Robert Forster, Oscar-Nominated ‘Jackie Brown’ and ‘Twin Peaks’ Star, Dies at 78

Obits

Forster had brain cancer

Robert Forster
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Robert Forster, a character actor best known for “Twin Peaks” and his Oscar-nominated performance in Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” has died. He was 78.

The New York native, who suffered from brain cancer, died Friday in his Los Angeles home.

Forster made his first impression on Hollywood audiences in back-to-back movies set in the Army, the first being in 1967 playing the free-spirited, birthday-suit-loving Army private Ellgee Williams in John Huston’s “Reflections in a Golden Eye,” starring Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor. The next year, he played a half-breed scout in “The Stalking Moon” opposite Gregory Peck.

In the years that followed, Forster had roles in films like “The Lady in Red,” “The Black Hole,” “Delta Force” and “Peacemaker,” but it was Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” that gave his career a boost… and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Jobs in notable films then began to consistently roll in, with parts in the films like David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive,” “Me, Myself & Irene” with Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger, “Lucky Number Slevin” with Bruce Willis and “Firewall” starring Harrison Ford.

TV fans might recognize him from one of his many roles on the small screen, including “Heroes,” “Last Man Standing” and as Sheriff Frank Truman on “Twin Peaks.” He can currently be seen in “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” which premiered Friday on Netflix.

Forster is survived by his wife Evie, his children Elizabeth, Kathrine and Maeghen and Robert, and his grandchildren Tess, Liam, Jack and Olivia.

Condolences are beginning to pour in:

Rosemary Rossi

Rosemary joined TheWrap in 2016 after more than two decades covering entertainment for American Media and Bauer Publishing as West Coast Editor and as the Hollywood Correspondent for Australia’s Horowitz Graham Publishing. In addition, she reviewed films and television, sized up trends and penned a weekly tongue-in-cheek column called “Hollywood’s Worst Ideas This Week” for…

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