Acting

John Ashton

Born February 22, 1948 · Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

Died September 26, 2024 · aged 76

John David Ashton (February 22, 1948 – September 26, 2024) was an American actor best known for his role as Sergeant John Taggart in the hit action-comedy films Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2025) where he played alongside Eddie Murphy. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Ashton developed a passion for acting early in life, later attending the…

Known For

Beverly Hills Cop

Beverly Hills Cop · 1984

Beverly Hills Cop

MovieComedyCrime

Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs in his time, but when his best friend is murdered, he heads to sunny Beverly Hills to work the case like only he can.

Midnight Run

Midnight Run · 1988

MovieComedyCrime

A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.

Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop II · 1987

Beverly Hills Cop II

MovieActionComedy

Axel Foley returns to the land of sunshine and palm trees to investigate the near-fatal shooting of police Captain Andrew Bogomil. With the help of Sgt. Taggart and Det. Rosewood, they soon uncover that the shooting is associated with a series of "alphabet" robberies masterminded by a heartless weapons kingpin—and the chase is on.

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone · 2007

MovieCrimeDrama

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F · 2024

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

MovieActionComedy

Forty years after his unforgettable first case in Beverly Hills, Detroit cop Axel Foley returns to do what he does best: solve crimes and cause chaos.

King Kong Lives

King Kong Lives · 1986

King Kong Lives

MovieFantasyAction

After falling from the Twin Towers, Kong lies in a coma for ten years. When his heart begins to fail, scientists engineer an artificial heart, and a giant female ape is captured to serve as a source for a blood transfusion. When Kong awakens following his heart transplant, he senses the nearby presence of the female ape and the two escape to wreak havoc together.

Some Kind of Wonderful

Some Kind of Wonderful · 1987

Some Kind of Wonderful

MovieRomanceComedy

Keith Nelson, an artsy high school outcast, tries to land a date with popular girl Amanda Jones with some help from his tomboy best friend, Watts. However, Watts realizes she likes Keith as more than just a friend and tries to convince him to stop pursuing Amanda. Matters are further complicated when Keith's invitation draws the ire of Amanda's rich yet snobby ex-boyfriend, Hardy Jenns, who makes plans to get even.

Curly Sue

Curly Sue · 1991

MovieComedyDrama

Bill is a penniless drifter who scams strangers out of just enough money to feed himself and his partner in crime, an orphan girl known as Curly Sue. Bill and Curly Sue target Grey, a yuppie lawyer, but their con takes an unexpected turn when the successful woman begins to like the ramshackle duo. But there's one problem—Grey's jealous, conniving boyfriend, Walker.

Filmography

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Beverly Hills Cop

Beverly Hills Cop · 1984

Beverly Hills Cop

MovieComedyCrime

Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs in his time, but when his best friend is murdered, he heads to sunny Beverly Hills to work the case like only he can.

Sgt. Taggart

Midnight Run

Midnight Run · 1988

MovieComedyCrime

A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.

Marvin Dorfler, Headhunter

Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop II · 1987

Beverly Hills Cop II

MovieActionComedy

Axel Foley returns to the land of sunshine and palm trees to investigate the near-fatal shooting of police Captain Andrew Bogomil. With the help of Sgt. Taggart and Det. Rosewood, they soon uncover that the shooting is associated with a series of "alphabet" robberies masterminded by a heartless weapons kingpin—and the chase is on.

John Taggart

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone · 2007

MovieCrimeDrama

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.

Nick Poole

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F · 2024

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

MovieActionComedy

Forty years after his unforgettable first case in Beverly Hills, Detroit cop Axel Foley returns to do what he does best: solve crimes and cause chaos.

Chief John Taggart

King Kong Lives

King Kong Lives · 1986

King Kong Lives

MovieFantasyAction

After falling from the Twin Towers, Kong lies in a coma for ten years. When his heart begins to fail, scientists engineer an artificial heart, and a giant female ape is captured to serve as a source for a blood transfusion. When Kong awakens following his heart transplant, he senses the nearby presence of the female ape and the two escape to wreak havoc together.

