Robert Forster Dead At 78

By Matt Webb Mitovich
Robert Forster Dead Shutterstock

Robert Forster, an Academy Award nominee for 1997's Jackie Brown and who reprised his Breaking Bad role in the just-released El Camino follow-up movie, died on Friday following a battle with brain cancer. He was 78.

After starting out his career with roles in such movies as Reflections in a Golden Eye (opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando) and Medium Cool, Forster headlined a pair of short-lived TV series, NBC's Banyon and then ABC's Nakia.

After a string of one-offs on shows such as Police Story, Magnum, P.I. and Walker, Texas Ranger, Forster landed the plum role of bail bondsman Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, for which he earned an Oscar nod for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

[pmc_inline_gallery]

Years later, Forster played pop to Carla Gugino's Karen Sisco in ABC's short-lived series based on the Elmore Leonard character. He went on to enjoy runs on series such as Heroes, Alcatraz, Divorce and the Twin Peaks revival (where he served as a stand-in of sorts for Michael Ontkean's Sheriff Harry Truman, playing his brother Sheriff Frank Truman).

His most recent TV appearance was an October 2018 episode of Last Man Standing, where he reprised his role as Mike Baxter's now-deceased father, Bud.

On Breaking Bad, Forster played the enigmatic role of Ed aka The Disappearer, which he reprised for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (released on Oct. 11).

His remaining, unaired projects include a role in Apple TV+'s Amazing Stories.

Recommended