John Ashley (December 25, 1934 - October 3, 1997) was an actor who appeared in many films, most notably the American International Pictures' "Beach Party" films. He was married to beach actress Deborah Walley from 1964-1966. He died from a heart attack at age 62. Ashley's voice can be heard as the narrator during the opening title sequence of The A-Team during the show's first four seasons. He also served as one of the show's producers.
The Reverend Doctor John Ashley was an Anglican priest.
In 1835 he was on the shore at Clevedon with his son who asked him how the people on Flat Holm could go to church. For the next three months Ashley voluntarily ministered to the population of the island. From there he recognised the needs of the seafarers on the four hundred sailing vessels in the Bristol Channel and created the Bristol Channel Mission. He raised funds and in 1839 a specially designed mission cutter was built with a main cabin which could be converted into a chapel for 100 people.
This became The Missions to Seamen and in 2000 changed its name to the Mission to Seafarers.
Oklahoma-bred John Ashley 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 (I) movie Conqueror, The (1956), and Wayne in turn steered him toward a job in television in the William Castle series "Men of Annapolis" (1957). 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). AIP house writer Lou Rusoff saw Ashley waiting in the hall and decided the young man was the type AIP was looking for to play the Dragstrip Girl (1957) 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 "A-Team, The" (1983) and "Werewolf" (1987).
