Robert Forster

**Robert Wallace Forster, Jr.** known professionally as **Robert Forster**, was an American actor. He is best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's *Medium Cool* and Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's *Jackie Brown*, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has since appeared in films such as *Mulholland Drive*, *The Descendants*, *Olympus Has Fallen*, and its sequel *London Has Fallen*. He has also appeared in television series such as *Heroes*, *Alcatraz*, *Last Man Standing*, and *Breaking Bad*. He is a member of the Triple Nine Society.

## Early life

Forster was born 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, while his father was of English and Irish descent. 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 in *Jackie Brown*.

Forster completed his Bachelor of Arts 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 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.

## Notes

1. ↑ Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com

## Sources

1. ↑ Global General Gathering of Triple Nine Society Denver, Colorado, September 4-7, 2009
2. ↑ Robert Forster Biography (1941–)
3. ↑ Robert Forster Biography – Yahoo! Movies
4. ↑ Robert Forster – How To Succeed in Flops; About Robert Forster Robert... – Free Preview – The New York Times