An American actor who, after a long apprenticeship in schlock cinema, effectively switched to a second career in primetime TV series production, Ashley began his acting career in the late 1950s when he essayed roles in such less-than-memorable films (mostly for American International Pictures) as "Hot Rod Gang" (1958), "Suicide Battalion", "Frankenstein's Daughter" and "How to Make a Monster" (all 1958). Continuing with AIP into the 60s he played second leads in several of the studio's "beach party" movies, including "Muscle Beach Party", "Bikini Beach" (both 1964) and "Beach Blanket Bingo"
