John Spencer

John Spencer (December 20, 1946 – December 16, 2005) was an American television actor best known for his role as Leo McGarry, the White House Chief of Staff on the NBC political drama The West Wing. Spencer was born as John Speshock in New York City, and grew up in nearby Totowa, New Jersey. He was the son of blue-collar parents Mildred (née Bincarowski), a Ukrainian-American waitress, and John Speshock, a Ukrainian-American truck driver. With hi... more

John Spencer (December 20, 1946 – December 16, 2005) was an American television actor best known for his role as Leo McGarry, the White House Chief of Staff on the NBC political drama The West Wing. Spencer was born as John Speshock in New York City, and grew up in nearby Totowa, New Jersey. He was the son of blue-collar parents Mildred (née Bincarowski), a Ukrainian-American waitress, and John Speshock, a Ukrainian-American truck driver. With his enrollment at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan at age sixteen, he found himself sharing classes with such fellow students as Liza Minnelli and violinist Pinchas Zukerman. Later he attended Fairleigh Dickinson University but did not complete a degree. Spencer began his television career on The Patty Duke Show. He played Harrison Ford's detective sidekick in the 1990 courtroom thriller Presumed Innocent. From 1990 to 1994, he was a regular cast member on L.A. Law, playing the rumpled, pugnacious associate attorney Tommy Mullaney... less