Robert Forster

PartnerDenise Grayson (2004–2019)Children4

Robert Wallace Foster Jr.^[1][2] (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in Medium Cool (1969), Captain Dan Holland in The Black Hole (1979), Abdul Rafai in The Delta Force (1986), and Max Cherry in Jackie Brown (1997), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Forster's varied filmography includes: Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), Alligator (1980), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Mulholland Drive (2001), The Descendants (2011), Olympus Has Fallen (2013), London Has Fallen (2016), What They Had (2018), and The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020).

He also had prominent roles in television series such as Banyon (1971–1973), Heroes (2007–2008), Twin Peaks (2017) and the Breaking Bad episode "Granite State" as Ed Galbraith, for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television. He reprised the role in the film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019) and Better Call Saul.

Early life

Forster was born and raised in Rochester, New York.^[3] His mother was Italian American, while his father was of English and Irish descent.^[4] The couple divorced in 1949.^{[citation needed]}

Forster added an "R" to his surname as there was another member of the Screen Actors Guild named Robert Foster.^[2]

Career

After acclaimed supporting performances^{[citation needed]} in two major Hollywood films, one as Private Williams in John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), another as part-Indian Army scout Nick Tana in Robert Mulligan's The Stalking Moon (1968), Forster starred in the critically acclaimed film Medium Cool (1969). After starring roles in Cover Me Babe (1970) and the television series Banyon (1972) and Nakia (1974), he played mostly supporting roles in action and horror films including Disney's The Black Hole (1979). Forster had lead roles in cult B-movies in the 1980s like Alligator (1980), Vigilante (1983), The Delta Force (1986), and The Banker (1989).

Forster appeared in Jackie Brown as the character Max Cherry, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1997. Jackie Brown revitalized Forster's career, an effect that occurred for many actors appearing in Quentin Tarantino films.^[5] He subsequently had consistent work in the film industry, appearing in Like Mike, Mulholland Drive, Me, Myself & Irene, Lucky Number Slevin, and Firewall. He appeared in the made-for-television movie The Hunt for the BTK Killer, as the detective intent on capturing serial killer Dennis Rader. Forster also played the father of Van on the short-lived Fox series Fastlane.

Forster recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's Hip-Hop Literacy campaign, encouraging reading of books by Elmore Leonard, whose book Rum Punch was adapted as Jackie Brown.

He appeared in the hit NBC series Heroes as Arthur Petrelli, the father of Nathan and Peter Petrelli, as well as the Emmy Award-winning AMC crime drama Breaking Bad as Walter White's new identity specialist Ed Galbraith (a role he reprised in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and Better Call Saul). He played Bud Baxter, father to Tim Allen's Mike Baxter, on the ABC (later Fox) hit comedy Last Man Standing. Forster was also a motivational speaker.^[6]

He was the first choice to play Sheriff Harry S. Truman in David Lynch's Twin Peaks, but had to turn it down due to a prior commitment to a different television pilot, and was replaced by Michael Ontkean. He appeared in Lynch's Mulholland Drive, a pilot for a TV series that was not picked up but was later turned into a critically acclaimed movie, and finally appeared in Twin Peaks, playing the brother of Sheriff Harry S. Truman, Sheriff Frank Truman, in Twin Peaks: The Return, when Ontkean was not available to reprise his role.^[7]

About this, Forster said: "David Lynch, what a good guy he is. He wanted to hire me for the original, 25 years ago, for a part, and I was committed to another guy for a pilot that never went. So I didn't do the original Twin Peaks, which would have been a life-changer. It's a gigantic hit if you remember those years, a phenomenon. But I didn't do that. [...] And this time, I got a call from my agents and they said, David Lynch is going to call you. When he called me five minutes later, he said, "I'd like you to come and work with me again." And I said, 'Whatever it is David, here I come!'"^[8]

After Forster's death, he appeared posthumously in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, reprising the character of Ed the "Disappearer" from the Breaking Bad series. He died on the day the movie was released.^[5] Four months later, Forster again appeared posthumously as Ed in episode "Magic Man" of the fifth season of Better Call Saul. The episode ended with a dedication to "our friend Robert Forster." He also appeared in an episode "Dynoman and The Volt" of the rebooted Amazing Stories television series before his death; the episode was dedicated to Forster.^[9]

