John Ashton

Acting

John Ashton

Born 1948-02-22 · Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

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 Hills Cop series, Ashton appeared in a wide range of films and TV shows throughout his career. His notable film appearances include Midnight Run (1988) alongside Robert De Niro, where he portrayed a bounty hunter named Marvin Dorfler. On television, Ashton has made guest appearances on popular series such as Columbo, MASH, and The A-Team. Ashton's performances are often characterized by his ability to balance humor and toughness, making him a beloved character actor, especially in roles that highlight his everyman charm and strong screen presence.

Acting credits

Beverly Hills Cop poster
7.2

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.

Beverly Hills Cop

1984

Gone Baby Gone poster
7.3

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.

Gone Baby Gone

2007

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F poster
6.6

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.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

2024

Beverly Hills Cop II poster
6.5

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.

Beverly Hills Cop II

1987

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension poster
6.0

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

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

1984

Midnight Run poster
7.2

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.

Midnight Run

1988

Instinct poster
6.5

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.

Instinct

1999

King Kong Lives poster
5.2

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.

King Kong Lives

1986

Middle Men poster
6.5

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.

Middle Men

2009

Some Kind of Wonderful poster
6.8

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.

Some Kind of Wonderful

1987

Borderline poster
6.1

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.

Borderline

1980

Curly Sue poster
6.4

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.

Curly Sue

1991

Breaking Away poster
7.1

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.

Breaking Away

1979

The Shooter poster
4.8

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

The Shooter

1995

BRATS poster
6.0

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. However, when the New York magazine cover story in 1985 dubs them the Brat Pack, stars in the making suddenly find themselves losing control over the trajectory of their careers. Now, almost forty years later, McCarthy looks to reconnect with peers and co-stars so that together they can reflect on their respective legacies.

BRATS

2024

She's Having a Baby poster
5.9

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.

She's Having a Baby

1988

Trapped in Paradise poster
5.6

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

Trapped in Paradise

1994

No artwork available
NR

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 island recluse.

The Wilds of Ten Thousand Islands

1978

Meet the Deedles poster
4.5

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

Meet the Deedles

1998

Death in Texas poster
5.2

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.

Death in Texas

2022

Oh, God! poster
6.4

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.

Oh, God!

1977

Little Big League poster
5.9

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.

Little Big League

1994

The Deliberate Stranger poster
6.3

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.

The Deliberate Stranger

1986

Dirty Work poster
7.0

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 calling for it, he tries to set up a fellow employee as the culprit.

Dirty Work

1992