John Ashton

John Ashton

1948-02-22 Springfield, Massachusetts, USA 51 Credits

Biography

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 University of Southern California's School of Theatre. Beyond his iconic role in the Beverly Hill...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

All Happy Families

All Happy Families

2024

as Roy Landry

5.5
Acting

The Landrys are blindsided by news of their son's behavior, and must rally to find their way amidst comical family dysfunction.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

2024

as Chief John Taggart

6.7
Acting

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.

BRATS

BRATS

2024

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

6.0
Acting

In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. H...

Lonesome Soldier

Lonesome Soldier

2023

as Macroberts

5.7
Acting

Based on a true American story, Lonesome Soldier immerses viewers in the captivating journey of Jackson Harlow, a young man hailing from the heart of ...

Death in Texas

Death in Texas

2022

as Asher

4.3
Acting

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 ...

American Christmas

American Christmas

2019

as Rob

3.3
Acting

It took another ruined Christmas dinner to make Martha finally realize: her kids are jerks. Daughter, Penny is a 42-year old bully who's still letting...

Making a Deal with the Devil

Making a Deal with the Devil

2019

as FBI Director

Acting

A fascinating and dramatic tale of a behind the scenes plot developed by the FBI as they work secretly with the mob to eradicate corruption and crime ...

The Last Big Save

The Last Big Save

2019

as Joseph Bird Sr.

5.8
Acting

A professional hockey player who is only happy when he is miserable signs a long-term contract that covers his entire career only to ruin it in his fi...

Once Upon a River

Once Upon a River

2019

6.0
Acting

After her father’s violent death, Native American teenager Margo Crane flees down Michigan’s Stark River in search of her estranged mother. On the way...

The Joke Thief

The Joke Thief

2018

as Joseph Rogers

5.8
Acting

The Joke Thief takes us on a journey of one man's last hurrah. Simon McCabe is a stand up comedian who has been making people laugh for 35 years. All ...

Uncle John

Uncle John

2015

as Uncle John

5.8
Acting

In this tale of small town intrigue, an urbanite returns to his quiet hometown on an impromptu trip as his Uncle, widely respected in town, struggles ...

A Letter to Dad

A Letter to Dad

2009

as Mike Donahue

3.5
Acting

Dan Donahue has finally met the woman of his dreams. But on the night he is going to propose, he is overcome by deep-rooted anger caused by the father...

Middle Men

Middle Men

2009

as Morgan

6.5
Acting

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, mobste...

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone

2007

as Det. Nick Poole

7.3
Acting

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 hi...

Reign of the Gargoyles

Reign of the Gargoyles

2007

as Commander Latham

5.9
Acting

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 G...

Escape from Alaska

Escape from Alaska

1999

as Kemp

4.2
Acting

A helicopter pilot work with a husband and his wife in the frozen North tagging foxes for the Environmental Protection Agency. When an avalanche hits ...

Instinct

Instinct

1999

as Guard Dacks

6.5
Acting

In a prison for the criminally insane, deranged anthropologist Ethan Powell is set to be examined by a bright young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder. Driven...

The Day Lincoln Was Shot

The Day Lincoln Was Shot

1998

as Ulysses S. Grant

6.8
Acting

A dramatization of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Based on the book by Jim Bishop.

Meet the Deedles

Meet the Deedles

1998

as Capt. Douglas Pine

4.4
Acting

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

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

1997

as Peter Bryant

5.0
Acting

A gymnast moves to a gym where the top coach in the US is and has difficulties adjusting.

Fast Money

Fast Money

1996

as Lt. Diego

5.0
Acting

Butler is an experienced car thief, McCoy a struggling reporter trying to nail a bad guy-senator. Meeting for the first time when they're both in dire...

For Which He Stands

For Which He Stands

1996

as District Attorney

6.0
Acting

To save his family he'll risk losing everything. Fame, fortune, his life... even his soul.

The Shooter

The Shooter

1995

as Alex Reed

4.8
Acting

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

Condition Red

Condition Red

1995

as Deputy Warden

4.5
Acting

Prison guard falls in love with inmate. She wants him to let her escape.

