Character actor John Ashton, 76, died of cancer on Sept. 26. He was best known as hard-nosed John Taggart in three Beverly Hills Cop films (the most recent just released). From 1973 till his death, Ashton was ubiquitous in films and TV: Kojak, Columbo, Phyllis, Police Woman, Breaking Away, Honky Tonk Freeway, Police Squad!, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Tommyknockers, I Know My First Name is Steven, and many more. Ashton had mixed feelings about being so associated with one role: “I walk down the street, and people go, ‘Hey Taggart! Hey Taggart!’ You know, when it first started happening, I got a little upset because I had done so many other things. I said, ‘Well, you know, I’ve done more things than just Taggart.’ As the years have gone on, I kind of really enjoy it now. There’s not too many actors that [sic] can put a stamp on a role that will be with them for eternity, so I take that as an honor now.”
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