Lt. Col. R.T. Nevitt

Some Kind of Wonderful

Some Kind of Wonderful · 1987

Some Kind of Wonderful

MovieRomanceComedy

Keith Nelson, an artsy high school outcast, tries to land a date with popular girl Amanda Jones with some help from his tomboy best friend, Watts. However, Watts realizes she likes Keith as more than just a friend and tries to convince him to stop pursuing Amanda. Matters are further complicated when Keith's invitation draws the ire of Amanda's rich yet snobby ex-boyfriend, Hardy Jenns, who makes plans to get even.

Cliff Nelson

Curly Sue

Curly Sue · 1991

MovieComedyDrama

Bill is a penniless drifter who scams strangers out of just enough money to feed himself and his partner in crime, an orphan girl known as Curly Sue. Bill and Curly Sue target Grey, a yuppie lawyer, but their con takes an unexpected turn when the successful woman begins to like the ramshackle duo. But there's one problem—Grey's jealous, conniving boyfriend, Walker.

Frank Arnold

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension · 1984

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

MovieScience FictionComedy

Adventurer/surgeon/rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his band of men, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, take on evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension.

Highway Patrolman

Trapped in Paradise

Trapped in Paradise · 1994

Trapped in Paradise

MovieComedyCrime

Residents of a friendly Pennsylvania town foil three brothers' plan to rob a bank on Christmas Eve.

Ed Dawson

Instinct

Instinct · 1999

MovieDramaThriller

In a prison for the criminally insane, deranged anthropologist Ethan Powell is set to be examined by a bright young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder. Driven by ambition and a hunger for the truth, Caulder will eventually risk everything—even put his very life on the line—in a harrowing attempt to understand the bizarre actions of this madman.

Guard Dacks

Breaking Away

Breaking Away · 1979

MovieDramaComedy

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.

Mike's Brother

She's Having a Baby

She's Having a Baby · 1988

She's Having a Baby

MovieComedyDrama

Jake and Kristy Briggs are newlyweds. Being young, they are perhaps a bit unprepared for the full reality of marriage and all that it (and their parents) expect from them. Do they want babies? Their parents certainly want them to. Is married life all that there is? Things certainly aren't helped by Jake's friend Davis, who always seems to turn up just in time to put a spanner in the works.

Ken

Middle Men

Middle Men · 2009

MovieDramaComedy

Chronicles Jack Harris, one of the pioneers of internet commerce, as he wrestles with his morals and struggles not to drown in a sea of conmen, mobsters, drug addicts, and pornstars.

Morgan

Meet the Deedles

Meet the Deedles · 1998

Meet the Deedles

MovieComedyFamily

Two surfers end up as Yellowstone park rangers and have to stop a former ranger who is out for revenge.

Capt. Douglas Pine

Little Big League

Little Big League · 1994

Little Big League

MovieComedyFamily

When the owner of the Minnesota Twins passes away, he bequeaths the team to his preteen grandson. The newly minted head honcho quickly appoints himself manager, causing unrest in an organization that struggles to take orders from a 12-year-old.

Mac MacNally

Borderline

Borderline · 1980

MovieActionCrime

Jeb Maynard is a patrolman guarding the U.S.-Mexican border, whose partner and buddy Scooter has just been murdered. Maynard knows that a smuggler of illegal aliens is responsible for Scooter's death, but the feds insist that drug dealers committed the crime.

Charlie Monroe

Oh, God!

Oh, God! · 1977

MovieFantasyComedy

When God appears to an assistant grocery manager as a good natured old man, the Almighty selects him as his messenger for the modern world.

Police Officer (uncredited)

Death in Texas

Death in Texas · 2022

MovieCrimeDrama

Recently released from prison, Billy will do whatever it takes to save the only person who has stuck by him, his mother Grace who desperately needs a liver transplant and she is all out of legal options.

Asher

The Shooter

The Shooter · 1995

MovieActionThriller

A CIA agent gets caught up in political intrigue after he gets brought in to solve the murder of a Cuban ambassador.

