Forrest Tucker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films.
Tucker described himself as a farm boy. He was born in Plainfield, Indiana, on February 12, 1919, a son of Forrest A. Tucker and his wife, Doris Heringlake. His mother has been described as an alcoholic. Tucker began his performing career at age 14 at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, pushing the big wicker tourist chairs by day and singing "Throw Money" at night. After his family moved to Washington, D.C., Tucker attracted the attention of Jimmy Lake, the owner of the Old Gaiety Burlesque Theater, by winning its Saturday night amateur contest on consecutive weeks. After his second win, Tucker was hired there at full time as Master of Ceremonies, but left when it was soon discovered that he was underage. He graduated from Washington-Lee High School, Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., in 1938, and, joining the United States Cavalry, was stationed at Fort Myer in Arlington County, Virginia, but discharged for, once again, being underage. He returned to work at the Old Gaiety after his 18th birthday.
When Lake's theatre closed for the summer in 1939, Tucker was helped by a wealthy mentor to travel to California and try to break into film acting. He made a successful screen test, and began auditioning for movie roles. In his own estimation, Tucker was in the mold of large "ugly guys" such as Wallace Beery, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen, rather than a matinee idol. His debut was as a powerfully built farmer who clashes with the hero in The Westerner (1940), which starred Gary Cooper.
Like many other movie actors at the time, Tucker enlisted in the United States Army during World War II; he earned a commission as a second lieutenant.
Tucker married four times:
Sandra Jolley (1919–1986) in 1940, divorced in 1950, daughter of the character actor I. Stanford Jolley (who also died of emphysema) and the sister of the Academy Award-winning art director Stan Jolley. They had a daughter, Pamela "Brooke" Tucker.
Marilyn Johnson on March 28, 1950 (died on July 19, 1960).
Marilyn Fisk on October 23, 1961. They had a daughter, Cindy Tucker, and son, Forrest Sean Tucker.
Sheila Forbes on April 15, 1986.
Tucker, who had battled lung cancer for more than a year, as well as having a series of minor illnesses, collapsed and was hospitalized, for the second time in a week, on his way to the ceremony for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 21, 1986. He died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital on October 25, 1986, a few months after the theatrical release of Thunder Run and Outtakes. He was interred in Forest Lawn–Hollywood Hills Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. CLR
Known for
Columbo
Bo Williamson
Murder, She Wrote
Tom Cassidy
Bonanza
Frank Ryan
The Love Boat
Sam Zachary
The Love Boat
Tex
The Love Boat
Tom Preston
Ironside
Wagon Train
Rex Montana
Little House on the Prairie
Climax!
Chips Murphy
The Virginian
Martin Evers
Love, American Style
John
Love, American Style
Horton
Daniel Boone
Joe Snag
Robert Montgomery Presents
Bob Slater
Dr. Kildare
Max Beemis
Rawhide
Dan Carlock
Alice
Burke's Law
Cyrus Smuts
Police Woman
O'Malley
Medical Center
Ollie Wayne
Night Gallery
Dr. Ernest Stringfellow
Gunsmoke
Brad McClain
Gunsmoke
Adam Benteen
Gunsmoke
John Charron
Gunsmoke
Sergeant Holly
Gunsmoke
Sgt. Emmett Holly
Gunsmoke
Will Donavan
Kojak
Det. Paul Zachary
Matt Houston
Buck Turley
The Strange World of Planet X
Gil Graham
The Bionic Woman
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self
The Ford Television Theatre
Red Healey
Ellery Queen
Clint McGraw
Alias Smith and Jones
F Troop
Sergeant. Morgan O'Rourke
Cancel My Reservation
Reese
Rock Island Trail
Reed Loomis
Lux Video Theatre
William Patterson
Lux Video Theatre
Ken
Jubilee Trail
John Ives
The Nevadan
Tom Tanner
Parachute Nurse
Lt. Tucker
The Incredible Rocky Mountain Race
Mike Fink
Three Violent People
Deputy Commissioner Cable
Montana Belle
Mac
Crosswinds
'Jumbo' Johnson
The Big Cat
Gil Hawks
Hurricane Smith
Dan McGuire
Final Chapter: Walking Tall
Carl
Fort Massacre
McGurney
Barquero
Mountain Phil
Jarrett
Rev. Vocal Simpson
The Crawling Eye
Alan Brooks
Grizzly Adams
Ernie
S.W.A.T.
