John Ashton gave Eddie Murphy’s confidence useful resistance, and made gruffness funny without chasing every joke. We value his supporting work, though the repeated cop roles could make his skill too easy to take for granted.
Fi1m perspective
In Beverly Hills Cop (1984), John Ashton’s Sergeant Taggart gives Eddie Murphy’s bluffing the resistance it needs. We laughed at the friction between them, because Ashton lets the irritation be funny without competing for the next joke. His gruffness makes Murphy’s confidence more entertaining, giving the scenes something to work with beyond clever answers. This is supporting acting we value: Ashton helps another performance without disappearing behind it. He remains good company even when the police business becomes mechanical.
Martin Brest understands how much that restraint contributes to the comedy. Alongside Judge Reinhold’s Detective Billy Rosewood, Ashton gives Murphy someone worth watching even when the attention is supposed to be elsewhere. Reinhold is the particular pleasure for us, and the supporting cast does much to keep a patchy film agreeable. We would not claim Ashton makes the familiar crime plot interesting; he makes us interested in who will have to deal with Murphy next.
Taggart was the breakthrough, followed by Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), but the association with cops narrowed the parts Ashton was offered. Midnight Run (1988) gave him Marvin Dorfler, a rival bounty hunter opposite Robert De Niro. There is toughness again, and enough humour to make a potentially one-note heavy sympathetic. These were supporting roles that used his familiar qualities rather than asking him to discard them.
Gone Baby Gone (2007) puts him to more serious use as Nick Poole in Ben Affleck’s crime drama. His solid supporting work fits a film whose performances keep us involved as the plotting becomes too contrived. Casey Affleck and Amy Ryan give us the strongest reasons to stay. He returned as Chief John Taggart in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024), still associated with the part that had made him recognisable. For a less familiar use of that authority, try Gone Baby Gone, allowing for the plotting.
Biography
John Ashton was an American actor. Born on 22 February 1948 in Springfield, Massachusetts, he died on 26 September 2024 in Fort Collins, Colorado. He trained at the University of Southern California School of Theatre and began his career in the early 1970s.
Ashton was best known for playing Sergeant John Taggart in the films Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024). Other film roles include Marvin Dorfler in Midnight Run (1988) and Nick Poole in Gone Baby Gone (2007). He also appeared in television series such as The A-Team, Columbo, MASH and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit*.
