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Message |
    
newone
Citizen
Username: Newone
Post Number: 306
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 6:01 pm: |     |
Sad news...just heard John Spenser died of a heart attack today  Always enjoyed his acting. |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 5311
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 6:17 pm: | |
yea i just heard this news too, and am really strangly sad. He was a helluva talent. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 8147
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 6:19 pm: | |
what was he in? |
I'm Only Sleeping
Citizen
Username: Imonlysleeping
Post Number: 100
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 6:25 pm: | |
Wow, and he's right at the center at the key plot twist of the whole season. I wonder how many episodes they have in the can? |
newone
Citizen
Username: Newone
Post Number: 308
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 6:30 pm: | |
Dave - The West Wing (Leo McGarry) among other shows and movies.
I guess they will write in into the story - he already suffered a heart attack in the storyline - maybe they'll just have that he died in his sleep or something like that. |
tupperjo
Citizen
Username: Tupperjo
Post Number: 169
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 6:31 pm: | |
http://www.tv.com/john-spencer/person/1323/biography.html |
SoOrLady
Citizen
Username: Soorlady
Post Number: 2816
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 7:01 pm: | |
He was also in LA Law years back - a wonderful character actor. So sad. |
Deidra
Citizen
Username: Deidralynn
Post Number: 437
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 8:02 pm: | |
I liked him a lot in LA Law. I recall him saying he's from New Jersey in an interview....anyone else hear that? I think it may have been West Orange - but need that confirmed. |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 1097
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 8:25 pm: | |
Paterson. |
LibraryLady(ncjanow)
Supporter
Username: Librarylady
Post Number: 2876
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 8:58 pm: | |
'West Wing' actor dies at 58
John Spencer played VP candidate Leo McGarry on hit show
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- John Spencer, who played a dedicated politico on "The West Wing" who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday, his publicist said.
Spencer, 58, died at a Los Angeles hospital, said publicist Ron Hofmann. He would have been 59 next week.
Spencer played Leo McGarry, the chief of staff to President Jeb Bartlet (Martin Sheen) through the first few seasons of the NBC series. In a sad parallel to life, his character suffered a heart attack that forced him to give up his White House job.
The character recovered and was picked as a running mate for Democratic presidential contender Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits; the campaign has been a central theme this season for the drama.
Spencer, who also starred on "L.A. Law" as attorney Tommy Mullaney, received an Emmy Award for his performance on "The West Wing" in 2002 and was nominated four other times for the drama.
The actor mirrored his character in several ways: both were recovering alcoholics and both, Spencer once said, were driven.
"Like Leo, I've always been a workaholic, too," he told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview. "Through good times and bad, acting has been my escape, my joy, my nourishment. The drug for me, even better than alcohol, was acting."
Spencer grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of blue-collar parents. With his enrollment at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan, he was sharing classes with the likes of Liza Minnelli and budding violinist Pinchas Zukerman.
As a teenager, Spencer landed a recurring role on "The Patty Duke Show" as the boyfriend of English twin Cathy. Stage and film work followed. Then his big break: playing Harrison Ford's detective sidekick in the 1990 courtroom thriller "Presumed Innocent." That role led to his hiring for the final four years of "L.A. Law."
Service and funeral arrangements were pending, Hofmann said.
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LibraryLady(ncjanow)
Supporter
Username: Librarylady
Post Number: 2877
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005 - 9:18 pm: | |
?+?'Pset as well. feel I should crosspost this news in Political Soapbox, that's how real a character he created, And he played Cathy's boyfriend??That was another lifetime ago for me, but I remember him in that role clearly.
Rest In Peace, John |
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