John Ashley

Oklahoma-bred 'John Ashley' (qv) got his start in the movie business while on a vacation in California. A friend from Oklahoma State University got him onto the set of the 'John Wayne' (qv) movie _The Conqueror (1956)_ (qv), and Wayne in turn steered him toward a job in television in the 'William Castle' (qv) series _Men of Annapolis (1957)_ (qv). One day, Ashley was at the offices of American International Pictures to pick up his girlfriend, who was auditioning for a part in the company's _Dragstrip Girl (1957)_ (qv). AIP house writer 'Lou Rusoff' (qv) saw Ashley waiting in the hall and decided the young man was the type AIP was looking for to play the _Dragstrip Girl (1957)_ (qv) male lead. Ashley acted in a long line of "kids-in-trouble" melodramas, monster movies and in the Beach Party series before carving a lucrative niche for himself as producer-star of a series of Filipino exploitation pictures. He was also producer of several TV series, including _The A-Team (1983)_ (qv) and _Werewolf (1987)_ (qv).::'Tom Weaver' (qv) <TomWeavr@aol.com>