Trapped in Paradise

Trapped in Paradise

1994

as Ed Dawson

5.6
Acting

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

Little Big League

Little Big League

1994

as Mac MacNally

5.8
Acting

When the owner of the Minnesota Twins passes away, he bequeaths the team to his preteen grandson. The newly minted head honcho quickly appoints himsel...

Dirty Work

Dirty Work

1992

as Eddie Ryan

Acting

A bail bondsman deals drugs on the side and thinks he's struck it rich when he conceives a scheme to steal counterfeit money. When the mob comes calli...

Curly Sue

Curly Sue

1991

as Frank Arnold

6.4
Acting

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. ...

I Want to Go Home

I Want to Go Home

1989

as Harry Dempsey

4.9
Acting

Joey Wellman, an American cartoonist from Cleveland now largely forgotten at home, visits France with his partner Lena to attend an exhibition in Pari...

Midnight Run

Midnight Run

1988

as Marvin Dorfler, Headhunter

7.2
Acting

A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who embezzled $15 million of mob money. He is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I....

She's Having a Baby

She's Having a Baby

1988

as Ken

5.9
Acting

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 paren...

Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop II

1987

as John Taggart

6.5
Acting

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 Sg...

Some Kind of Wonderful

Some Kind of Wonderful

1987

as Cliff Nelson

6.9
Acting

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. How...

King Kong Lives

King Kong Lives

1986

as Lt. Col. R.T. Nevitt

5.1
Acting

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 g...

The Deliberate Stranger

The Deliberate Stranger

1986

as Det. Roger Dunn

6.2
Acting

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 Seatt...

Last Resort

Last Resort

1986

as Phil Cocoran

3.2
Acting

George Lollar takes his family on vacation with "Club Sand", a shoddy and untrustworthy company. On their tropical island, they find soldiers everywhe...

Beverly Hills Cop

Beverly Hills Cop

1984

as Sgt. Taggart

7.2
Acting

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, ...

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

1984

as Highway Patrolman

6.0
Acting

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

Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link

Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link

1984

as Cash Hunt

Acting

In this film noir comedy, detective Cash Hunt follows clues to solve a difficult puzzle. The producers offered a prize of $100,000 for the first viewe...

Honky Tonk Freeway

Honky Tonk Freeway

1981

as Otto Kemper

5.2
Acting

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 ...

Elvis and the Beauty Queen

Elvis and the Beauty Queen

1981

as Jake

3.8
Acting

Don Johnson stars as Elvis Presley in this made-for-TV true story about The King's love affair with Linda Thompson (Stephanie Zimbalist), a young beau...

Borderline

Borderline

1980

as Charlie Monroe

5.9
Acting

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 ...

Lawman Without a Gun

Lawman Without a Gun

1979

as 1st State Trooper

Acting

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 ...

Breaking Away

Breaking Away

1979

as Mike's Brother

7.1
Acting

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athlet...

The Wilds of Ten Thousand Islands

1978

as Orville

Acting

While studying the behavior of birds on one of the western Florida island wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico, the Wild family encounters hunters and an is...

Oh, God!

Oh, God!

1977

as Police Officer (uncredited)

6.5
Acting

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.

Cat Murkil and the Silks

Cat Murkil and the Silks

1976

as Coach Larkin

4.0
Acting

A street-gang member kills the gang's leader and blames it on a rival gang.

My Father's House

My Father's House

1975

as Sergeant

Acting

Recovering from a heart attack, a workaholic editor recalls the simple days of his youth. Robertson adds an emotional center to this messy, flashback-...

Psycho Sisters

Psycho Sisters

1974

as Brock

Acting

After her husband dies, a woman begins to have a nervous breakdown and is consoled by her younger sister. Soon, however, other members of the family b...

An Eye for an Eye

An Eye for an Eye

1973

as Sgt. Matthews

5.0
Acting

The host of a children's TV show is really a psychopathic killer, and when he hears stories from the kids who watch his show about the abuse they get ...

Hot Bath an' a Stiff Drink 2

Hot Bath an' a Stiff Drink 2

N/A

as Judge Nathan Rivers

Acting

Twin brothers - one a Marshal, one an Outlaw - join forces against a hardened killer bent on revenge in the old west.