Robert Forster

For other people named Robert Forster, see Robert Forster (disambiguation).

Robert Forster
Forster attending "Heroes For Autism" event at Avalon, Hollywood, CA on April 19, 2009
Born	Robert Wallace Foster, Jr. (1941-07-13) July 13, 1941 Rochester, New York, US
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–present

Robert Forster (born July 13, 1941) is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He has recently appeared as George Clooney's father-in-law in Alexander Payne's The Descendants and as an Army general in Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen. He is a member of the Triple Nine Society.

Early life

Forster was born Robert Wallace Foster, Jr. in Rochester, New York, the son of Grace Dorothy (née Montanarella) and Robert Wallace Foster, Sr., who worked as an elephant trainer for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and later as an executive for a baking supply company. His mother was Italian American and his father was of English and Irish ancestry. The two divorced in 1949. As a tribute to his father, Forster hung one of his father's Barnum & Bailey Circus posters in the office of his character "Max Cherry" in the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown.

Forster completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1964 at the University of Rochester, where he starred in student dramatic performances such as Bye Bye Birdie and, after initially intending to go on to study law, instead decided to forgo his future legal career in favor of acting.

Career

After acclaimed supporting performances 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 1969 film Medium Cool. After starring roles in the TV shows 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). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1997 for Jackie Brown, which he credits with reviving his career. He has since had consistent work in the film industry, appearing in Like Mike; Mulholland Drive; Me, Myself, & Irene; Lucky Number Slevin and Firewall, to name a few. He recently 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 (he starred in the movie adaption of Leonard's book Rum Punch, filmed as Jackie Brown). Forster is also a motivational speaker.

Forster appeared in the hit NBC show 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.

Twice divorced, Forster is a father of four children. His eldest child, Kate Forster (born 1969), has worked as an actress, also appearing in Mulholland Drive.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Reflections in a Golden Eye	Private L.G. Williams
1967	N.Y.P.D.	Tony	(TV series, 1 episode: "To Catch a Hero")
1968	Judd, for the Defense	Ray Elliott	(TV series, 1 episode: "In a Puff of Smoke")
1968	The Stalking Moon	Nick Tana
1969	Justine	Narouz
1969	Medium Cool	John Cassellis
1970	Cover Me Babe	Tony Hall
1971–1973	Banyon	Miles Banyon	(TV series, 9 episodes)
1973	The Don Is Dead	Frank
1974	Nakia	Deputy Nakia Park	(TV series, 14 episodes)
1975–1977	Police Story	Bob Vandon	(TV series, 5 episodes)
1976	Gibbsville		{TV series, 1 episode "All the Young Girls")
1977	Stunts	Glen Wilson
1978	Avalanche	Nick Thorne
1979	The Lady in Red	Turk	Uncredited
1979	The Black Hole	Captain Dan Holland
1980	Alligator	David
1981	Goliath Awaits	Jeff Selrik	Television movie
1981	Heartbreak High	Coach Alan Arnoldi
1983	Vigilante	Eddie Marino
1983	Walking The Edge	Jason Walk
1985	Hollywood Harry	Harry Petry	also producer and director
1985	Magnum, P.I.	Tyler Peabody McKinney	(TV series, 2 episodes)
1986	The Delta Force	Abdul Rafai
1986	Tales from the Darkside	Gary Gooley	(TV series, 1 episode: "The Milkman Cometh")
1989	The Banker	Dan
1990	Checkered Flag	Jack Cotton
1990	Peacemaker	Yates
1991	29th Street	Srgt. Tartaglia
1994	American Yakuza	Littman
1996	Original Gangstas	Detective Slatten
1997	Demolition University	Gentry
1997	American Perfekt	Jake Nyman
1997	Jackie Brown	Max Cherry	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1998	Psycho	Dr. Simon
1998	Rear Window	Detective Charlie Moore	Television movie
1998	Outside Ozona	Odell Parks
1999	It's the Rage	Tyler
1999	Kiss Toledo Goodbye	Sal Fortuna
2000	Supernova	A.J. Marley
2000	Lakeboat	Joe Kitko
2000	Me, Myself & Irene	Colonel Parington
2000	Diamond Men	Eddie Miller	Hamptons International Film Festival: Special Recognition
2001	Mulholland Dr.	Detective Harry McKnight
2001	Human Nature	Nathan's father
2001	Finder's Fee	Officer Campbell
2002	Like Mike	Coach Wagner
2002	Lone Hero	Gus
2002	Strange Hearts	Jack Waters
2002–2003	Fastlane	Raymond Ray	(TV series, 2 episodes)
2002	Murder in Greenwich	Steve Carroll	Television movie
2003	Confidence	Morgan Price
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Roger Wixon
2003	Grand Theft Parsons	Stanley Parsons
2003–2004	Karen Sisco	Marshall Cisco	(TV series, 10 episodes)
2004–2005	Huff	Buff Huffstodt	(TV series, 4 episodes)
2005	The Hunt for the BTK Killer	Detective Jason Magida
2006	Numb3rs	Agent Thomas Lawson	(TV series, 1 episode: "Protest")
2006	Firewall	Harry Romano
2006	Lucky Number Slevin	Murphy
2007	D-War	Wilson
2007	Rise	Lloyd
2007	Cleaner	Arlo Grange
2007	Desperate Housewives	Nick Delfino	(TV series, 1 episode: "Now I Know, Don't Be Scared")
2008	Jack and Jill vs. the World	Norman
2008	Heroes	Arthur Petrelli	(TV series, 9 episodes) Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television
2009	Thick as Thieves	Lt. Weber
2009	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	Srgt. Volkom
2010	Middle Men	Louie
2011	Girl Walks Into a Bar	Dodge
2011	CSI: NY	Joe Vincent	(TV series, 1 episode)
2011	The Descendants	Scott Thorson	Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2012	Alcatraz	Ray Archer	(TV series, 4 episodes)
2012	Transformers: Prime	General Bryce	(TV series, 1 episode)
2012	Last Man Standing	Bud Baxter	(TV series, 4 episodes)
2013	Olympus Has Fallen	General Edward Clegg
2013	Breaking Bad	Ed	(TV Series, 1 episode: "Granite State") Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television
2014	Autómata		Post-production

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 Internet Broadway Database
• DVD Talk Interview
• House Petrelli Interview 12/08, Part 1