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John Ashton, known in part for his role as Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, has passed away. He was 76 years old.

Per TMZ, Ashton "died peacefully" at his Ft. Collins, Colorado home on Thursday. He had been living with cancer, which contributed to his death. The actor's family has requested donations in Ashton's memory be made to Pathways Hospice Care. Ashton's rep, Alan Somers, also shared a statement confirming his death.

"John leaves behind a legacy of love, dedication, and service," Somers said. "His memory will forever be treasured by his wife, children, grandchildren, as well as his brother, sisters, his extended family and all who loved him. Johns impact on the world will be remembered and celebrated for generations to come."

John David Ashton was born on Feb. 22, 1948, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His first movie role was in the 1973 movie The Psychopath, which he followed up with films like So Evil,...

John Ashton has passed away. Ashton was a star who played Sergeant John Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise and recently reprised his role in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. He was born on February 22, 1948 in Springfield, Massachusetts and began acting in 1973 after signing onto The Psychopath. He was best known for his performances in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, and Axel F proved to be one of his final roles.

According to a report by Variety, the actor tragically died at 76 years old on Thursday, September 26, in Colorado. His manager, Alan Somers, confirmed his death. Ashton's representative, Alan Somers, told TMZ that Ashton passed peacefully after a fight with cancer. Somers' full statement reflects Ashton's lasting legacy:

John leaves behind a legacy of love, dedication, and service. His memory will forever be treasured by his wife, children, grandchildren, as well as his brother, sisters, his extended family and all who loved him.

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,...

Europe is in a flux. Two sets of elections taking place within days of each other could see two of the continent’s most powerful countries — both with influential entertainment industries — head in opposite directions.

In the U.K., the Labour Party is expected to claim a landslide victory following Thursday’s election, shifting the country towards the center and, potentially, a period of political calm after years of turbulent Conservative rule that has leant further to the right. In France, however, following a wind of populism across Europe, the far-right could come into power for the first time since the pro-Nazi Vichy Regime during World War II. And it’s a move that many fear could threaten cultural policies, progressive agendas and economic standings across key countries.

Boasting one of the world’s biggest economies, France also has a vibrant film and TV industry and ranks as Europe’s...

The 1990s were an exciting period for action films, with many of them getting released direct-to-video and showing up seemingly randomly at local video stores, requiring fans of the genre to have memberships at multiple locations to get to see everything. There was so much that if attention wasn’t paid, titles would be missed easily or rented twice under different titles at different video stores. Stars emerged within those ranks and gathered the love and adoration of fans. Here are the 10 of the best Dtv action stars of that era:

Dolph Lundgren

Let’s start with the obvious man on the list, the one that everyone saw films from at their local video stores. Lundgren had films that were released in theaters, on video, and direct to cable in some cases during the 1990s, but one thing is for sure, he was a mainstay of the action film aisle...

Just ignore the suffix "Future Apocalypse" on the American release of Mexican dystopian flick 2033. This is a film that mirrors The Cristero War and is about revolution, not the apocalypse. Barring that, this release is long overdue and definitely worth a look if you want to know what the Mexican genre guys have been up to lately. I was one of the first to review the film and I'm very much looking forward to catching it again. It's got a great story and sense of sartorial style.

Then we've got Jim Stugess' Heartless, a UK horror film that's been dividing audiences for over a year now. Ben Austwick was not particularly kind to Stugess, or the film when he asw it at Frightfest back in 2009. And since I hold his opinion in such high regard I haven't exactly been awaiting this release with baited breath. Having said that, now that...

Foresight Unlimited just released this new movie still from the upcoming action film “Universal Soldiers 3″ aka Universal Soldiers: The Next Generation by director John Hyams (One Dog Day, Rank) and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme (Jcvd, Karate, Street Fighter), Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables, The Shooter, Rocky IV), Zahary Baharov and Jon Foo (Tekken). Synopsis: A crazed Chechen nationalist, Basayev, seizes control of Chernobyl, site of the infamous nuclear meltdown, and threatens to unleash a radioactive cloud unless his nationalist blackmail demands are met. Luc DEVERsEAUX (Jean-Claude Van Damme) joins a U.S. team of revived UniSoldiers secretly held in deep storage. Their mission: retake Chernobyl and disable explosives that will unleash the radioactive [...]...