Personal life

Forster was married to June Forster (née Provenzano) from 1966 to 1975. The couple had met at their alma mater, the University of Rochester.^[10] The marriage produced three daughters, Elizabeth, Kathrine "Kate", and Maeghen. Robert was married to Zivia Forster from 1978 to 1980. He also had a son, Robert III, from a previous relationship. From 2004 to the time of his death, his longtime partner was Denise Grayson.^[2] He was a member of the high-IQ Triple Nine Society.^[11]

Death

In June 2019, Forster was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and he died from the disease at his home in Los Angeles on October 11, 2019, at the age of 78.^[2][12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Reflections in a Golden Eye	Private L.G. Williams
1968	The Stalking Moon	Nick Tana
1969	Justine	Narouz
	Medium Cool	John Cassellis
1970	Pieces of Dreams	Gregory Lind
	Cover Me Babe	Tony Hall
1972	Journey Through Rosebud	Frank
1973	The Don Is Dead	Frank Regalbuto
1977	Stunts	Glen Wilson
1978	Avalanche	Nick Thorne
1979	The Lady in Red	'Turk'	Uncredited
	The Black Hole	Captain Dan Holland
1980	Alligator	Detective David Madison
1981	Heartbreak High	Coach Alan Arnoldi
1983	Vigilante	Eddie Marino
1985	Walking the Edge	Jason Walk
1986	The Delta Force	Abdul Rafai
	Hollywood Harry	Harry Petry	Also producer and director
1988	Counterforce	The Dictator
1989	Satan's Princess	Lou Cherney
	The Banker	Dan Jefferson
	Esmeralda Bay	Madero
1990	Peacemaker	Yates
1991	Committed	Dr. Desmond Moore
	Checkered Flag	Jack Cotton
	Diplomatic Immunity	Stonebridge
	29th Street	Sergeant Tartaglia
	In Between	Vinnie
1993	Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence	Dr. Powell	Direct-to-video
	South Beach	Detective Ted Coleman
	American Yakuza	Littman
	Cover Story	Therapist
1994	Point of Seduction: Body Chemistry III	Bob Sibley	Direct-to-video
1995	Scanners: The Showdown	Captain Jack Bitters	Direct-to-video
	Guns and Lipstick	Captain Dimaggio
1996	The Method	Christian's Father
	Original Gangstas	Detective Slatten
	Uncle Sam	Congressman Alvin Cummings	Direct-to-video
	Hindsight	Michael Donahue
1997	American Perfekt	Jake Nyman
	Demolition University	Gentry	Direct-to-video
	Jackie Brown	Max Cherry	Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Night Vision	Teak Taylor
1998	Psycho	Dr. Fred Simon
	Outside Ozona	Odell Parks
1999	It's the Rage	Tyler
	Family Tree	Henry Musser
	Kiss Toledo Goodbye	Sal Fortuna
2000	Supernova	A.J. Marley
	The Magic of Marciano	Henry
	Lakeboat	Joe Litko
	Cowboys and Angels	Barbequeman At Wedding	Uncredited
	Me, Myself & Irene	Colonel Partington
	Diamond Men	Eddie Miller	Also executive producer
	It's a Shame About Ray	Wally	Short film
2001	Mulholland Drive	Detective Harry McKnight
	Human Nature	Nathan's Father
	Finder's Fee	Officer Campbell
2002	Lone Hero	Gus
	Strange Hearts	Jack Waters
	Like Mike	Coach Wagner
2003	Confidence	Morgan Price
	Where's Angelo?	Bob	Short film
	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Roger Wixon
	Grand Theft Parsons	Stanley Parsons
2006	Firewall	Harry Romano
	Lucky Number Slevin	Murphy
	Wild Seven	Wilson
2007	Rise: Blood Hunter	Lloyd
	D-War	Jack Wilson
	Cleaner	Arlo Grange
	Grampa's Cabin	Grampa	Short film
2008	Expecting Love	George Patten
	Jack and Jill vs. the World	Norman / Narrator	Uncredited
	Touching Home	Jim 'Perk' Perkins
2009	Thick as Thieves	Lieutenant Sam Weber
	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	Sergeant Mervis Volkom
	Middle Men	Louie 'La-La'
2010	The Bannen Way	Mr. B
	Red Princess Blues	The Storyteller	Short film
	The Trial	Ray
	Kalamity	Tom Klepack
2011	Girl Walks into a Bar	Dodge
	The Descendants	Scott Thorson
2012	Hotel Noir	Jim Logan
2013	Olympus Has Fallen	General Edward Clegg
	Coffee, Kill Boss	Walt Ford
	Somewhere Slow	Chris McConville
2014	Autómata	Robert Bold
2015	The Biffle Murder Case	James Burke	Short film
	The Bridge Partner	Don Whalen	Short film
	Run Fast	Peter Cirone	Short film
	Survivor	Bill Talbot
	Too Late	Gordy Lyons
	The Program	Michael	Short film
	The Adventures of Biffle and Shooster	James Burke / Lieutenant Frank Murphy
	Home	Man	Short film
2016	London Has Fallen	General Edward Clegg
	The Confirmation	Otto
	The American Side	Sterling Whitmore
	Bus Driver	General Sorbin
2017	Small Town Crime	Steve Yendel
	Small Crimes	Joe Denton Sr.
	The Case for Christ	Walter Strobel