Emergency Landing
Jerry Barton
The Westerner
Wade Harper
Never Say Goodbye
Fenwick Lonkowski
Rage at Dawn
Frank Reno
California Passage
Mike Prescott
Flaming Feather
Lt. Tom Blaine
Hondo
Adventures in Silverado
Zeke Butler
Hoodlum Empire
Charles A. 'Charley' Pignatalli
Thunder Run
Charlie Morrison
The Wild Blue Yonder
Maj. Tom West
Channing
Major Don Landon
The Spirit of Stanford
Buzz Costello (uncredited)
Gunsmoke in Tucson
John Brazos
Dangerous Business
Clayton Russell
Sands of Iwo Jima
PFC Al J. Thomas
Flight Nurse
Capt. Bill Eaton
Blood Feud
Lyndon B. Johnson
The Quiet Gun
Sheriff Carl Brandon
The Yearling
Lem Forrester
Pony Express
James Butler aka Wild Bill Hickok
Submarine Raider
Pulaski
Night Freight
Mike Peters
Chisum
Lawrence Murphy
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Duke
Counter-Espionage
Anton Schugg
Once an Eagle
Col. Avery
Bugles in the Afternoon
Donavan
Footsteps
Bradford Emmons
La Classe américaine
The Fax Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Rebels
Angus Fletcher
Cat Ballou
Kid Sheleen
Break in the Circle
Baron Keller
Coroner Creek
Ernie Combs
Stagecoach To Fury
Frank Townsend
Warpath
Sgt. O'Hara
Hellfire
Marshall Bucky McLean
Two Guys from Texas
'Tex' Bennett
The Plunderers
Whit Lacey
Filthy Rich
Timestalkers
Texas John Cody
Flo
The Man Who Dared
Larry James
Doc
Dr. Jason Fillmore
The Last Bandit
Jim Plummer
Renegades
Frank Dembrow
A Boy Called Nuthin’
Turkeyneck
The Deerslayer
Harry March
Keeper of the Flame
Geoff Midford
Shut My Big Mouth
Red
Trouble in the Glen
Maj. Jim 'Lance' Lansing
Ride the Man Down
Sam Danfelser
Finger Man
Dutch Becker
General Electric Theater
Frank Marlowe
The Ghost Busters
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Steve MacGregor
New Wine
Moritz
The Abominable Snowman
Tom Friend
Dusty's Trail
Wagonmaster Callahan
San Antone
Lt. Brian Culver, CSA
The Big Moment
Uri
The Wild McCullochs
J. J. McCulloch
The Night They Raided Minsky's
Trim Houlihan
Brimstone
Sheriff Henry McIntyre
Auntie Mame
Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside
The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West
Wagonmaster Callahan
The Vanishing American
Morgan
My Sister Eileen
Sandhog (uncredited)
Gunfighters
Ben Orcutt
Girl in the Woods
Steve Cory
Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol
Harry McMartin
Rare Breed
Oh! Susanna
Lt. Col. Unger
A Real American Hero
Carl Pusser
Fighting Coast Guard
Bill Rourk
Counterplot
Brock Miller
Canal Zone
Recruit Madigan
Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title
Romantic Diner Customer (uncredited)
Laughing Anne
Jem Farrell
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Blond Bomber
Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood
Whipper
Outtakes
Himself
Honolulu Lu
Barney
Paris Follies of 1956
Dan Bradley
Talk About a Lady
Bart Manners
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self