John Spencer, 58; Actor Best Known for Emmy-Winning Role on TV’s ‘The West Wing’
LA Times
John Spencer, an actor who received an Emmy Award for portraying the flawed but efficient chief of staff who anchored the large ensemble cast on NBC-TV’s “The West Wing,” died Friday morning. He was 58.
Spencer died after suffering a heart attack, said Ron Hofmann, his publicist. He said the actor had fallen ill at home and died at Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles.
“We’re shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden death of our friend and colleague,” Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme, executive producers of “The West Wing,” said in a statement. “John was an uncommonly good man, an exceptional role model and a brilliant actor.”
On the Emmy-winning hourlong drama that began airing in 1999, Spencer’s character, Leo McGarry, is running for vice president on the Democratic ticket with Rep. Matthew Santos, played by Jimmy Smits.
Art sadly imitated life for Spencer. His “West Wing” character was chosen as a running mate despite a recent heart attack and a history of alcoholism. The actor openly acknowledged that he had struggled with alcohol addiction since high school
In a statement, Smits said, “I am honored to call John Spencer a friend, and his death is a loss that will be felt for a long time to come. Working with him was a privilege…. John was a true pillar of a man.”
The death of an actor while a series is still in production challenges the producers and writers to find a logical plot line for the character’s sudden absence. “The West Wing” will have to deal with the loss because the fictional election is central to the story line.
David E. Kelley, a writer and executive producer on “L.A. Law” when Spencer joined that show in 1990, was too upset to speak but issued this statement: “We are all deeply saddened.”
James Mangold, who directed Spencer in the 1997 film “Cop Land,” said he first noticed the “brilliant” actor when he played a street-smart attorney on “L.A. Law” on NBC.
“He was a kind, sweet, funny man … a man who made your words come to life in ways you would never expect,” Mangold said.
