(b London, 1734; d there, 14 March 1805). English bassoonist and conductor. He was assistant at the 1784 Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey; his four sons took part. In 1788-93 he promoted c13 short ‘Grand Musical Festivals’ in provincial towns with sections of the orchestra led by his sons - Charles (1770-1818), a violinist, Charles Jane (1773-1843), a cellist, and Richard G. (1775-1836), a viola player, while John James (1772-1815) often played the organ. From 1795 he directed the Lenten Oratorios at Covent Garden, giving the English premières of Haydn's Creation (1800) and Mozart's Requiem (1801).
Career Highlights: Hud, Beach Blanket Bingo, Muscle Beach Party
First Major Screen Credit: High School Caesar (1956)
Biography
John Ashley should be a familiar name and face to anyone who attended a drive-in double feature in the 1950s. Ashley starred or co-starred in such passion-pit fodder as Hot Rod Gang (1958), How to Make a Monster (1958), Frankenstein's Daughter (1959) and High School Caesar (1960). In 1961, Ashley co-starred with future Flipper leading man Brian Kelly in the short-lived TV action series Straightaway. Ashley switched his base of operations to the Philippines in the 1960s and 1970s, frequently wearing several hats as actor, producer, director and scriptwriter. Films like Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969) may not have been cited at the annual Oscar ceremonies, but they paid the bills many times over for the peripatetic Ashley. In the 1980s, Ashley hooked up with television producer Stephen J. Cannell to work on such series as The A-Team. He later teamed with Frank Lupo to executive or co-executive produce such series as Walker, Texas Ranger (1983), Werewolf (1987) and Something is Out There (1988). In the mid-'90s, Ashley began working as an in-house producer for Tri-Star Television. On October 4, 1997, John Ashley was working on the film Scarred City in New York, when he suffered a fatal heart attack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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