AP
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John Ashton, the veteran actor who played the surly but lovable detective John Taggart in the movie “Beverly Hills Cop,” has died. He was 76 years old.
Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, his family announced in a statement released Sunday by Ashton’s manager Alan Summers. The cause of death was not immediately known.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, Ashton appeared regularly in television series and movies such as “Midnight Run,” “Little Big League,” and “Gone Baby Gone.”
However, in the film “Beverly Hills Cop” Ashton played a key role in an unforgettable trio. The main character is Axel Foley, played by Eddie Murphy, a Detroit detective who pursues cases in Los Angeles, but two local detectives, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart, played by Ashton, are passive at Axel’s time. , and at times were enthusiastic collaborators.
Of the three, Taggert, known as “Sarge” to Billy, was the more frightening, prescriptive detective. However, he was regularly guided into Axel’s plans. Ashton co-starred in all four films, from the 1984 original to Netflix’s reboot of Beverly Hills Cop, which was released earlier this year.
Ashton played a more irreverent character in Martin Brest’s 1988 buddy comedy Midnight Run. He was also a rival bounty hunter who was pursuing Charles Grodin’s wanted accountant in The Duke while in the custody of Robert De Niro’s Jack Walsh.
Speaking to Collider in July, Ashton recalled auditioning for De Niro.
“Bobby started handing me matches, and when I went to get them, he threw them on the floor and looked at me,” Ashton said. “I watched the game, looked up and said, ‘Huh, you,’ and he said, ‘Huh, you too.’ I said, ‘Go — on your own.’ I know all the other actors picked it up and gave it to him, but I could tell as soon as I left he said, ‘I want him.’ Because he wanted someone to stand up to him. ”
Ashton is survived by his wife of 24 years, Robin Hoe, two children, three stepchildren, grandchildren, two sisters, and one brother.