John David Ashton (born February 22, 1948) is an American actor, known for his roles in ''

Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop ...

'', ''

Beverly Hills Cop II ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' and the second insta ...

'', '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' and ''

Midnight Run ''Midnight Run'' is a 1988 American road action comedy film directed by Martin Brest and starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina, Joe Pantoliano, and Philip Baker Hall play supporting roles. At the 4 ...

''.

Life and career

Born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, Ashton attended

Defiance College Defiance College is a private college located in Defiance, Ohio and affiliated with the United Church of Christ. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary. History The college began as Defiance Female ...

in Ohio and is a graduate of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

School of Theatre. He attended

Enfield High School Enfield High School is a secondary school established in 1893 in Enfield, Connecticut. The Enfield High School campus is located in the Connecticut River Valley, on Enfield Street ( U.S. Route 5) in Enfield's Historical District. The school h ...

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Longm ...

. Ashton has made numerous appearances in both television and feature films. He played Willie Joe Garr on several episodes of ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

''. He appeared in an episode of ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...

'', "Negative Reaction", and in episode 5 of ''

Police Squad! ''Police Squad!'' is an American television crime comedy series that was broadcast on the ABC network in 1982. It was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin. A spoof of police procedu ...

'', "Rendezvous at Big Gulch (Terror in the Neighborhood)". His early film credits included roles in ''

An Eye for an Eye "An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law. In Roman c ...

'' (1973), ''

Breaking Away ''Breaking Away'' is a 1979 American coming of age comedy-drama film produced and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich. It follows a group of four male teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana, who have recently graduated from high sc ...

'' (1979), '' Borderline'' (1980), ''

Honky Tonk Freeway ''Honky Tonk Freeway'' is a 1981 American-British comedy film directed by John Schlesinger. The film, conceived and co-produced by Don Boyd, was one of the most expensive box office bombs in history, losing its British backers Thorn EMI between ...

'' (1981), in (1985)episode of the twilight zone (the chameleon ) '' Last Resort'' (1986) and ''

King Kong Lives ''King Kong Lives'' (released as ''King Kong 2'' in some countries) is a 1986 American monster adventure film directed by John Guillermin. Produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and featuring special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, the film s ...

'' (1986). Ashton also starred as Detective Sergeant John Taggart in the first two installments of the ''

'' trilogy, alongside

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

and

Judge Reinhold Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. (born May 21, 1957) is an American actor who has starred in several Hollywood movies, such as ''Ruthless People'', ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', ''Stripes'' and ''Gremlins'', and co-starred in all of the fil ...

. He appeared as Eric Stoltz's character's father in the 1987 John Hughes-penned comedy-drama '' Some Kind of Wonderful'', and worked with Hughes again in ''

She's Having a Baby ''She's Having a Baby'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed and written by John Hughes and starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. It tells the story of a young newlywed couple who try to cope with married life and their parents ...

'' the following year. In 1988, he co-starred in the action-comedy ''

'' as a rival bounty hunter to

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

's character. He also starred in ''

Little Big League ''Little Big League'' is a 1994 American family sports film about a 12-year-old who suddenly becomes the owner and then manager of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It stars Luke Edwards, Timothy Busfield, and Dennis Farina. The film is direct ...

'' (1994) with Luke Edwards, ''

Trapped in Paradise ''Trapped in Paradise'' is a 1994 American Christmas-themed crime comedy film written and directed by George Gallo and starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz, and Dana Carvey. Plot At Christmas time, New York City convicts Dave and Alvin Firpo are par ...

'' (1994), '' The Shooter'' (1995), ''

Meet the Deedles ''Meet the Deedles'' is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Steve Boyum in his directorial debut, and starring Paul Walker, Steve Van Wormer, A. J. Langer, John Ashton, Robert Englund, and Dennis Hopper. This was the first live-action fi ...

'' (1998), ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing both innate (inborn) and learned elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a v ...

'' (1999), and appeared in a supporting role in the 2007 drama ''

Gone Baby Gone ''Gone Baby Gone'' is a 2007 American crime thriller film directed by Ben Affleck, in his directorial debut. Affleck co-wrote the screenplay with Aaron Stockard based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The film stars Casey Affl ...

'' directed by

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...

. He also played the role of Cactus Jack Slater in an episode of the 80s TV show ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...

'' titled "Cup A Joe". Ashton has stated that, given the proper arrangements, he would like to reprise his roles in the rumored ''Beverly Hills Cop IV'' and ''Midnight Run II'' productions. He guest-starred opposite ''Beverly Hills Cop'' co-star

Ronny Cox Daniel Ronald Cox (born July 23, 1938) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. His best-known roles include Drew Ballinger in ''Deliverance'' (1972), George Apple in ''Apple's Way'' (1974–75), Ozark Bule in '' Bound for Glory'' (1976), Co ...

in an episode of

Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...

's 2011 series, '' Mr Sunshine''.

Personal life

Ashton married his first wife Victoria Marie Runn in 1968: they divorced in 1970. He married his second wife Bridget Baker-Ashton in 1976: they divorced in 2001. Ashton has two children, one by each of his ex-wives. He has a daughter from his first marriage. He currently resides in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, John 1948 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Massachusetts Actors from Springfield, Massachusetts USC School of Dramatic Arts alumni