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John Spencer 1946-2005

Sad news from Hollywood…

John Spencer, who played White House Chief of Staff and grizzled Vietnam veteran Leo McGarry on NBC’s The West Wing, died from a heart attack today. He was four days away from his 59th birthday.

I’m gonna miss him on The West Wing. Leo was a remarkably human character, tremendously flawed but with his heart in the right place. Ironically, Leo had a near-fatal heart attack a season or two ago on the show.

I’ll be curious to see how The West Wing handles his loss. The Matt Santos/Leo McGarry ticket seemed to be picking up some steam in recent episodes. I wonder if this will have any effect on the fate of Alan Alda’s character, Republican presidential candidate Arnold Vinick.