Lucy Mangan: Will The West Wing go south without Leo? (original) (raw)

Chief of staff Leo McGarry, the rock on which The West Wing's Jed Bartlet built his presidency, survived his heart attack. Off screen, alas, the actor John Spencer has not; he died at the weekend. Today would have been his 59th birthday.

Many problems attend the sudden death of an actor integral to a television series (in addition to the obvious difficulties faced by his colleagues, who have to carry on working throughout their own bereavement). Perhaps fortunately, The West Wing, which is in production on its seventh season and is thought to have got two or three episodes in the can before Spencer died, is an ensemble show. So it is unlikely to founder in the same way or as quickly as, for example, the sitcom 8 Simple Rules did after the unexpected death two years ago of its star John Ritter, or suffer as rapid and ignominious a cancellation as The Royle Family did a few episodes after its raison d'etre, Redd Foxx, was felled by a fatal heart attack.

But Leo McGarry was central to one of the show's main storylines, running as vice-president on the Democratic ticket with congressman Matt Santos. The campaign against Republican nominee Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) begins in season six, currently showing on More 4, and was due to be the central plank of the seventh, now being filmed. The writers and producers may be able to buy some time with technical wizardry - a digital Oliver Reed appeared frequently in Gladiator after he died halfway through filming; previously discarded footage kept the celluloid James Dean alive until they had finished cutting Giant; and in an even closer parallel, Nancy Marchand was given a posthumous final scene as Tony's fearsome mother in The Sopranos thanks to computer imagery, spare shots and a body double.

But sooner rather than later, the West Wing team are going to have to come up with a narratively satisfying end for McGarry that also constitutes a fitting farewell for Spencer. The most obvious option would be to use the established history of ill-health for the character to write in another heart attack, but this might hit too close to home for cast and viewers alike. Then again, Leo McGarry was ever the voice of reason when it looked like his president was about to make a sentimental choice instead of serving the greater good, so maybe his voice will guide those who this time have to find a real-life way between the two.