	Acts of Vengeance	Chuck
2018	What They Had	Norbert Everhardt
	Damsel	Old Preacher
	The Big Take	Detective Aborn
	Bigger	Joe (2008)
	Nasty	Bob	Short film
2019	Phil	Bing Fisk
	El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie	Ed Galbraith	Posthumous release
	QT8: The First Eight	Himself	Documentary Posthumous release[13]
2020	The Wolf of Snow Hollow	Sheriff Hadley	Posthumous release
2021	Grave Intentions	Don Whalen	Segment: "The Bridge Partner" Posthumous release Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	Wagon Train	Mr. Hedson	Episode: "The Julie Gage Story" (S1E14)
1967	N.Y.P.D.	Tony	Episode: "To Catch a Hero"
1968	Judd, for the Defense	Ray Elliott	Episode: "In a Puff of Smoke"
	Premiere	Doug Payson	Episode: "Higher and Higher, Attorneys at Law"
1971–1973	Banyon	Miles Banyon	16 episodes
1974	Nakia	Deputy Nakia Parker	14 episodes
	The Death Squad	Eric Benoit	Television film
1975	Medical Story	David Corbin	Episode: "The Moonlight Heater"
1975–1977	Police Story	Various roles	5 episodes
1977	The City	Lieutenant Matt Lewis	Pilot
1978	Standing Tall	Luke Shasta	Television film
1979	The Darker Side of Terror	Paul Corwin	Television film
1981	Goliath Awaits	Commander Jeff Selkirk	Television film
1985	Magnum, P.I.	Tyler Peabody McKinney	2 episodes
1986	Tales from the Darkside	Gary Gooley	Episode: "The Milkman Cometh"
	Murder, She Wrote	Gilbert Gaston	Episode: "The Perfect Foil"
1987	Hotel	Steve Cameron	Episode: "Unfinished Business"
	Once a Hero	Gumshoe	7 episodes
1987–1988	William Tell	Aymong	3 episodes
1989	Mick and Franki	Feinstein	Pilot
1991	Jake and the Fatman	Ed Delaney	2 episodes
	P.S. I Luv U	Dan	Episode: "There Goes the Neighbourhood"
1992	In the Shadow of a Killer	Charles Galbis	Television film
1993	Silk Stalkings	Vince Riker	Episode: "Tough Love"
	Sex, Love and Cold Hard Cash	Sid	Television film
1995	Walker, Texas Ranger	Ricky Rickettes	Episode: "The Big Bingo Bamboozle"
	Murder, She Wrote	Frank Roussel	Episode: "Big Easy Murder"
	One West Waikiki	Gerard Foster	Episode: "Flowers of Evil"
1997	Walker, Texas Ranger	Lane Tillman	Episode: "Texas vs. Cahill"
1998	Rear Window	Detective Charlie Moore	Television film
1999	Todd McFarlane's Spawn	Major Forsberg	Voice, 3 episodes
2000	Godzilla: The Series	Jack Chapman, Police Officer	Voice, episode: "Wedding Bells Blew"
2001	Like Mother Like Son	Ken 'Pappa' Kimes	Television film
2002	Murder in Greenwich	Steve Carroll	Television film
	Due East	Jesse Rapple	Television film
2002–2003	Fastlane	Raymond Ray	2 episodes
2003	Undefeated	Scott Green	Television film
	Street Time	Tony DeAngelo	Episode: "Cop Killer"
2003–2004	Karen Sisco	Marshall Sisco	10 episodes
2004	The Grid	Jay Aldrich	6 episodes
	Clubhouse	Burt Austin	Episode: "Spectator Interference"
2004–2005	Huff	Ben Huffstodt	3 episodes
2005	Tilt	Jimmy "Gentleman Jim" Towne	2 episodes
	Justice League Unlimited	The President	Voice, 2 episodes
	Bounty Hunters	Jerry	Pilot
	The Hunt for the BTK Killer	Detective Jason Magida	Television film
2006	Numb3rs	Agent Thomas Lawson	Episode: "Protest"
	13 Graves	Tom Ferris	Pilot
2007	Army Wives	General Grayson	Episode: "Truth and Consequences"
	Desperate Housewives	Nick Delfino	Episode: "Now I Know, Don't Be Scared"
2007–2008	Heroes	Arthur Petrelli	10 episodes
2008	The Simpsons	Lucky Jim	Voice, episode: "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes"
2011	CSI: NY	Joe Vincent	Episode: "Indelible"
2012	Alcatraz	Ray Archer	4 episodes
	Transformers: Prime	General Bryce	Voice, episode: "Grill"
	The Eric Andre Show	Himself	Episode: "J-Moe"
2012–2018	Last Man Standing	Bud Baxter	10 episodes
2013	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Booth Whitman	Episode: "Unfrozen Agent Man"
	Breaking Bad	Ed Galbraith	Episode: "Granite State"
	Ironside	Virgil's Father	Episode: "Hidden Agenda"
2014	Intruders	Frank Shepherd	2 episodes
2014–2015	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Jack J. Kurtzman	Voice, 4 episodes
2015	Childrens Hospital	Donald	Episode: "The 27 Club"
	Backstrom	Sheriff Blue Backstrom	2 episodes
2016	Divorce	Donald	2 episodes
2017	Twin Peaks	Sheriff Frank Truman	10 episodes
	I'm Dying Up Here	Guy Apuzzo	Episode: "Pilot"
2020	Better Call Saul	Ed Galbraith	Posthumous release Episode: "Magic Man"
	Amazing Stories	Grandpa Joe Harris	Posthumous release Episode: "Dynoman and The Volt"[9]

