The West Wing‘s John Spencer Dies at 58

John Spencer, the award-winning theater actor who gained national fame for his roles on the NBC-TV series L.A. Law and The West Wing, died on December 16 in Los Angeles from a heart attack. He was 58.

Spencer, born John Speshock, began his professional acting career while in high school when he landed a role on The Patty Duke Show. In 1973, he was in the original cast of the Broadway production of In the Boom Boom Room; he returned to Broadway in 1986 for the short-lived Execution of Justice.

The actor worked extensively Off-Broadway, and won the Obie Award for Still Life and a Drama Desk Award for his work in The Day Room. His most recent New York stage appearances were in Warren Leight’s Glimmer, Glimmer & Shine at the Manhattan Theater Club in 2001, and in The Exonerated at 45 Bleecker.

In 1990, he joined the hit series L..A. Law as Tommy Mulvaney. He was an original cast member of The West Wing, winning the 2002 Emmy Award for his role as chief of staff Leo McGarry. His film credits include Sea of Love, Presumed Innocent, and The Rock.

Spencer leaves no immediate survivors.