Steve Forrest

Acting • Born 1925-09-29 – Died 2013-05-18

Acting2Huntsville, Texas, USA

Biography

A ruggedly handsome action man of the 1960's and 70's, Steve Forrest began his screen career as a small part contract player with MGM. A brother of star Dana Andrews, he was born William Forrest Andrews, the youngest of thirteen children. His father was a Baptist minister in Huntsville, Texas. In 1942, Steve enlisted in the U.S. Army, rose to the rank of sergeant and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge. Following his demobilisation, he visited his brother in Hollywood and came to the conclusion that acting wasn't a bad way to make a living (having already done some work as a movie extra). He went on to study in college at UCLA, eventually graduating in 1950 with a B.A. Honours Degree in theatre arts. He then served a brief apprenticeship as a carpenter, prop boy and set builder at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse, where he was discovered by resident actor Gregory Peck and given a small part as a bellboy in the cast of the summer stock production of "Goddbye Again". A subsequent screen test led to a contract with MGM and resulting employment as second leads, brothers of the titular star, toughs and outlaws. His first proper recognition was being awarded 'New Star of the Year' by Golden Globe for his role in So Big (1953), a drama based on a Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Edna Ferber. From the mid-1950's, the rangy, 6-foot-3 actor became much in-demand on TV, beginning with classic early anthology and western series, interspersed with occasional appearances on the big screen (notably, in The Longest Day (1962) and as Joan Crawford's lover/attorney Greg Savitt in Mommie Dearest (1981)). In addition to numerous guest roles, he was regularly featured in series like Gunsmoke (1955), Dallas (1978) (as Wes Parmalee, who believes himself to be lost Ewing patriarch Jock) and Murder, She Wrote (1984). Already from the mid-60's, he decided to pick his assignments more carefully. In order to shed his image as the perpetual bad guy, he had relocated his family to England to star as antique-dealer-cum-undercover intelligence agent John Mannering in BBC's The Baron (1966). He followed this by another starring role as the stoic, tough Lieutenant Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson in the short-lived ABC police drama series S.W.A.T. (1975), possibly his best-remembered role. Steve later lampooned his screen personae in the satirical Amazon Women on the Moon (1987). In private life, Steve Forrest was known as a skilled golfer, lover of football and (according to 1970's newspaper articles) as a dedicated amateur beekeeper.

Filmography

124 credits

Roughnecks

Movie • 1980

Paul Marshall

Rogue Cop

Movie • 1954

Eddie Kelvaney

Maneaters Are Loose!

Movie • 1978

David Birk

Spies Like Us

Movie • 1985

General Sline

The Longest Day

Movie • 1962

Capt. Harding

The Band Wagon

Movie • 1953

Passenger on Train (uncredited)

Heller in Pink Tights

Movie • 1960

Clint Mabry

Phantom of the Rue Morgue

Movie • 1954

Prof. Paul Dupin

Mommie Dearest

Movie • 1981

Greg Savitt

Storyville

Movie • 1992

Judge Quentin Murdoch

Sahara

Movie • 1983

Gordon

Flaming Star

Movie • 1960

Clint Burton

So Big

Movie • 1953

Dirk De Jong

Rascal

Movie • 1969

Willard North

Captain America

Movie • 1979

Lou Brackett

Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge

Movie • 1987

Will Mannon

The Hanged Man

Movie • 1974

James Devlin

The Second Time Around

Movie • 1961

Dan Jones

Bedevilled

Movie • 1955

Gregory Fitzgerald

The Living Idol

Movie • 1957

Terry Matthews

The Hatfields and the McCoys

Movie • 1975

Randall McCoy

The Wild Country

Movie • 1970

Jim Tanner

Prisoner of War

Movie • 1954

Cpl. Joseph Robert Stanton

I Love Melvin

Movie • 1953

Photographer on Crane (uncredited)

Five Branded Women

Movie • 1960

Paul Keller

Geisha Girl

Movie • 1952

Rocky Wilson (as William Andrews)

