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Last Updated: Feb 18th, 2008 - 14:39:01 |
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran character actor John Spencer, Emmy-winning star of NBC television drama "The West Wing," died on Friday at a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a heart attack, his spokesman said.
Spencer, 58, portrayed vice presidential candidate Leo McGarry on the widely watched series that portrays the inner workings of a fictional White House.
The McGarry character earned Spencer an Emmy, American television's highest honour, for best supporting actor in a drama in 2002. The show also earned Emmys for best TV drama and Screen Actors Guild awards for ensemble acting.
"We're a well-oiled machine," he said of his fellow "West Wing" performers backstage at the 2002 SAG awards. "I'm always better depending on who I'm dancing with, and these are the best partners I've ever had."
Spencer also starred in popular 1990s television drama "L.A. Law" as tough-minded but funny attorney Tommy Mullaney.
Ron Hofmann, a spokesman for Spencer, said he had no knowledge of whether the actor suffered from a heart condition or other ailment that would have caused a heart attack. Like his character on "West Wing," Spencer was an acknowledged alcoholic, but quit drinking long ago.
Spencer was the only child of Mildred and John Speshock. He left his home in Paterson, New Jersey, at age 16 to attend Professional Children's School in New York City, and changed his name to Spencer.
His first big break came in 1963 playing Henry Anderson, the boyfriend of an English twin on "The Patty Duke Show." For a time, he attended Fairleigh Dickenson University, but returned to New York to pursue a career in theatre.
Throughout the 1970s, he performed in plays ranging from David Mamet's "Lakeboat" to "Still Life," for which he earned an OBIE award.
A road production of "Still Life," about a Vietnam veteran, brought Spencer to Los Angeles, and it was there that he earned his first role in a major feature film, "War Games." Other film roles came in "Sea of Love" and "Presumed Innocent."
But it was on TV where Spencer made his mark. As Mullaney on "L.A. Law," from 1990 to 1994 he helped breathe new life into the show's final years.
Spencer is not married and has no kids. He is survived by cousins, aunts, uncles and friends, his family members said in a statement.
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