John Spencer, TV star of ‘The West Wing’, ‘LA Law

‘ LOS ANGELES – 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.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.”While some of his ‘West Wing’ co-stars, such as Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe and Bradley Whitford, were not shy about using their profile to support left-wing causes, Spencer said he was an entertainer first and foremost.”I scream at the right-wingers on the talking-head shows,” Spencer told Playboy magazine in 2001.”At the same time, I make clear in all of my associations that I’m an actor who plays a politician.I let the problems of the free world go when I leave the studio.”Spencer also starred in popular 1990s television drama ‘L.A.Law’ as tough-minded but funny attorney Tommy Mullaney.Like his character on ‘West Wing’, Spencer was an acknowledged alcoholic, but quit drinking long ago.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.- Nampa-ReutersThe 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.”While some of his ‘West Wing’ co-stars, such as Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe and Bradley Whitford, were not shy about using their profile to support left-wing causes, Spencer said he was an entertainer first and foremost.”I scream at the right-wingers on the talking-head shows,” Spencer told Playboy magazine in 2001.”At the same time, I make clear in all of my associations that I’m an actor who plays a politician.I let the problems of the free world go when I leave the studio.”Spencer also starred in popular 1990s television drama ‘L.A.Law’ as tough-minded but funny attorney Tommy Mullaney.Like his character on ‘West Wing’, Spencer was an acknowledged alcoholic, but quit drinking long ago.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.- Nampa-Reuters