Frederic Forrest

Frederic Fenimore Forrest Jr. (December 23, 1936 – June 23, 2023) was an American actor. A figure of the New Hollywood movement, Forrest was best known for his collaborations with director Francis Ford Coppola, playing featured roles in The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), One from the Heart (1982), and Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988). He was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a New York Film Critics Circle Award, and received a National Society of Film Critics for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Huston Dyer in the musical drama The Rose (1979), an honor shared with his performance as Jay "Chef" Hicks in Apocalypse Now.

Forrest came to public attention for his performance in When the Legends Die (1972), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. His other credits include the films The Missouri Breaks (1976), Hammett (1982), Valley Girl (1983), The Two Jakes (1990), Falling Down (1993), and All the King's Men (2006) as well as the television series 21 Jump Street, Lonesome Dove, and Die Kinder.

During the 1960s, Frederic Forrest appeared in TV shows like Dark Shadows and Gunsmoke.

In 1966, Forrest began acting on stage in an off-Broadway production of Viet Rock. His film debut was in When the Legends Die (1972).

Forrest was known for his roles as Chef in Apocalypse Now, the neo-Nazi surplus store owner in Falling Down, a borderline-psychotic family man in the fact-based Right to Kill?, and Dashiell Hammett in Hammett (1982) and Citizen Cohn (1992). He had a role as the bandit Blue Duck in the 1989 miniseries Lonesome Dove. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in The Rose.

Forrest also appeared in Valley Girl, The Two Jakes, The Stone Boy, The Missouri Breaks, The Deliberate Stranger (TV), Promise Him Anything (TV), and Dario Argento's first American film Trauma.

On television, he played Captain Richard Jenko on the first season 21 Jump Street in 1987. Forrest was replaced by actor Steven Williams. In 1990, he appeared as private investigator Lomax in the miniseries Die Kinder. He played Sgt. McSpadden in the U.S. Civil War-themed movie Andersonville and U.S. Army General Earle Wheeler in 2002's Path to War, the final film of director John Frankenheimer.

Forrest was born on December 23, 1936 in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Virginia Allee (née McSpadden) and Frederic Fenimore Forrest, a furniture store owner whose greenhouses provided plants for sale in retail stores. He served in the United States Army and later attended Texas Christian University, graduating in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts. In 1993, he was a recipient of TCU's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Forrest was married three times: to his college girlfriend Nancy Whitaker from 1960 to 1963, to actress Marilu Henner from 1980 to 1983, and to model Nina Dean in 1985. He did not have any children.

Forrest died at his home in Santa Monica, California on June 23, 2023 at age 86.