Biography
Describing his career as a "five-years upwards first act and a 25-year sliding second act," actor Robert Forster finally got to settle into a satisfying third act when
Quentin Tarantino worked his '70s resurrection magic by casting Forster in
Jackie Brown (1997).
Born and raised in Rochester, NY, Forster was a high school and college athlete, and occasional school thespian. After graduating from the University of Rochester (his third college) with a degree in psychology, Forster opted for acting over law school. Honing his craft in local theater, Forster subsequently moved to New York City where he landed his first Broadway role in 1965. After garnering attention in a 1967 production of A Streetcar Named Desire opposite
Julie Harris, Forster made his movie debut in
John Huston's
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) as the
au natural horseback-riding private who ignites military officer
Marlon Brando's desire. Holding out for interesting offers after
Reflections, Forster retreated to Rochester with his wife and worked as a substitute teacher and manual laborer.
Enticed back into movies with a role opposite
Gregory Peck in
Robert Mulligan's Western
The Stalking Moon (1968), Forster impressed cinephiles with his third film,
Haskell Wexler's seminal counterculture work
Medium Cool (1969). As a TV cameraman forced to confront the implications of the tumultuous events he so coolly records, Forster and his co-star,
Verna Bloom, were thrust into the real-life turmoil surrounding the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, while Forster's nuanced performance illuminated his narcissist's metamorphosis. Despite its timely subject, however,
Medium Cool made little impression at the box office. Though he continued to work in such varied films as
George Cukor's widescreen spectacle
Justine (1969) and the location-shot Indian reservation drama
Journey Through Rosebud (1972), Forster attempted to move to potentially greener TV pastures as the eponymous '30s detective in the series
Banyon (1972).
Banyon, however, lasted only one season, as did Forster's subsequent TV stint as a Native American lawman in the series
Nakia (1974).
Forster's slide into B-movie oblivion was hardly stanched by his forays into TV. Though he managed to acquit himself well onscreen in different kinds of parts, Forster professed no illusions about the quality of such movies as
The Don Is Dead (1973),
Stunts (1977), Disney's sci-fi
The Black Hole (1979), and the
Rock Hudson disaster flick
Avalanche (1978). The smartly comic,
John Sayles-scripted creature feature
Alligator (1980) failed to thrive beyond its schlock status;
Vigilante (1983), starring Forster as a, well, vigilante, was described by one critic as "truly distasteful." Trying his hand behind the camera, Forster produced, wrote, directed, and starred in, alongside his daughter, Katherine Forster, the detective spoof
Hollywood Harry (1986), but he got more mileage that same year out of his performance as an Arab terrorist embarking on jihad in
Delta Force (1986). Playing a host of bad guys as well as the occasional not-so-bad-guy, Forster put his four children through college from the late '80s into the early '90s with such video fodder as
The Banker (1989) and
Peacemaker (1990), as well as the TV series
Once a Hero (1987) and the well-received indie
29th Street (1991).
His career languishing by the mid-'90s, Forster taught acting classes between occasional roles and maintained an optimistic hope that, "some kid who liked me when he was young was going to turn into a filmmaker and hire me." Two casting near-misses for
Reservoir Dogs (1992) and
True Romance (1993) later (
Lawrence Tierney and
Christopher Walken respectively got the parts), the by then agent-less Forster finally got his wish when
Banyon and B-movie fan
Quentin Tarantino cast him in
Jackie Brown (1997). Beating out bigger names for the part, Forster proceeded to steal the film from flamboyant co-stars
Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson with his subtle performance as weathered, rueful bail bondsman Max Cherry. Though stellar co-star
Pam Grier got more attention as Tarantino's latest career rescue, Forster garnered
Jackie Brown's sole Oscar nomination. After his
Jackie Brown triumph, Forster's image of low-key, regular guy authority kept him steadily employed. Along with playing the de facto voice of sanity in the TV remake of
Alfred Hitchcock's
Rear Window (1998) and
Gus Van Sant's retread of
Psycho (1998), Forster faced down space (and production) chaos in
Walter Hill's ill-fated
Supernova (2000) and played the straight man as
Jim Carrey's commanding officer in Me, Myself & Irene (2000). Though his brief appearance suggests
David Lynch had more in mind for Forster's role in the aborted TV series, Forster's performance as a deadpan police detective still made it into the critically acclaimed film version of Mulholland Drive (2001). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide