Beverly Hills Cop Actor John Ashton Dead at 76

John Ashton -- the actor who made it big playing the straight man to Eddie Murphy in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise -- has died at age 76. TMZ reports Ashton died of cancer. The native of Springfield, Massachusetts, had a long career in Hollywood, with more than 200 credits to his name. But as Deadline reports, he is best known for playing Detective Sergeant John Taggart in three of the four BHC films. He portrayed the "by-the-book" Taggart in the 1984 original, the 1987 sequel, and in this year's Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F reboot on Netflix, per the AP.