Beverly Hills Cop Actor John Ashton Dead at 76

John Ashton—the actor who made it big playing the straight man to Eddie Murphy in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise—has died at age 76. TMZ reports Ashton died of cancer. The native of Springfield, Massachusetts, had a long career in Hollywood, with more than 200 credits to his name. But as Deadline reports, he is best known for playing Detective Sergeant John Taggart in three of the four BHC films. He portrayed the "by-the-book" Taggart in the 1984 original, the 1987 sequel, and in this year's Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F reboot on Netflix, per the AP.

Ashton also had a big role with Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin in the 1988 comedy Midnight Run, and he told Collider in July that he cinched the job during his audition.

• "Bobby started handing me these matches, and I went to grab the matches, and he threw them on the floor and stared at me. I looked at the matches, and I looked up, and I said, "F--- you," and he said, "F--- you, too." I said, "Go f--- yourself." I know every other actor picked those up and handed it to him, and I found out as soon as I left he went, 'I want him,' because he wanted somebody to stand up to him. Bob and I got along great on the film."

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