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.
[1] [2] His mother was
Italian-born and his father was of
English and
Irish ancestry.
[3] The two divorced in 1949. As a tribute to his father, Forster was allowed to hang one of his father's Barnum & Bailey Circus posters in the office of his character "Max Cherry" in the Quentin Tarantino film
Jackie Brown
.
Career
After smaller roles, such as Private Williams in
Reflections in a Golden Eye
, he 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. A busy actor, he has since gone on to appear 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
,
Jackie Brown
). Forster is also a motivational speaker.
He appears in the hit
NBC show
Heroes
as
Arthur Petrelli, the father of Nathan and Peter Petrelli.
Twice divorced, Forster is a father of four. His daughter Kate Forster (born 1969) has worked as an actress.
Selected filmography
- Reflections in a Golden Eye
(1967)
- Justine
(1969)
- Medium Cool
(1969)
- Cover Me Babe
(1970)
- The Black Hole
(1979)
- Alligator
(1980)
- Walking The Edge
(1983)
- The Delta Force
(1986)
- Checker Flag
(1990)
- 29th Street
(1991)
- Original Gangstas
(1996)
- Demolition University
(1997)
- American Perfekt
(1997)
- Jackie Brown
(1997)
- Psycho
(1998)
- Outside Ozona
(1998)
- It's the Rage
(1999)
- Kiss Toledo Goodbye
(1999)
- Supernova
(2000)
- Lakeboat
(2000)
- Me, Myself & Irene
(2000)
- Diamond Men
(2000)
- Mulholland Dr.
(2001)
- Human Nature
(2001)
- Finder's Fee
(2001)
- Like Mike
(2002)
- Murder in Greenwich
(2002)
- Confidence
(2003)
- Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
(2003)
- Grand Theft Parsons
(2003)
- Firewall
(2006)
- Lucky Number Slevin
(2006)
- D-War
(2007)
- Rise
(2007)
- Cleaner
(2007)
- Jack and Jill vs. the World
(2008)
- Heroes
(2008) (TV series)
- Thick as Thieves
(2009)
- Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
(2009)
- Middle Men
(2010)
References
- Robert Forster Biography (1941-)
- Robert Forster Biography - Yahoo! Movies
- Robert Forster - How To Succeed in Flops; About Robert Forster Robert... - Free Preview - The New York Times