathan Roderick Cox in Calgary, Alberta. He moved to Hollywood as a young man and started out as a stuntman and bit player for Paramount Pictures. His early films include Heritage of the Desert with Donald Woods and Russell Hayden, Rangers of Fortune with Fred MacMurray, and Henry Aldrich for President with Jimmy Lydon. He also played bit roles at Universal Pictures, including in If I Had My Way, starring Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean.He appeared in horror film The Monster and the Girl. In 1943, Rod Cameron gained star status in action serials for Republic Pictures. As crime-busting federal agent Rex Bennett, Cameron battled enemy terrorists in 15 weekly episodes of G-Men vs the Black Dragon. He was already working in another serial when audience reaction to Black Dragon made him a hit. Cameron was sufficiently popular for the studio to turn the new production into another Rex Bennett adventure, Secret Service in Darkest Africa, with Cameron again battling against Axis agents. When cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown left Universal Pictures for Monogram Pictures, Rod Cameron replaced him as Universal’s western series star. Tall and rugged, Cameron looked good in the saddle and was very popular. Universal soon gave him straight character roles in feature films, including Salome, Where She Danced and River Lady both co-starring fellow Canadian Yvonne DeCarlo. Universal reorganized and downsized its activities in 1947, leaving Cameron and other contract players unemployed. He was hired by Monogram Pictures for a long string of outdoor action pictures. In 1948, he starred in Panhandle (a movie with a script co-written by Blake Edwards) for Allied Artists. In 1949, Cameron appeared with Bonita Granville in the comedy film Strike It Rich, filmed around Tyler, Kilgore, and Lindale in east Texas. He then appeared in many westerns including Wagons West (1952), Santa Fe Passage (1955), The Gun Hawk (1963), Requiem for a Gunfighter (1965), Bullet in the Flesh (1965), and The Bounty Killer (1965), and later appeared in such films as The Last Movie (1971), Evel Knievel (1971), Jessi’s Girls (1975), Psychic Killer (1975), and Love and the Midnight Auto Supply (1977).

Cameron starred in three syndicated television series: City Detective (1953–1955), State Trooper (1956–1959), and the COronado 9 (1960–1961). In City Detective, Cameron appeared as the tough New York City police Lieutenant Bart Grant. In State Trooper, a 1950s-style western-themed crime drama, Cameron starred as Lieutenant Rod Blake of the Nevada State Police. In COronado 9, set in the San Diego area, Cameron appeared as Dan Adams, a private detective. State Trooper in particular was known for its surprise endings and guest stars despite not being affiliated with a network. Cameron himself guest starred in many westerns, including six appearances on NBC’s Laramie, with John Smith and Robert Fuller. In “Drifter’s Gold” (November 29, 1960), Cameron plays Tom Bedloe, an outlaw who has started the rumor of a nearby gold strike. When series lead Slim Sherman, played by John Smith, comes to Laramie to buy supplies, he finds the town nearly deserted and must pretend to be an outlaw to survive. Meanwhile, Bedloe is looking for Marcie Benson, the daughter he has never seen, played by Judi Meredith. Gregory Walcott plays Duke, Bedloe’s partner in crime. In another Laramie episode, “Broken Honor” (April 9, 1963), Cameron and Peggy McCay portray Roy and Martha Halloran, a farm couple who stumbles upon $30,000 in money found inside a strong box on their property. The loot had been seized in a stagecoach heist and hidden away for later retrieval. Roy, who is bound to a wheelchair, insists on keeping the money until Jess Harper arrives amid grave danger to all of their lives from the bandits searching about for the missing money. One of the bandits is played by Don “Red” Barry, best remembered from the 1940 film Adventures of Red Ryder.

Camerson guest starred in such dramatic series as Crossroads, in which he portrayed Dr. Ervin Seale in the 1956 episode “Deadly Fear.” He guest starred too on CBS’s Perry Mason, with Raymond Burr, as defendant Grover Johnson in the 1963 episode, “The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang.” He continued to work in motion pictures and television into the 1970s. He appeared in season 2 of James Garner’s NBC detective series, The Rockford Files. Cameron’s private life was colorful; he divorced his wife and later married her mother. Hence his former director, William Witney, publicly acclaimed Cameron the bravest man that he had ever seen. In his later years, Cameron lived on Lake Lanier in northern Georgia. He died in the nearby city of Gainesville in Hall County at age 73. The location of his ashes is unknown. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.