John Ashton, a character actor much admired by cinema-goers in the US has passed on. He was most recognizable for his role as the no-nonsense but well-liked cop John Taggart in the ‘Beverly Hills Cop films. He was 76 years old.
Mr Ashton died on Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado. His family spoke of this through Ashton’s manager, Alan Somers, on Sunday. It was not immediately evident why the driver died.
During over than 50 years, Ashton was in many movies and TV shows, including Midnight Run, Little Big League, and Gone Baby Gone.
As for Courtney, he was a member of the unforgettable trio in the movies ‘Beverly Hills Cop. Eddie Murphy returned as Axel Foley – the main character of the movie. He was in Los Angeles that day to work on a case that originated from Detroit where he was a detective. Billy Rosewood and Ashton were Axel’s two local agents, who were sometimes reluctant to help him and sometimes eager to do it.
Taggart, who Billy called “Sarge,” was the most scary and strict detective of the three. But Axel would often get him to join in with his ideas. Ashton co-starred in the first two movies, starting with the 1984 original. He also came back for the Netflix reboot, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” which came out earlier this year.
Ashton played a character with more bad intentions in Martin Brest’s friend comedy “Midnight Run,” which came out in 1988. He was the other bounty hunter who was after Charles Grodin’s wanted accountant in “The Duke” while he was being held by Robert De Niro’s character, Jack Walsh.
In July, Ashton told Collider that she had tried out for De Niro.
Asheton said, “Bobby started handing me these matches. When I went to grab them, he threw them on the floor and stared at me.” “I looked at the matches and then up at him. I said, ‘F—- you,’ and he replied, ‘F—- you, too.’” I told them, “Go f— yourself.” Every actor picked those up and gave them to him. As soon as I left, I found out that he went, “I want him,” because he needed someone to stand up to him.
His wife of 24 years, Robin Hoye, two children, three stepchildren, a grandson, two sisters, and a brother will miss him.
