Wow… shocking news for WEST WING fans like myself. John Spencer, the actor who played Leo McGarry on the series for the last 7 seasons, died from a heart attack on Friday. It would have been his 59th birthday on Dec 20. As WW fans will know, his character suffered a major heart attack and was forced to retire as White House Chief of Staff, but came back as the VP candidate for Presidential nominee Matt Santos.

I really enjoyed Spencer’s work on WW. Like Leo, he was also a recovering alcoholic and breathed a lot of life into the character written so well (especially in the first few seasons) by Aaron Sorkin. Leo was the boss you always wanted - smart, experienced, committed, who looked out for his team and helped them achieve at their highest level. He was also the guy who stood behind the President, the guy who convinced Barlet to run for the Presidency in the first place, and then taught him how to do the job. Whilst the character was well written, it was Spencer’s performance as much as anything which brought Leo to life.

RIP John Spencer.

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