After graduating from Bolles High School in Jacksonville, Florida, Ashby took a degree in psychology and business administration at Fort Lewis College in Durango in the state of Colorado, and then moved to New York where he took drama classes in the Neighborhood Playhouse. Early in his career he took part in the soap opera Loving, and an episode of MacGyver, also got a small role in the 1990 movie Mr. & Mrs. Bridge with Paul Newman and again in 1990 he starred in the independent film The queen of hell alongside Karen Black.
1925年生于美国俄亥俄州克里夫兰市。50年代后期来到纽约发展,在格林威治村俱乐部表演;1966年在外百老汇演出单人舞台剧《今晚马克吐温》,一举成名,获得该年最佳男演员表演托尼奖,次年又凭借同名电视剧获得艾美奖提名,70年代出演《胆大的人》(The Bold Ones: The Senator)、《普韦布洛》(Pueblo)和《林肯》等剧共获得四次艾美奖。