John Spencer, the man who brought The West Wing’s Leo McGarry to life, died of a heart attack yesterday, aged 58. He would have been 59 on Tuesday.

For me, Spencer was Leo, the loyal Chief of Staff and Democratic VP nomination. The Associated Press notes that, in a sad parallel to life, McGarry also suffered a heart attack that forced him to give up his White House job as chief of staff. Like McGarry, Spencer was also a recovering alcoholic and – as he himself admitted – workaholic.

To Richard Schiff, who played Toby Ziegler, he was “one of those rare combinations of divinely gifted and incredibly generous. There are very few personal treasures that you put in your knapsack to carry with you for the rest of your life, and he’s one of those.”

Aaron Sorkin, who created the series, and Tommy Schlammem, one of the original executive producers, commented in a joint statement: “John was an uncommonly good man, an exceptional role model and a brilliant actor. We feel privileged to have known him and worked with him. He’ll be missed and remembered every day by his many, many friends.”

Actress Allison Janney, C.J. Cregg on the series, described Spencer as a consummate professional actor. “Everyone adored him,” she said.

“We have all lost a dear, dear brother,” said Bradley Whitford, who plays Josh Lyman.

MSNBC have a fairly lengthy tribute to their colleague, though it seems somewhat tasteless that they have already begun to speculate as to how this will affect The West Wing as a TV series. I’m certain that more full obituaries of Spencer’s life will be written by the British media as the news filters through tomorrow, as Spencer was such a well-loved, Emmy-award winning actor.

For such a talented actor and all-round good person to died at such a relatively young age is tragic, and my thoughts are with his friends, family, and colleagues. He will be very sadly missed.

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