John Ashton (actor)
John David Ashton (born February 22, 1948) is an American actor, known for his roles in "Beverly Hills Cop", "Beverly Hills Cop II", "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Midnight Run". Life and career. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Ashton attended Defiance College in Ohio and is a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Theatre. He attended Enfield High School in Enfield, Connecticut. Ashton has made numerous appearances in both television and feature films. He played Willie Joe Garr on several episodes of "Dallas". He appeared in an episode of "Columbo", "Negative Reaction", and in episode  5 of "Police Squad!", "Rendezvous at Big Gulch (Terror in the Neighborhood)". His early film credits included roles in "An Eye for an Eye" (1973), "Breaking Away" (1979), "Borderline" (1980), "Honky Tonk Freeway" (1981), in (1985)episode of the twilight zone (the chameleon ) "Last Resort" (1986) and "King Kong Lives" (1986). Ashton also starred as Detective Sergeant John Taggart in the first two installments of the "Beverly Hills Cop" trilogy, alongside Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold. He appeared as Eric Stoltz's character's father in the 1987 John Hughes-penned comedy-drama "Some Kind of Wonderful", and worked with Hughes  again in "She's Having a Baby" the following year. In 1988, he co-starred in the action-comedy "Midnight Run" as a rival bounty hunter to Robert De Niro's character. He also starred in "Little Big League" (1994) with Luke Edwards, "Trapped in Paradise" (1994), "The Shooter" (1995), "Meet the Deedles" (1998), "Instinct" (1999), and appeared in a supporting role in the 2007 drama "Gone Baby Gone" directed by Ben Affleck. He also played the role of Cactus Jack Slater in an episode of the 80s TV show "The A-Team" titled "Cup A Joe". Ashton has stated  that, given the proper arrangements, he would like to reprise his roles in the rumored "Beverly Hills Cop IV" and "Midnight Run II" productions. He guest-starred opposite "Beverly Hills Cop" co-star Ronny Cox in an episode of Matthew Perry's 2011 series, "Mr Sunshine". Personal life. Ashton married his first wife Victoria Marie Runn in 1968: they divorced in 1970. He married his second wife Bridget Baker-Ashton in 1976: they divorced in 2001. Ashton has two children, one by each of his ex-wives. He has a daughter from his first marriage. He currently resides in Fort  Collins, Colorado.