‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Star John Ashton Dead at 76

Beverly Hills Cop star John Ashton died last week at the age of 76, his manager confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday.

Ashton passed away on Sept. 26 at his home in Fort Collins, CO, following a short battle with cancer. The actor is best known for playing Sergeant John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, starring opposite Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold in the first two installments but declining to return for the third entry. Earlier this year, Ashton returned to the series with a substantial role in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Outside of Beverly Hills Cop, Ashton appeared in a number of legendary films and television series across a career that spanned more than 50 years. He had single-episode arcs on Kojak, Emergency!, Columbo, Police Woman, M*A*S*H, and Starsky and Hutch before joining Dallas in a memorable role during the first two seasons as JR’s (Larry Hagman) ill-fated business partner. He worked with John Hughes in Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) and She’s Having a Baby (1988), and reunited with Beverly Hills Cop director Martin Brest for the another classic action-comedy, Midnight Run (1988).

Later in his career, Ashton starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in Instinct (1999) and appeared in episodes of Law and Order: SVU and King of the Hill. He also played a pivotal role as a detective in Ben Affleck’s directorial debut Gone, Baby, Gone (2007), which many regard as one of Ashton’s finest performances.

Ashton is survived by his two children as well as his two sisters.