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John Ashton, known for playing John Taggert in Beverly Hills Cop and two sequels, has died. He was 76.

Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, after a brief battle with cancer, his manager, Alan Somers, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ashton’s Detective Sergeant Taggart appeared in the first two Beverly Hills Cop movies in 1984 and 1987 alongside Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold. He returned as the character — now promoted to police chief — in 2024’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Ashton also appeared in films and TV shows that spanned more than a half-century, including 1973’s An Eye for an Eye, 1974’s So Evil, My Sister, 1976’s Cat Murkil and the Silks, 1979’s Borderline and 1981’s Honky Tonk Freeway.

More recently, he had roles in 2006’s Sweet Deadly Dreams, 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, 2009’s Middle Men and 2023’s Lonesome Soldier. On television, he guest starred on Columbo, Police Story, Barnaby Jones and M*A*S*H.

John Ashton has died. Ashton’s manager, Alan Somers, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the Beverly Hills Cop star died on Thursday. No official cause of death has been announced. He was 76.

Ashton was a prolific character actor who starred in over 200 productions on stage and screen. Perhaps best known as Sgt.

John Ashton, known for his role as John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” films, died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colo., his manager Alan Somers confirmed to Variety. He was 76.

Ashton played Detective Sergeant John Taggart in the first two installments of the “Beverly Hills Cop” series, released in 1984 and 1987, alongside Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold. He reprised his role in 2024’s “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” in which his character is now a police chief.

Ashton’s acting career spanned more than 50 years. His early film credits include “An Eye for an Eye” (1973), “So Evil, My Sister” (1974), “Cat Murkil and the Silks” (1976), “Breaking Away” (1979), “Borderline” (1980) and “Honky Tonk Freeway” (1981). He also guest starred on several television series during the ’70s, including “Emergency!,” “Columbo,” “Police Story,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Police Woman,” “Mash,” “Starsky and Hutch” and “Dallas.”

Ashton portrayed Cliff Nelson, father of Eric Stoltz’s Keith Nelson, in the 1987 teen rom-com “Some Kind of Wonderful,...

Hollywood actor, artist, director, and screenwriter Daniel Stern has bagged a ton of hilariously iconic roles in comedies throughout his career and has managed to land a spectacular performance in nearly every single one of them. As fans must have already understood after watching him in the Home Alone film series, he is immensely dedicated to his work to the core.

Daniel Stern. | Credit: @therealdanielstern/Ig.

That said, this tremendous commitment once almost had him losing his life while working on his comedy-action from 1981, Honky Tonk Freeway. And, ironically enough, Stern didn’t risk his life this badly while shooting an action scene, but rather, this happened while he was shooting a simple scene, for he accidentally consumed real drugs on set instead of using substitutes!

Daniel Stern Underwent a Life-Threatening Accident During Honky Tonk Freeway

Home Alone actor Daniel Stern had only just started his professional career as an...