John Spencer (actor)
| John Spencer | |
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| Born | John Speshock, Jr. December 20, 1946 Paterson, New Jersey |
| Died | December 16, 2005 (aged 58) Los Angeles, California |
| Resting place | Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1983–2005 |
| Notable work(s) | Leo McGarry on The West Wing |
| Awards | Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 2002 The West Wing |
John Spencer (December 20, 1946 – December 16, 2005) was an American film and television actor. He was most widely known for playing White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2002.
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[edit] Early life
Spencer was born as John Speshock, Jr. in New York City, and raised in Totowa, New Jersey.[1] He was the son of blue-collar parents Mildred (née Bincarowski), a waitress, and John Speshock, Sr., a truck driver.[2][3][1] Spencer was of Irish and Rusyn / Ukrainian descent. With his enrollment at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 1963, Spencer found himself sharing classes with such fellow students as Liza Minnelli and violinist Pinchas Zukerman. He attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, but did not complete a degree.[1] Spencer often referred to himself as a "dyed-in-the-wool liberal" and described Franklin Delano Roosevelt as one of his heroes.[4]
[edit] Career
Spencer began his television career on The Patty Duke Show, and eventually began appearing in supporting roles in feature films commencing with 1983's WarGames. He won an Obie Award for the 1981 off Broadway production of Still Life, about a Vietnam War veteran, and received a Drama Desk nomination for "The Day Room." He became a full-fledged supporting actor with the 1990 courtroom thriller Presumed Innocent, starring opposite Harrison Ford. The same year, Spencer joined the cast of the television series L.A. Law, playing rumpled, pugnacious associate attorney Tommy Mullaney. Spencer's work also extended to video games, portraying the role of Captain Hugh Paulsen in the 1995 video game Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom.
From 1999 until his death in 2005, Spencer was cast in the role of White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing. Both Spencer and his character were recovering alcoholics. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2002, after being judged on the show's third season episodes "Bartlet for America" and "We Killed Yamamoto".
[edit] Death
Spencer died of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital on December 16, 2005, four days before his 59th birthday. At Spencer's private funeral, his West Wing co-star Kristin Chenoweth sang the musical number "For Good" from the hit Broadway musical Wicked. Spencer's remains were interred at Laurel Grove Memorial Park in his hometown of Totowa, New Jersey.[5] By the time of his death, Spencer had filmed two of the five West Wing episodes that were in post-production: "Running Mates" and "The Cold". Spencer's death was subsequently written into the seventh and final season of the show, when his character Leo McGarry died of a heart attack on election night. In a strange twist of fate, McGarry had also suffered a life-threatening heart attack in the show's sixth season episode "The Birnam Wood". Spencer's name remained in the opening credits of the final season of the show.
[edit] Filmography
- WarGames (1983) - Jerry
- The Protector (1985)
- Hiding Out (1987)
- Black Rain (1989) - Oliver
- Far From Home (1989) - Tv Preacher
- Sea of Love (1989) - Lieutenant
- Law & Order (TV) - Prescription For Death (1990)
- Presumed Innocent (1990) - Det. Lipranzer
- Green Card (1990)
- L.A. Law (1990–1994) - Tommy Mullaney
- Forget Paris (1995) - Jack
- The Rock (1996) - FBI director James Womack
- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (voice)(VG)(1996)
- Cop Land (1997) - Det. Leo Crasky
- The Negotiator (1998) - Police Chief Al Travis
- Twilight (1998) - Capt. Phil Egan
- The West Wing (TV)(1999–2006) - Leo McGarry
- Ravenous (1999) - Gen. Slauson
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b Lee, Jennifer. " Obituary: John Spencer, 'West Wing' actor", International Herald Tribune, December 19, 2005. Accessed June 9, 2007
- ^ John Spencer Biography (1946-)
- ^ The, Ukrainian Weekly Accessed March 6, 2007.[dead link]
- ^ October 16, 2004 Interview with John Spencer, Tavis Smiley Show
- ^ Browse by Cemetery: Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Find a Grave. Accessed June 9, 2007.
[edit] External links
- "Actor John Spencer has died". Associated Press. December 16, 2005. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10498378.
- John Spencer at the Internet Movie Database
- "John Spencer, 58, TV Actor Starring on 'The West Wing,' Dies". The New York Times. December 17, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/17/arts/television/17spencer.html?ex=1292475600&en=e83593f8e8914f90&ei=5090.
- October 16, 2004 Interview with John Spencer, Tavis Smiley Show
- John Spencer at Find a Grave
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- 1946 births
- 2005 deaths
- American stage actors
- American people of Irish descent
- American people of Ukrainian descent
- American people of Rusyn descent
- American television actors
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Emmy Award winners
- Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni
