Biography
After making somewhat of a splash in John Huston's "Reflections of a Golden Eye" (1967) and Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool" (1969), Forster's career seemed assured. But he was soon lost in the shuffle after a couple of failed television series - "Banyon" (NBC, 1972-73) and "Nakia" (ABC, 1974) - that were tailor-made for his rugged sensibilities, but never caught on with audiences. Even a seemingly surefire hit like Disney's space opus "The …
Robert Forster SlideShow
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Career Milestones
1965 | Made Broadway debut as Frankie in "Mrs. Dally Has a Lover" opposite Arlene Francis |
1967 | Made feature debut playing Private Williams in John Huston's "Reflections in a Golden Eye" |
1967 | Played Stanley Kowalski in a stock production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" co-starring Julie Harris |
1968 | Co-starred with Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint as Indian scout Nick Tana in "The Stalking Moon" |
1969 | Starred in the critically acclaimed semi-documentary "Medium Cool"; his full-frontal nude love scene with Verna Bloom earned the film an X rating |
1971 | TV-movie debut in the title role of "Banyon" (NBC) |
1972 | Reprised part as Miles C Banyon for short-lived NBC series "Banyon" |
1973 | Played Stanley Kowalski in a Broadway revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" |
1974 | Starred in the title role of the ABC movie "Nakia" and its short-lived series spin-off |
1978 | Portrayed a small-time half-breed cattle rancher in the NBC TV-movie "Standing Tall" |
1979 | Made uncredited appearance in key supporting role in Lewis Teague's "The Lady in Red"; scripted by John Sayles |
1980 | Reteamed with Teague for "Alligator"; also scripted by Sayles |
1982 | Starred opposite Fred Williamson in "Vigilante" |
1985 | Starred (also produced and directed) in the detective spoof "Hollywood Harry" |
1986 | Portrayed militant fanatic Abdul in "The Delta Force" |
1987 | Was a regular in the short-lived ABC series "Once a Hero" |
1990 | Played an extraterrestrial cop in "Peacemeaker" |
1991 | Portrayed maniacal Middle Eastern dictator in syndicated TV-movie "Counterforce" |
1993 | Acted with Williamson (also film's producer) in "South Beach" |
1996 | Did another turn in a Williamson-produced film as Detective Slatter in "Original Gangstas" |
1997 | Portrayed Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown"; received Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor |
1998 | Acted in the Gus Van Sant color remake of "Psycho" |
2000 | Appeared in the Farrelly brothers comedy "Me Myself & Irene" |
2000 | Co-starred in "Supernova" |
2001 | Had co-starring role in "Lakeboat" |
2001 | Starred as Detective Harry McKnight in David Lynch's "Mulholland Dr." |
2001 | Starred in and produced "Diamond Men" |
2002 | Appeared in the TV-movie "Murder in Greenwich," about Martha Moxley's unsolved murder |
2003 | Cast as Marshall Sisco in the ABC drama "Karen Sisco" |
2004 | Cast in the low-budget comedy "Grand Theft Parsons" |
2004 | Had a recurring role in the Showtime series, "Huff" |
2007 | Co-starred in the Korean CGI dragon fantasy "Dragon Wars" |
2008 | Cast as Arthur Petrelli in the third season of the NBC show "Heroes" |
2009 | Appeared in the romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" |
2010 | Cast opposite Luke Wilson in the crime film "Middle Men" |
Awards
1997 | Academy Award for Actor In a Supporting Role in Jackie Brown |
2011 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in The Descendants |