Alex Reed

Honky Tonk Freeway

Honky Tonk Freeway · 1981

Honky Tonk Freeway

Ticlaw, a small town in Florida, has only one attraction: a safari park. The government constructs a freeway that passes near Ticlaw, but decides not to put an exit into the town. The people of Ticlaw, leaded by its Mayor, will do anything in order to convince the governor to alter the project.

Otto Kemper

The Deliberate Stranger

The Deliberate Stranger · 1986

The Deliberate Stranger

MovieDramaCrime

Based on a true story, this film depicts the life of Ted Bundy, the serial killer. In 1974, after having murdered several young women, he leaves Seattle for Utah, where he is a law student and where other girls disappear. It takes the cooperation of a number of police forces to work efficiently on this case. Soon, but not soon enough, the police eliminate endless possibilities and close in on him. Bundy is tried in the media and his good-boy attitude brings him sympathy but also the hatred of many.

Det. Roger Dunn

Lawman Without a Gun

Lawman Without a Gun · 1979

Lawman Without a Gun

MovieDramaTV Movie

During the 1960s' civil rights movement, a black civil rights worker returns to his small Southern town and runs for sheriff against the incumbent, a popular segregationist.

1st State Trooper

Reign of the Gargoyles

Reign of the Gargoyles · 2007

Reign of the Gargoyles

MovieActionAdventure

During World War 2 a group of brave US Airmen are downed in Nazi controlled Europe, after their aircraft is attacked by Nazi-controlled mythological Gargoyles.

Commander Latham

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit · 1999

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

SeriesCrimeDrama

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Alan Fewkes

Columbo

Columbo · 1971

SeriesCrimeDrama

Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.

Calvin MacGruder

JAG

SeriesDramaAction & Adventure

Harmon "Harm" Rabb Jr. is a former pilot turned lawyer working for the military's JAG (Judge Advocate General) division, the elite legal wing of officers that prosecutes and defends those accused of military-related crimes. He works closely with Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie, and together they do what needs to be done to find the truth.

Brian Turque

King of the Hill

King of the Hill · 1997

King of the Hill

SeriesAnimationComedy

Set in Texas, this animated series follows the life of propane salesman Hank Hill, who lives with his overly confident substitute Spanish teacher wife Peggy, wannabe comedian son Bobby, and naive niece Luanne. Hank has conservative views about God, family, and country, but his values and ethics are often challenged by the situations he, his family, and his beer-drinking neighbors/buddies find themselves in.

Instructor (voice)

Dallas

SeriesSoapDrama

The world's first mega-soap, and one of the most popular ever produced, Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. Famous for one of the best cliffhangers in TV history, as the world asked "Who shot J.R.?" A slow-burner to begin with, Dallas hit its stride in the 2nd season, with long storylines and expert character development. Dallas ruled the airwaves in the 1980's.

Willie Joe Garr

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno · 1992

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

SeriesTalkComedy

Jay Leno hosts some of the biggest celebrities in the world.

M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H · 1972

SeriesWar & PoliticsDrama

The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean war. With little help from the circumstances they find themselves in, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable.

The A-Team

The A-Team · 1983

SeriesAction & AdventureComedy

A fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel work as soldiers of fortune while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit."

Cactus Jack Slater

Judging Amy

Judging Amy · 1999

Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character is a judge who serves in a family court, and in addition to the family-related cases that she adjudicates, many episodes of the show focus on her own experiences as a divorced mother, and on the experiences of her mother, a social worker who works in the field of child welfare. This series was based on the life experiences of Brenneman's mother.

Dashiel Purdue

A Touch of Frost

A Touch of Frost · 1992

A Touch of Frost

SeriesDramaCrime

Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.

Ridley

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone · 1985

The Twilight Zone

SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyDrama

This 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original anthology series. Each episode tells a tale (sometimes two or three) rooted in horror or suspense, often with a surprising twist at the end. Episodes usually feature elements of drama and comedy.

Chief Brady Simmons (segment "Chameleon")

Starsky & Hutch

Starsky & Hutch · 1975

Starsky & Hutch

SeriesAction & AdventureDrama

Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.

