The acclaimed actor Frederic Forrest has died at age 86, according to his friend and former costar Bette Midler.
The 77-year-old stage and screen veteran shared the news in a tweet on Friday evening.
‘The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months,’ she wrote. ‘He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.’
The two actors costarred in the classic 1979 rock musical The Rose, which marked the Hocus Pocus actress’ screen debut.
Forrest also had major lead and supporting roles in several New Hollywood classics of the 1970s and ’80s. Among those are multiple classic films directed by Francis Ford Coppola, including The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979) and One From The Heart (1981).
New Hollywood star: The acclaimed actor Frederic Forrest has died at age 86, according to a tweet shared on Friday from his friend and former costar Bette Midler; seen in 2001 in Hollywood
Honored: Forrest received his only Academy Award nomination — for best supporting actor — for 1979’s The Rose, which was the screen debut of his costar Midler (R)
High praise: Midler called him a ‘remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being’ as she praised him. She also received an Oscar nomination for best actress for The Rose
Forrest received his only Academy Award nomination in the best supporting actor category for the acclaimed film.
In it, he played the limo driver Huston Dyer, who begins a whirlwind romance with the rock singer Mary Rose Foster (Midler), whose brief, tumultuous life was inspired by Janis Joplin.
The movie was a critical and commercial success, and it also received nominations for best editing and best sound, while Midler’s screen debut earned her best actress nomination.
Although Forrest had had film and television appearances going back to the mid-1960s, it was 1972’s When The Legends Die that helped him break out.
He earned a Golden Globe Nomination for most promising newcomer and swiftly followed it up with higher-profile roles.
In 1974, he made the first of several films with the filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.
He plays a man who is having an affair with the wife (Cindy Williams) of the director of a major company (Robert Duvall), all of which is documented after the director hires a surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) to surreptitiously record their conversations.
The Conversation is now considered one of the greatest American films ever made, and it won the Palme D’Or, the highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Winning collaboration: Forrest (R) was one of director Francis Ford Coppola’s most dependable actors. He appeared in four of the filmmakers movies, along with one film Coppola executive produced; seen in 2019 in Hollywood with (R–L) Laurence Fishburne, Coppola, Martin Sheen and Albert Hall
One-two punch: After appearing in the Palme D’Or winning collaboration, Forrest worked with Coppola again on the Palme D’Or winner Apocalypse Now (pictured, 1979)
Reappraised: He also appeared with Teri Garr, Nastassja Kinski and Raul Julia in the cult classic musical romance One From The Heart (pictured, 1981)
Forrest went on to star in another Palme D’Or winner — and collaborate with Coppola again — when he played a major part in his Vietnam War masterpiece Apocalypse Now, which also stars Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Duvall and Dennis Hopper.
He later starred in Coppola’s musical romance One From The Heart, which was savaged by critics at the time but has since become a cult classic, and made his final appearance for the filmmaker in the Jeff Bridges–starring film Tucker: The Man And His Dream (1988).
Coppola also served as executive producer on Forrest’s 1982 neo-noir mystery film Hammett, which was directed by the German auteur Wim Wenders.
He starred in the film as the famous mystery and detective fiction novelist Dashiel Hammett.
Forrest’s other major films include The Missouri Breaks (1976), which was directed by Arthur Penn and stars Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson; the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes, directed by and starring Nicholson; and the Joel Schumacher–directed thriller Falling Down (1993), which stars Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall.
The actor also appeared in several TV movies, miniseries and full shows.
He was paired up again with Robert Duvall in the classic Western miniseries Lonesome Dove, and he appeared in the first season of 21 Jump Street, before being replaced in the second season.
Strong partnership: Forrest also played the lead role in the neo-noir mystery Hammett (pictured, 1982), directed by German auteur Wim Wenders and executive produced by Coppola
Spouses: The actor’s first marriage was to Nancy Ann Whittaker from 1960 to 1963, and he was later married to the actress Marilu Henner (pictured) in 1980. They divorced in 1983; seen in 1981 in Beverly Hills
Forrest continued working with acclaimed filmmakers even for his final few projects in the 2000s.
In 2002, he appeared with Michael Gambon, Alec Baldwin and Donald Sutherland in the HBO movie Path To War, which was the final film directed by John Frankenheimer.
Forrest’s last credited film was 2006’s adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s classic novel All The King’s Men, which starred Sean Penn in the lead role.
The actor’s first marriage was to Nancy Ann Whittaker from 1960 to 1963, and he was later married to the actress Marilu Henner in 1980. They divorced in 1983.