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Venue
1965	Mrs. Dally Had a Lover	Performer	John Golden Theater, Broadway
1973	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stanley Kowalski	Vivian Beaumont Theater, Broadway
2017	Chasing Mem'ries	Franklin	Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1998	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Jackie Brown	Nominated
1998	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award	Best Supporting Actor		Won
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2000	Hamptons International Film Festival	Special Recognition	Diamond Men	Won
2002	Chlotrudis Award	Best Actor		Nominated
2008	Saturn Awards	Guest Actor – Television	Heroes	Nominated
2011	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	The Descendants	Nominated
2011	Gotham Awards	Best Ensemble Cast		Nominated
	Georgia Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
	Southeastern Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Nominated
2014	Saturn Awards	Guest Actor – Television	Breaking Bad	Won
2016	Winter Film Awards	Best Actor	The Bridge Partner	Nominated
2018	Newport Beach Film Festival	Icon Award	Body of Work	Awarded	[14]
2019	AARP Movie Awards	Best Supporting Actor	What They Had	Nominated

References

Further reading

• Voisin, Scott, Character Kings: Hollywood's Familiar Faces Discuss the Art & Business of Acting. BearManor Media, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59393-342-5.

External links

• Official website
• Robert Forster at IMDb
• Robert Forster at the TCM Movie Database
• Robert Forster at the Internet Broadway Database
• DVD Talk Interview
• House Petrelli Interview 12/08, Part 1