Hollywood actor John Ashton, an Enfield High School graduate, dies aged 76

ENFIELD, CT – People from small towns across America who find success in the sports or entertainment industries often tend to forget their roots. However, this was not the case with John Ashton.

Ashton, a 1966 graduate of Enfield High School who later became a movie star in the “Beverly Hills Cop” film series, died Thursday at his home in Fort Collins, Colorado, after a brief illness. He was 76.

He played Sgt. John Taggart alongside stars Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold in the first two BHC films, released in 1984 and 1987, respectively. He did not appear in the third installment, released in 1994, but returned almost three decades later in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which debuted on Netflix in July 2024.

Despite his enormous success and the fact that he spent his entire adult life in another part of the country, Ashton always maintained a strong connection to his hometown. Last fall, his brother Ed was inducted into the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the 1961 Suburban League football championship team, and Ashton was in attendance at the Hall of Fame dinner at Oak Ridge Country Club.

The next day he and some old friends got together to tell stories about their time growing up in Enfield. For the occasion, Ashton wore a T-shirt that read, “Enfield Connecticut, It's Where My Story Begins.”

It started on Francis Avenue at Route 5, where former neighbor Paul Zenczak recalled, “When I was a kid, I played hide-and-seek and baseball with him on Francis Avenue in Enfield. Great guy.”

He developed into a skilled athlete and played on a Thompsonville Little League all-star team that made it to the state semifinals. While attending Enfield High School, he played football on both offense and defense and was also a member of an early Raider hockey team.

Former neighbor and teammate Charlie Ragno told Patch: “Nobody could say a bad word about John Ashton. He was a great teammate and a great friend.”

Donna McCue said: “He was a good friend, he hung out with us at the pop store on Alden Avenue.”

“I remember John as a classmate with a fun personality who always had a smile for everyone,” said George Van Tasel, a 1966 graduate.

Ashton developed his acting skills during his high school years, spending two years in the drama club and being voted class actor as a senior.

After leaving Enfield, he spent time at Defiance College in Ohio before moving further west and graduating from the University of Southern California School of Theater.

Like most young actors, good roles were difficult to come by, and Ashton took small roles in memorable films such as “The Psychopath,” “So Evil, My Sister,” “Borderline” and “Honky Tonk Freeway.” He also made a number of one-off appearances in popular television series such as “Kojak,” “Emergency!”, “Columbo,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Police Woman,” “M*A*S*H” and “Wonder.” Woman.”

In 1978, he landed his first recurring role on a hit series, appearing in six episodes of Dallas as Willie Joe Garr. On the big screen, he starred in 1984's The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai in the 8th Dimension, which was financially unsuccessful at the time but has since become a cult classic. His next opportunity was “Beverly Hills Cop,” and the rest is history.