I was shocked tonight when I read that John Spencer, the actor who played White House chief of staff Leo McGarry on The West Wing, died today aged 58. My better half and I have spent the last couple of months working through seasons 1 to 4 of the West Wing on DVD, and a great part of the appeal of the show for both of us is the character of Leo and how he interacts with the President and the other staff.
In a strange twist of fate he died of a heart attack: the same ailment that almost killed his character at the start of the sixth season and prompted his resignation as chief of staff. At the time the sixth season episodes started to appear over here my grandmother had just died of a heart attack/cardiac condition and I found that I just couldn’t watch the episode where “it” happened to Leo: the real life events were just too recent and raw for me to comfortably watch anything like them dramatised on TV. Even a year later when I finally picked up the sixth season on DVD it shook me to look at the heart attack scene and his recovery in the subsequent episodes.
Anyway, whether you agree or disagree with the politics of the show, I think it’s safe to say that someone with a great talent is gone…and I think that it can be agreed that no matter what way you cut it, that’s just a bad thing because if there’s one thing that we always need, it’s talented people.
December 18th, 2005 at 3:53 am
Aw. :( I never really watched the show, but he seemed like a solid actor. And 58…that’s way too young.
December 20th, 2005 at 12:10 am
Oh that is freaky about his character coincidence. I didnt watch the show, but I was still shocked to hear of his death. To me he was always one of those actors everyone knew, but didn’t know they knew, ya know?
P.S.- I am here on recommendation from MCF.
December 20th, 2005 at 2:37 pm
I know what you mean Janet – I think the best description of him that I’ve heard so far is that he is one of those “Hey, it’s that guy!” actors: a face that shows up a lot and is well known, but the name just escapes you every time! :-D
Recommendation from MCF? Really? Excellent, that bribe must have worked wonders! :-D Seriously though, thanks for the recommendation MCF and Janet, I hope you like: I’ve been a reader of your own blog for a while now, excellent stuff.
December 23rd, 2005 at 10:13 pm
Merry Christmas, FawnDoo!
December 25th, 2005 at 4:24 pm
I worked on the 2nd season of TWW and was on set with John a few times- he was an awesome guy. I didn’t know him at all, since I was just a background actor, but I’m glad to see that you’ve posted a small tribute to him.
Some actors in the biz are kind of arrogant, but most of TWW cast is pretty nice. Martin Sheen is one of the friendliest guys around, and John Spencer was a close second. As MCF said, 58 is too soon. My Mom passed at 59.