Talk:John Spencer (actor)

Birth Place?
Was he born in New York City or Patterson? There's two different places listed (one in text, other in sidebar). Born in NYC, raised in Totowa, NJ.

Great actor
What a loss. He was a great actor. __earth 14:41, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

John Spencer was more than a great actor, he was a great guy, he will be missed. (JJGlendenning 15:04, 17 December 2005 (UTC))

I cannot agree more. He was an absolutely great actor and one of the prime reasons why I liked West Wing so much during its first seasons when Sorkin was still writing it! --Vikingstad 00:57, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

I envy John for having been able to leave this "World" so soon. But I guess the effects that this will bring to "The West Wing" would be incalculable. &mdash;Orz 06:22, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

I think he took method acting a bit too seriously. -R. fiend 06:12, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
 * If that's supposed to be a joke, it's in poor taste. 84.65.173.235 11:02, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

What a loss for the TV show !

Just curious if anyone knows if he was a smoker... he surely had a smoker's raspy voice. If so, maybe that had something to do with his dropping dead so young.

He was badly cast in the West Wing. He was not able to stretch beyond his blue collar roots; he always looked out of place in a suit. He did a great job in Hill Street Blues however. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.196.154.157 (talk) 01:25, 29 September 2016 (UTC)

Category:Gay actors
User:Hyacinth added Category:Gay actors to the main page without an explanatory edit summary. I looked through all of the references on the page and couldn't find any source to back this up. I have removed it until a source can be cited. --bbatsell | « give me a ring »  13:21, 24 December 2005 (UTC)


 * My source is the TV news program Gay USA Episode #143 . I do not know how to cite TV. Hyacinth 09:10, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Wtf? Since when is Spencer gay? Didn't he have a long-time girlfriend or something?
 * Please Sign your posts on talk pages. Thanks. Hyacinth 10:21, 12 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The reason people think Spencer is gay is that he was among other things a campaigner for Aids awareness. He was also a close friend of Stockard Channing, whose activism for gay rights is very well known. As if you have to be gay to believe and fight for such things! Because he kept his personal life very private, we will never know who his long-time companion was until she (or he) decides to speak up. The only references I could find were a gossip blog that said "it was common knowledge on the set that Spencer was gay", but nothing to back it up, just some commenter's word for it; and several references to a female partner, actress and choreographer Patricia Mariano. Spencer should not be designated as a gay actor until there is unquestionable proof. --Bluejay Young 14:39, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

He was certainly gay.

In one of the behind the scenes features on the DVD's Martin Sheen jokes about how he was the father to the cast, and Spencer was the mother. Whether or not that meant anything?

New: Tonight, Monday, April 23, 2018, I attended a taping of The West Wing Weekly Podcast at The Town Hall theatre in New York City. Aaron Sorkin was one of the guests. He told a story on stage about John Spencer. To summarize: Because he was always cast as a tough guy type of character, Spencer felt that he had to keep his sexuality completely under wraps. He has also said that the relationship between Leo McGarry and President Bartlett was the main love story on the show. This is paraphrased. The episode will air in May or June for proper confirmation and citing. BuonaLucciola —Preceding undated comment added 03:19, 24 April 2018 (UTC)

Spoiler
For those of us who have just bought season 1, there should be a very serious spoiler alert that in a section which is not even about the West Wing, you reveal a very serious plot point. Not cool, Wikipedia, not cool. 82.69.28.55 (talk) 16:13, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Rusyn descent?
why was this changed from Ukrainian and where is any proof? He was of Ukrainian/Irish descent: http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/2006/010613.shtml http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/nydn-features/wing-star-stages-break-politics-article-1.905499 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79660661.html

Mykyta (talk) 04:55, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

Gay
Why is there no mention of his homosexuality? (217.42.27.188 (talk) 13:59, 22 September 2016 (UTC))
 * Because such information would need a reliable source, and we don;t have one. -mattbuck (Talk) 11:15, 23 September 2016 (UTC)