Apocalypse Now star Frederic Forrest dies as Bette Midler leads tributes
Tributes have paid to the Oscar-nominated star best known for his roles in several Francis Ford Coppola films.
Tributes have been paid to Oscar-nominated actor Frederic Forrest after his death aged 86.
Forrest was best known for appearing in four films by legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, most prominently starring as Jay "Chef" Hicks in iconic Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now and also playing roles in The Conversation, One from the Heart, and Tucker: The Man And His Dream. He also had a role in the Wim Wenders-directed film Hammett, which Coppola produced.
His sole Academy Award nomination came for his supporting role as Huston Dyer in the 1979 musical drama The Rose, while other big screen credits include The Missouri Breaks, Valley Girl, The Two Jakes, and Falling Down.
Forrest was also at one point in the running to play Han Solo in the original Star Wars film, auditioning for the role before it was ultimately given to Harrison Ford.
In announcing the news, Bette Midler – who co-starred with him in The Rose – called Forrest a "great and beloved" actor.
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“Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months," she wrote. "He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”
Meanwhile, Coppola called Forrest a "sweet, much-beloved person, a wonderful actor and a good friend" and added that "his loss is heartbreaking to me."
Admirers of his work have also paid tribute on social media, with one Twitter user writing: "R.I.P. Frederic Forrest, a terrific actor who could believably play Bette Midler's love interest, a sweet hippie dad, and a vile Neo-Nazi."
Another fan wrote, "I was a Coppola nut as a kid, & Frederic Forrest kept showing up in all the films I obsessed over. THE CONVERSATION, HAMMET, & of course APOCALYPSE NOW (not to mention VALLEY GIRL). FF was always incredibly malleable as an actor & always indelible."
Meanwhile, actor Justine Bateman commented: "I was very lucky to work with Frederic Forrest in 1985 on a TV movie, RIGHT TO KILL. It was the first time I’d ever seen an actor hand the director a stack of new dialogue pages, after Frederic had infused his lines with his character. RIP."
A post on Forrest's Facebook page was also left by his friend Helen Sanders thanking his followers for their "beautiful comments and messages you sent him."
The message continued: "He read all of them and they gave him so much joy and comfort during these last weeks. He was so happy to know that this art and work touched so many people in such a positive way. He said "'That's what it's all about!'"
