The Return of the Classic Films Obituary Thread

[CBHagman]

42. Actor Frederic Forrest, 86

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/06/26/frederic-forrest-dead/

Mr. Forrest, an unpretentious Texan who spent his boyhood summers baling hay and picking cotton, appeared in more than 80 movies and television shows, often playing lawmen, killers and psychopathic heavies. He could be coldblooded and threatening, as when he starred as the bandit Blue Duck in “Lonesome Dove” (1989), a miniseries adapted from the Larry McMurtry novel, but also showed a more delicate touch in movies like “Valley Girl” (1983), as the proprietor of a health-food restaurant and the hippie father to Deborah Foreman.

Although he was seldom cast in leading roles, Mr. Forrest found critical acclaim as a character actor, including in several films by Coppola.

The two first worked together on “The Conversation” (1974), a contemplative thriller that echoed through the Watergate era with its story of privacy, guilt, paranoia and conspiracy. The film hinged on a cryptic conversation recorded by surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), who tracks a young couple (Mr. Forrest and Cindy Williams) as they walk the noisy streets of San Francisco. A bit of sophisticated audio filtering allows Caul to hear Mr. Forrest’s ominous words, “He’d kill us if he got the chance,” shortly before a murder takes place.

His IMDB page, with bio and credits:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002078/