SF
Steve Forrest
Actor
Died May 18, 2013 (88 years)
A ruggedly handsome action man of the 1960's and 70's, Steve Forrest began his screen career as a small part contract player with MGM. A brother of star Dana Andrews, he was born William Forrest Andrews, the youngest of thirteen children. His father was a Baptist minister in Huntsville, Texas. In 1942, Steve enlisted in the U.S. Army, rose to the rank of sergeant and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge. Following his demobilisation, he visited his brother in Hollywood and came to the conclusion that acting wasn't a bad way to make a living (having already done some work as a movie extra). He went on to study in college at UCLA, eventually graduating in 1950 with a B.A. Honours Degree in theatre arts. He then served a brief apprenticeship as a carpenter, prop boy and set builder at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse, where he was discovered by resident actor Gregory Peck and given a small part as a bellboy in the cast of the summer stock production of "Goddbye Again". A subsequent screen test led to a contract with MGM and resulting employment as second leads, brothers of the titular star, toughs and outlaws. His first proper recognition was being awarded 'New Star of the Year' by Golden Globe for his role in So Big (1953), a drama based on a Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Edna Ferber.
From the mid-1950's, the rangy, 6-foot-3 actor became much in-demand on TV, beginning with classic early anthology and western series, interspersed with occasional appearances on the big screen (notably, in The Longest Day (1962) and as Joan Crawford's lover/attorney Greg Savitt in Mommie Dearest (1981)). In addition to numerous guest roles, he was regularly featured in series like Gunsmoke (1955), Dallas (1978) (as Wes Parmalee, who believes himself to be lost Ewing patriarch Jock) and Murder, She Wrote (1984). Already from the mid-60's, he decided to pick his assignments more carefully. In order to shed his image as the perpetual bad guy, he had relocated his family to England to star as antique-dealer-cum-undercover intelligence agent John Mannering in BBC's The Baron (1966). He followed this by another starring role as the stoic, tough Lieutenant Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson in the short-lived ABC police drama series S.W.A.T. (1975), possibly his best-remembered role. Steve later lampooned his screen personae in the satirical Amazon Women on the Moon (1987).
In private life, Steve Forrest was known as a skilled golfer, lover of football and (according to 1970's newspaper articles) as a dedicated amateur beekeeper.
Filmography
| 2011 | Placebo: We Come In Pieces · as Drums |
| 2011 | Placebo : Coming Up For Air · as Unknown |
| 2008 | Miracle at St. Anna · as Capt. Harding in The Longest Day (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 2003 | S.W.A.T. · as SWAT Truck Driver |
| 1997 | Team Knight Rider (TV Series) · as Shadow |
| 1996 | Promised Land (TV Series) · as Patrick Shea |
| 1995 | Killer: A Journal of Murder · as Warden Charles Casey |
| 1992 | Storyville · as Judge Quentin Murdoch |
| 1987 | Amazon Women on the Moon · as Capt. Nelson |
| 1987 | Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge · as Will Mannon |
| 1986 | L.A. Law (TV Series) · as Leonard Bey |
| 1985 | Hollywood Wives (TV Series) · as Ross Conti |
| 1985 | Spies Like Us · as General Sline |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) · as Rev. Willie John Fargo |
| 1983 | Sahara · as Gordon |
| 1983 | Hotel (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1981 | Mommie Dearest · as Greg Savitt |
| 1981 | The Manions of America (TV Series) · as James Kent |
| 1980 | A Rumor of War (TV Series) · as Col. Atherton |
| 1979 | North Dallas Forty · as Conrad Hunter |
| 1979 | Captain America · as Lou Brackett |
| 1978 | Maneaters Are Loose! · as David Birk |
| 1978 | Dallas (TV Series) · as Wes Parmalee |
| 1977 | Last of the Mohicans · as Hawkeye |
| 1977 | Fantasy Island (TV Series) · as Jordan Montgomery |
| 1977 | Last of the Mohicans (TV Series) · as Hawkeye |
| 1976 | Wanted: The Sundance Woman · as Charlie Siringo |
| 1975 | S.W.A.T. (TV Series) · as Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson |
| 1974 | The Hanged Man · as James Devlin |
| 1974 | Kodiak (TV Series) · as actor |
| 1974 | The Six Million Dollar Man (TV Series) · as Quail |
| 1973 | The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1972 | The Magic of Walt Disney World · as Narrator |
| 1972 | The Rookies (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1972 | Ghost Story (TV Series) · as Andrew Alcott |
| 1972 | The Streets of San Francisco (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1971 | The Late Liz · as Jim Hatch |
| 1971 | McMillan and Wife (TV Series) · as Mark Erickson |
| 1971 | Nichols (TV Series) · as Sam Yeager |
| 1971 | Columbo (TV Series) · as Big Fred |
| 1971 | Cannon (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1971 | Alias Smith and Jones (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1970 | The Wild Country · as Jim Tanner |
| 1969 | Rascal · as Willard North |
| 1969 | Night Gallery (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1969 | Love, American Style (TV Series) · as Don Finletter (segment "Love and the Flying Finletters") |
| 1968 | The Name of the Game (TV Series) · as Colonel Walter Royce |
| 1967 | The High Chaparral (TV Series) · as Johnny Rondo |
| 1967 | Cimarron Strip (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1967 | Ironside (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1966 | Mission: Impossible (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1966 | The Baron (TV Series) · as John Mannering |
| 1965 | The F.B.I. (TV Series) · as Lee Barrington |
| 1963 | The Yellow Canary · as Hubbard "Hub" Wiley |
| 1963 | The Fugitive (TV Series) · as Barry Craft |
| 1963 | Kraft Suspense Theatre (TV Series) · as Mike Taggart |
| 1963 | Arrest and Trial (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1962 | The Longest Day · as Capt. Harding |
| 1962 | The Virginian (TV Series) · as Roger Layton |
| 1961 | The Second Time Around · as Dan Jones |
| 1960 | Heller in Pink Tights · as Clint Mabry |
| 1960 | Flaming Star · as Clint Burton |
| 1959 | It Happened to Jane · as Larry Hall |
| 1959 | Rawhide (TV Series) · as Cable |
| 1959 | |
| 1959 | The Twilight Zone (TV Series) · as Major Robert Gaines |
| 1957 | The Living Idol · as Terry Matthews |
| 1956 | Meet Me in Las Vegas · as Steve Forrest (uncredited) |
| 1956 | Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) · as Mike Bagley |
| 1955 | The Long Gray Line · as Sergeant |
| 1955 | Bedevilled · as Gregory Fitzgerald |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke (TV Series) · as Morgan |
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) · as Steve Archer |
| 1954 | Phantom of the Rue Morgue · as Prof. Paul Dupin |
| 1954 | Climax! (TV Series) · as Tom Gardener |
| 1954 | Disneyland (TV Series) · as Jim Tanner |
| 1953 | The Band Wagon · as Passenger on Train (uncredited) |
| 1953 | Last of the Comanches · as Lt. Floyd (uncredited) |
| 1953 | Dream Wife · as Louis |
| 1953 | I Love Melvin · as Photographer on Crane (uncredited) |
| 1953 | The Clown · as Young Man |
| 1953 | Battle Circus · as Sergeant |
| 1953 | The Loretta Young Show (TV Series) · as Mark Carter |
| 1952 | The Bad and the Beautiful · as Actor in Georgia's Screen Test |
| 1952 | Death Valley Days (TV Series) · as Jack Costello |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Matt Barker |