‘Beverly Hills Cop’ star dies at 76: ‘There’s no smoking in heaven’

John Ashton, the beloved “Beverly Hills Cop” actor whose career spanned over five decades, has passed away at the age of 76. Variety reports that Ashton, best known for portraying Detective Sergeant John Taggart in all four “Beverly Hills Cop” films, died on Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The cause of death has not been disclosed. Co-star Judge Reinhold paid tribute on social media, writing, “Thursday night, John seemed like he was sleeping, but the Yankees were on. They won the game, clinched the division, and then John made it home. Forty years of laughs on screen and off. John LIVED his life! My brother, my partner, my Sarge—I love you.

There’s no smoking in Heaven, John.” Reinhold and Ashton played Beverly Hills Police Department officers who befriended Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley in the 1984 classic “Beverly Hills Cop” and its sequels, including 2024’s “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” where Ashton’s character was promoted to police chief.

Throughout his career, Ashton appeared in nearly 100 films and TV shows, including “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Midnight Run,” “Gone Baby Gone,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Dallas,” and “M*A*S*H.”