Never kept up with TWW but I loved his role as the grizzly cop in Presumed Innocent.
I didn’t realize that was Michael Madsen. Huh.
Like others, I can’t help but think of his TV character. Leo was my favorite on the West Wing. Now it’s going to be very sad to watch that show, knowing that before too long, Leo is (most likely) going to die. 
Damn.
Oddly enough, earlier today, I was watching the underrated Forget Paris, which features Spencer in it as an NBA referee.
This death has affected me more than any celebrity death in a long time. And I can only attribute that to my affection for his West Wing character. The storylines about his struggle with alcohol and pills; his ideological split with the President; the heart attack and comeback were some of the best on the show.
I noticed on last Sunday’s (12/11) West Wing that he seemed to look older to me than ever before. I was surprised to read that he was only 58. Yet, I had not heard anything about him having health problems.
Just very shocking and sad.
He reminded me so much of my dad (who is dead as well), so I loved being able to see him on t.v. all the time. Something about his little smile…I’m so sad to hear he died so young!
He really was a great actor.
Both Tommy Mullaney and Leo McGarry were deeply-flawed characters (both seriously alcholic, and a few other things besides) that John Spencer helped bring out all the complexities of. Spencer found their humanity, and even though it was stamped with his not terribly broad range, their humanity had real depth to it.
Martin Hyde, who could ever forget McGarry’s defiance of Leland McKenzie to buy a kidney on the open market, legal ethics be damned?
My husband and I saw the headline online last night and we thought it was a mistake. “No, it can’t be that John Spencer.” “No, they can’t be talking about Leo.” “No, it has to be somebody older.” Such a shock and a bummer. We both liked John Spencer’s acting - especially Leo - and we often wondered what he would be like in person. He seemed like a pretty nice guy.
His finest moment as an actor was the scene, early in the WW, where he describes his alcohol addiction. I don’t remember the exact quote but he asks, with total bewilderment, how someone could have just one drink. How the concept of ONE drink was completely foreign to him.
There was such anger, frustration, and sadness to that scene. Brilliant acting.
This news has my friends and family jumping: before 6am I had two e-mails and a text message about it.
The non-WW role that I keep thinking about is a relatively minor one: his turn as (FBI) Director Womack in The Rock. I always liked watching Spencer, no matter what he was in.
As everyone else has said, it will, indeed, be interesting to see how the show handles his death. I was thinking about that this morning – about the poor guy whose job it is to go, “Um, everyone, we really need to start talking about how this affects the show.” For some reason I was also thinking about how many other episodes they might have already shot that will require re-shoots now.
I can’t remember the last time I was so shocked and saddened by a celebrity’s death. John Spencer brought a quality to *all * his roles that I can’t help but (rightly or wrongly, who knows?) subconsciously attribute to the man himself. The only word I can think of for it is integrity. He always came across as the guy you could count on. Sure, he was deeply flawed, but he was also honest, sadly wise, profoundly ethical, and fiercely loyal. He was a guy you really wish you knew.
RIP, John.
He was a solid force in West Wing and was happy to see he would continue with the show (assuming as everyone does that Santos wins).
The show won’t be the same without him - he brought a lot of class to the character and he will be missed.
As far as story - didn’t someone casually ask CJ when she would be running for office in the last episode? Wonder if they will have her fill in?
But truly sad to hear about Spencer’s death.
If ever I wished Aaron Sorkin were back writing West Wing, this is it. He handled the interaction between Leo and Josh/Toby/Sam perfectly…sons who were fiercely protective of their father, and would throw themselves on a grenade for him.
Such a damn shame. I might have to tune in to the next new episode of WW to see how they handle it, although I gave up on it in the middle of last season.
Damn. He brought such a working class gravitas to his every role.
This sucks.
You may want to listen to this interview of John Spencer on Fresh Air from October 6, 2000.
No offense, but he was a recovering alcoholic in real life, so how much was acting and how much was really him. I agree with those who would like to see Aaron Sorkin write the episode dealing with Leo’s death.
Does anyone know whether it was planned for this to be the final season? Or were they going to continue the show but with a new president and White House staff?
All signs point to planning on continuing the show with a new staff.
Dammit. I’m still pretty upset. A friend of mine - the only other person I know who follows WW - called me last night to tell me, and we both got kinda choked up. You’d have thought we were talking about a favourite uncle or something, not some guy neither of us had ever met. He just seemed like such a great guy, you know? And he was very much my favourite part of the show.
There was a scene in the second season, after Josh’s shooting when he’s dealing with the PTSD, and Leo tells him the story about the man falling into a hole and the friend jumps down there with him. If any other character on any other TV show had delivered the line, it would have felt forced and corny beyond belief. But the way Leo says it, I get pretty misty-eyed.
sniffle
sob
Damn. Just… damn.
And at the behest of the normally straight-arrow Grace Van Owen, no less!
I thought Spencer was one of the few bright lights in L.A. Law’s dwindling final years. He was brillliant there, and of course as Leo McGarry.
That was “Bartlett for America,” which was one of John Spencer’s finest moments on the West Wing. He says, “I don’t understand people who have one drink. I don’t understand people who leave half a glass of wine on the table. I don’t understand people who say they’ve had enough. How can you have enough of feeling like this? How can you not want to feel like this longer? My brain works differently.”
But I think the best thing about that scene is his wistful face when he talks about the little things of drinking:
“The way a glass feels in your hand - a good glass, thick, with a heavy base. I love the sound an ice cube makes when you drop it from just the right height. Too high and it’ll chip when you drop it. Chip the ice and it’ll melt too fast in the scotch.”
He manages to sound almost worshipful. That episode, and the episode where he talks to Josh about his demons, just made John Spencer for me.
I’m really bummed about this. Damn it!