The Baron: The Man in a Looking Glass

Movie • 1972

John Mannering 'The Baron'

The Baron: Mystery Island

Movie • 1972

John Mannering 'The Baron'

A Chant of Silence

Movie • 1973

State Police Officer

The Bad and the Beautiful

Movie • 1952

Actor in Georgia's Screen Test (uncredited)

North Dallas Forty

Movie • 1979

Conrad Hunter

The Magic of Walt Disney World

Movie • 1972

Narrator

The Yellow Canary

Movie • 1963

Hubbard "Hub" Wiley

Meet Me in Las Vegas

Movie • 1956

Steve Forrest (uncredited)

Last of the Comanches

Movie • 1953

Lt. Floyd (uncredited)

It Happened to Jane

Movie • 1959

Larry Hall

The Clown

Movie • 1953

Young Man

The Owl That Didn't Give a Hoot

Movie • 1968

Jr. Narrator

Take the High Ground!

Movie • 1953

Lobo Nagalaski

The Late Liz

Movie • 1971

Jim Hatch

Hotline

Movie • 1982

Tom Hunter

Wanted: The Sundance Woman

Movie • 1976

Charlie Siringo

Malibu

Movie • 1983

Rich Bradley

Last of the Mohicans

Movie • 1977

Hawkeye

The Deerslayer

Movie • 1978

Hawkeye

Sealed Cargo

Movie • 1951

Holtz

Miracle at St. Anna

Movie • 2008

Capt. Harding in The Longest Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

Killer: A Journal of Murder

Movie • 1996

Warden Charles Casey

Amazon Women on the Moon

Movie • 1987

Captain Nelson (segment "Amazon Women on the Moon")

Great Lady Has an Interview

Movie • 1954

Reporter (uncredited)

S.W.A.T.

Movie • 2003

S.W.A.T. Truck Driver

Wild Geese Calling

Movie • 1969

Narrator

Clipper Ship

Movie • 1957

Matt Bowers

Murder, She Wrote

TV • 1984

Rev. Willie John Fargo

Burke's Law

TV • 1963

Jocko Creighton

The Rookies

TV • 1972

Dream On

TV • 1990

Eden Pilott

Kraft Suspense Theatre

TV • 1963

David Buchanan

The F.B.I.

TV • 1965

Lee Barrington

The Streets of San Francisco

TV • 1972

Alias Smith and Jones

TV • 1971

Hotel

TV • 1982

Medical Center

TV • 1969

Gunsmoke

TV • 1955

Mannon

Arrest and Trial

TV • 1963

Night Gallery

TV • 1970

Grant Wilson (segment "Hatred Unto Death") (as Stephen Forrest)

Mission: Impossible

TV • 1966

Cannon

TV • 1971

The Baron

TV • 1966

John Mannering

The Twilight Zone

TV • 1959

Robert Gaines

Dallas

TV • 1978

Ben Stivers

Dallas

TV • 1978

Wes Parmalee

Ironside

TV • 1967

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

TV • 1955

Steve Archer

Target: The Corruptors!

TV • 1961

Outlaws

TV • 1960

Bus Stop

TV • 1961

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

TV • 1958

Cimarron Strip

TV • 1967

The Fugitive

TV • 1963

Barry Craft

The High Chaparral

TV • 1967

Johnny Rondo

S.W.A.T.

TV • 1975

Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson

The Virginian

TV • 1962

Roger Layton

Lux Video Theatre

TV • 1950

Matt Barker

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

TV • 1951

Eddie Martin

Climax!

TV • 1954

Ben

The Sixth Sense

TV • 1972

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

TV • 1956

Mike Bagley

The DuPont Show with June Allyson

TV • 1959

Major Anderson

Letter to Loretta

TV • 1953

Mark Carter

Ghost Story

TV • 1972

Andrew Alcott

Kraft Mystery Theatre

TV • 1961

Hollywood Wives

TV • 1985

Ross Conti

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

TV • 1973

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