Acclaimed actor Frederic Forrest has died at the age of 86. Bette Midler, his co-star in The Rose, for which he received an Oscar nomination, shared the news Friday night.
“The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has passed away. Thank you to all his fans and friends for their support over the past few months. He was a remarkable actor and a brilliant human being and I was fortunate to have him in my life. He was at peace.”
Forrest has starred in dozens of films throughout his career, including Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The Two Jakes, One From The Heart, The Missouri Breaks, and Falling Down.
Born in Waxahachie, Texas in 1936, he moved to New York as an adult, where he was tutored at the Actors Studio by Lee Strasberg.
Forrest landed a small role in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation in 1974, beginning a long working relationship between the two.
He is best known for his role as Chef in 1979’s Apocalypse Now. That same year he starred opposite Midler as Huston Dyer, a limousine driver who begins a turbulent romance with her rock singer Mary Rose Foster in The Rose. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Frederic Forrest and his wife Marilu Henner around 1980 in New York City.
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He also played Captain Richard Jenko in the first season of 21 Jump Street opposite Johnny Depp.
Forrest was married to Nancy Ann Whittaker from 1960 to 1963, and later married actress Marilu Henner in 1980. They divorced in 1983.