Even though it jumped the shark a few years back, The West Wing is still one of my “must-see” shows. Tonight I learned of the tragic death of John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry, former Chief of Staff to President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and current running mate to Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits). You can read ths obit here. Spencer was 58, and would’ve turned 60 59 on the 20th of this month.
It’s so sad, and so eerie: McGarry suffered a heart attack last season, and both McGarry and Spencer were recovering alcoholics. Both were very driven, as well.
I’m interested to see how The West Wing deals with this.
“There are two things in the world you never want people to see how you make them: laws and sausages.” – Leo McGarry
adam
17 December 2005 — 16:50
Holy coronary, Batman!
He’s been in some bad movies, in more good ones, and he did a heck of a job (I think) on West Wing – I hope they have his character have a heart attack – at least the similarities in his life/character will continue….