Being a character actor in Hollywood is a job with its rewards and perks but also one of hardships. By the time, John Ashton appeared in the blockbuster Beverly Hills Cop, he had been working on TV shows and movies for over a decade.
His most famous work up until then was as Dennis Quaid’s older brother in the critically acclaimed Breaking Away. And it’s probably his luck, Sylvester Stallone didn’t care much for the script to Beverly Hills Cop. Surprisingly, he was only 36 when he appeared as the burly gruff Sgt. John Taggart of the Beverly Hills Police Department who butts heads and sucker punches Det. Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy). Normally, a character like Taggart usually ends up being shot or the foil of the protagonist who gets his comeuppance otherwise.
Yet, Beverly Hills Cop was a different movie. Originally, Det. Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) was supposed to die, but the actor was so gosh-darn likeable, it didn’t make sense. And in the end, Taggart comes around to some of Axel’s unorthodox ways and helps him rescue his friend, Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher), and take down Victor Maitland (Steven Berkhoff).
The movie made Murphy a huge star and Reinhold a household name. But when you’re the token white guy, you seem to get push to the back burner. Ashton would go on to play the antagonistic Lt. Col. R.T. Nevitt in the notoriously bad King Kong Lives. Then he was back again for Beverly Hills Cop II where he had more fun with the role, especially when he has to change his clothes after falling into a pool. He comes down the stairs in some checkered golf pants, a bright yellow polo shirt and a sky blue blazer thinking he looks sharp as Rosewood and Foley can’t believe it.
Later at a nightclub, Foley lies and says he’s Gerald Ford. Then when they track the bad guys to the Playboy Mansion, Taggart and Rosewood each have a brew simultaneously popping them open. The chemistry between Ashton, Murphy and Reinhold was what made the first two movies. However, Ashton was worried about the third movie as the producing duo of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer weren’t involved. So he didn’t return for that one and a line of dialogue was that Taggart had retired and moved away to Arizona.
Ashton had also appeared alongside Robert DeNiro and Charles Gordon in the action comedy Midnight Run where he played Marvin Dorfler, a rival bounty hunter to DeNiro’s Jack Walsh. Martin Brest, who had directed the first Beverly Hills Cop was helming this movie and Ashton wanted to be in it. However, he had to audition with 30 other actors in a scene with DeNiro. Reportedly, during the audition, DeNiro had dropped a book of matches on the floor and told him to pick them up. To which, Ashton told DeNiro to “Fuck off!”
In the end, DeNiro told Brest he wanted Ashton because he wouldn’t take any guff from him. While they played rivals, often treating each other dirty on screen, DeNiro and Ashton got along well while filming the movie.
His next role was as Del Styner in the mega-hit miniseries I Know My First Name Is Steven. The first part garnered over 31 million viewers with the second part being watched by over 40 million people. Ashton would co-star with a young actor, Luke Edwards (who played the younger Steven Styner). They would reunite five years later in the sports comedy Little Big League where Edwards plays a teenager who is left control of the Minnesota Twins in his grandfather’s will. Ashton played the manager for the Twins, who is supportive of the teen’s role and guides him on making some tough, adult decisions that lead to some players being let go.
Other roles were in John Hughes’ movies Some Kind of Wonderful, Curley Sue and She’s Having a Baby. The latter one had him as one of Kevin Bacon’s more traditional suburban dads who constantly argues with his other neighbor played by Larry Hankin over which is the best lawnmower or garden hose. It was a small role but a memorable one when all the men mowing the lawns do a dance with their respective wives as Bacon’s character looks bewildered.
He would continue to work throughout the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and early 2020s. Some notable roles was as a detective in Ben Affleck’s critically acclaimed crime movie Gone Baby Gone and very bad as his character is killed by an exploding vending machine in the reviled miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers.
He recently rejoined Murphy and Reinhold in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F where he returned as Taggart now chief of Beverly Hills P.D. He was also reunited with his SHAB co-star Bacon who played the main villain. But he also became a popular meme on how men aged differently decades ago showing a picture of him at 36 in the first Beverly Hills Cop. Just for reference, Zac Efron is now 36.
In the first movie, Ashton nearly ruined a take by laughing as Foley lies to Lt. Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) about why they were at a strip club. Ashton can be seen lowering his head and grabbing the bridge of his nose. It looks on-screen like Taggart knows it’s a lie and he’s getting aggravated but Ashton later said Murphy ad-libbed the scene and he found it amusing and lowered his head to make it look like he wasn’t laughing. Brest kept the take in the movie.
With about a 100 credits to his work, Ashton died from cancer on Sept. 26 at his home in Fort Collins, Colo. He was 76.
What was your favorite movie or role of his? Please comment.
Zane Says 