Kojak

SeriesCrimeDrama

A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.

Cullen

Police Story

Police Story · 1973

SeriesAction & AdventureCrime

Detective Cheng is commissioned by Interpol to destroy the Empire of Chaiba, a worldwide criminal organization based in Southeast Asia. He initiates an undercover operation to infiltrate the organization.

Fairly Legal

Fairly Legal · 2011

SeriesDramaComedy

Kate Reed is a firm believer that justice can always be found – even if it's not always in the courtroom. Once a lawyer at her family's esteemed San Francisco firm, Kate's frustration with the legal system led her to a new career as a mediator. Thanks to her innate understanding of human nature, thorough legal knowledge, and wry sense of humor, Kate is a natural when it comes to dispute resolution. Except, it seems, when it comes to conflicts in her own life.

Lou Fisher

The Finder

The Finder · 2012

Walter Sherman, an Iraq War veteran, has the extraordinary ability to help people find the unfindable.

Franklin Sherman

Police Squad!

Police Squad! · 1982

SeriesComedyCrime

In this cult parody of cop dramas, replete with farce and sight gags, Lieutenant Frank Drebin and his fellow officers from Police Squad bungle their way though crime investigations.

Fantasy Island

Fantasy Island · 1998

SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyDrama

Mr. Roarke and his three assistants run a tropical paradise where guests come in to have their wildest dreams and fantasies come true.

Bobby

Hardball

Hardball · 1989

SeriesCrimeAction & Adventure

Battles is a 45-year-old hard-nosed veteran cop who is forced to take a desk job or retire. Battles is soon assigned a new partner, the 25-year old hotshot Kaczierowski who follows his own set of rules when dealing with criminals. The pair are soon at odds over their respective methods of law enforcement. HARDBALL is an American crime drama television series that ran on NBC during the 1989-1990 television schedule.

Charlie Battles

I Know My First Name Is Steven

I Know My First Name Is Steven · 1989

I Know My First Name Is Steven

SeriesDramaCrime

In 1973, 7-year-old Steven Stayner is kidnapped by pedophile Kenneth Parnell. Under the belief that Parnell has been given legal custody of him, and that his family has moved away, he stays with Parnell for seven years, enduring repetitive sexual abuse the entire time. Finally, in 1980, when Parnell kidnaps another young boy, Steven finds a way for them both to escape and return home.

Del Stayner

The Tommyknockers

The Tommyknockers · 1993

The Tommyknockers

SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyMystery

A buried UFO slowly turns local inhabitants into gizmo-building alien mutants.

Butch Duggan

Code R

SeriesAction & Adventure

Code R is an American action-adventure television series that aired on CBS from January 21 to June 10, 1977. Code R focuses on the emergency services of the California Channel Islands. The series stars James Houghton, Martin Kove and Tom Simcox and ran for a single season of thirteen episodes.

Karl

Love, Lies and Murder

Love, Lies and Murder · 1991

Love, Lies and Murder

SeriesCrimeDrama

When a young homemaker is murdered, the cops find her troubled daughter guilty after she confesses to the crime--but was she really the killer? LOVE, LIES, AND MURDER is a 1991 American miniseries starring Clancy Brown, Sheryl Lee, Moira Kelly, Tom Bower, John Ashton, and Cynthia Nixon. It is based on the 1985 murder of Linda Bailey Brown. The names were not changed for the film. The miniseries is four hours long and aired on NBC in two parts, the first on February 16, 1991, and the second on February 18, 1991. Lifetime airs the miniseries.

Carrothers

The Deliberate Stranger

The Deliberate Stranger · 1986

The Deliberate Stranger

SeriesCrimeDrama

Based on a true story, this miniseries depicts the life of Ted Bundy, the serial killer. In 1974, after having murdered several young women, he leaves Seattle for Utah, where he is a law student and where other girls disappear. It takes the cooperation of a number of police forces to work efficiently on this case. Soon, but not soon enough, the police eliminate endless possibilities and close in on him. Bundy is tried in the media and his good-boy attitude brings him sympathy but also the hatred of many.

Det. Roger Dunn