John Aylward obit

John Aylward Dies: ‘ER’ & ‘The West Wing’ Actor Was 75

 

 He was not on the list.

John Aylward, an actor best known for his portrayals of Dr. Donald Anspaugh on ER and former DNC chairman Barry Goodwin on The West Wing, died this week at his home in Seattle. He was 75.

Aylward’s death overnight Monday was confirmed by his wife Mary Fields to his longtime agent, Mitchell K. Stubbs. He had been in declining health, according to Fields.

“I was shocked. He was a wonderful actor and a phenomenal human being,” Stubbs told Deadline. “He was a dream client, a friend and a dream person.”

Born and raised in Seattle, Aylward appeared in dozens of television series over the course of his more than four-decade career, but he is perhaps best remembered for his role as Dr. Donald Anspaugh in ER. Aylward joined the NBC series in the third season in the heavily recurring role and appeared in more than 70 episodes over 12 years. ER co-producer Carol Flynt first offered him an audition after seeing him in a 1996 production of Psychopathia Sexualis at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, for which he won the 1996 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Performance.

Aylward’s Anspaugh was a surgeon and a leading hospital board member who served in several leading positions at County General. He was the one Dr. John Carter (Noah Wyle) went to when he wanted to switch his specialty from surgery to emergency medicine. At first taken aback, calling the move a potential break of Carter’s contract, Anspaugh eventually agrees, citing Carter’s will to help his patients and treat them as human beings.

Aylward also is known for his 2005-06 role as former DNC chairman Barry Goodwin on NBC’s The West Wing, adviser to Matt Santos’ presidential campaign, and head of President-elect Santos’ transition team.

Aylward was a series regular on the short-lived 2000 NBC drama The Others and appeared in guest or recurring roles in scores of other series, beginning with Northern Exposure in 1990. He followed with roles on 3rd Rock from the Sun, Ally McBeal, The X-Files, Everwood, The Practice, Judging Amy, Boston Legal, Alias, Without a Trace, Brothers & Sisters, and more recently Shameless and Yellowstone. He also appeared in TV movies The Escape (see photo above), With a Vengeance, Stamp of a Killer, among others. His final television appearance came in 2020 in a recurring role in Briarpatch.

On the film side, his credits include The Crazies, Water for Elephants, A Million Ways to Die in the West and most recently the 2020 film The Way Back.

He also was the voice of Dr. Arne Magnusson in the video game Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

 

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1988      Seven Hours to Judgment             Taxi Driver          

1989      Three Fugitives Second Cop        

1993      Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III                Niles     

1997      Buddy   Mr. Joe Bowman             

1998      Armageddon      Dr. Banks            

Finding Graceland            Sheriff Haynes  

1999      Can't Stop Dancing          Dick McGuire    

Instinct Warden Keefer

2000      Thirteen Days    Orvil Dryfoos     

2001      Just Visiting        Byron   

2002      Bad Company    Officer Ferren   

2003      Down with Love                E.G.       

2005      Monster-in-Law                Priest     Uncredited

North Country   Judge Halsted   

2006      The Celestine Prophecy Dobson               

2007      The Gray Man    Captain Ayers   

2009      Crimes of the Past            Clay Covington

2010      The Crazies         Mayor Hobbs    

Norman                Robert Bessent

2011      Water for Elephants        Mr. Erwin           

2013      Gangster Squad                Judge Carter      

2014      A Million Ways to Die in the West             Pastor Wilson   

2020      The Nowhere Inn             Uncle Pete         

The Way Back    Father Edward Devine   

 

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1989      Third Degree Burn           Lomas   Television film

1990      Child in the Night             Dr. Wendt           Television film

1990-1992          Northern Exposure          Charles 'Red' Murphy     4 episodes

1996; 2000          3rd Rock from the Sun   Registrar / Chancellor     2 episodes

1996-2008          ER           Dr. Donald Anspaugh      Recurring role, 74 episodes

1996      Ink          Advertiser #1     1 episode

1997      Grace Under Fire              Ralph     1 episode

1997-2002          The Practice       Various                 4 episodes

1998      From the Earth to the Moon        Dr. Ray Pemberton          Miniseries, 1 episode

1998      Creature              Ben Madiera      Miniseries, 2 episodes

1999      Swing Vote         Justice Benjamin 'Rip' Ripley        Television film

2000      The Others          Albert McGonagle            Main role, 9 episodes

2000      Secret Agent Man            Dr. Phil Etherington         1 episode

2000-2001          The Fugitive        Matthes Ross     Recurring role, 5 episodes

2000-2001          Family Law          Judge Lester Burger         Recurring role, 5 episodes

2001-2006          Alias       Jeffrey Davenport            3 episodes

2001      Diagnosis Murder             Captain Woodruff            1 episode

2002      Ally McBeal         Owen Cobb         1 episode

2002      Dharma & Greg                 Kevin Kincaid      1 episode

2002      The X-Files          Dr. John Rietz     1 episode

2002      Path to War        Dean Rusk           Television film

2002      Everwood            Walter Cunningham        1 episode

2002      The Agency         Senator Davies 1 episode

2003      Judging Amy       Father Jack Monroe        1 episode

2003      Good Morning, Miami    Mr. Fowler          1 episode

2004      Nip/Tuck              Father Malley    1 episode

2004      Jack & Bobby      Victor Sable        1 episode

2005      Carnivàle             Bishop MacNaughton     2 episodes

2005      Surface Government Panel Suit 1 episode

2005      Law & Order       Reverend Harlan Dwyer                 1 episode

2005-2006          The West Wing Barry Goodwin Recurring role, 6 episodes

2006      Boston Legal       Tom Orchard      1 episode

2006      Stargate SG-1     President Nadal                1 episode

2006      Cold Case             Norman Campbell            1 episode

2007      Without a Trace                Bernard Fields   1 episode

2007      Cavemen             Dorouchey          1 episode

2007      My Boys               Brent     1 episode

2007      Big Shots              Larry Cooper      1 episode

2008      The Mentalist    Professor Stutzer             1 episode

2009      CSI: Crime Scene Investigation    Dr. Paul Anton   1 episode

2010      Brothers & Sisters            Joe Rawling         3 episodes

2010      Mad Men            Geoffrey Atherton           2 episodes

2010      The Whole Truth              Judge Jeremiah Studley 2 episodes

2011      Harry's Law                         1 episode

2012      Fringe   Dr. Owen Frank                 1 episode

2012      Fairly Legal          Sam Childs          1 episode

2012      House of Lies     K. Warren Dale 3 episodes

2012      American Horror Story   Father Malachi 1 episode

2013      Major Crimes     Ted King Sr.         1 episode

2015-2016          Impastor              Bishop Perkins   2 episodes

2016      Scorpion              Uncle Tobin        1 episode

2016      Shameless           Bill          1 episode

2018      Nobodies             Curtis    Recurring role, 5 episodes

2018      Yellowstone       Father Bob          2 episodes

2019-2020          Briarpatch           Freddie Laffter Recurring role, 5 episodes

Video games

Year       Title       Role       Notes

2007      Half-Life 2: Episode Two                Dr. Arne Magnusson       Voice only