Steve Forrest
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.
Known for
Murder, She Wrote
Rev. Willie John Fargo
Murder, She Wrote
Sheriff Hank Masters
Murder, She Wrote
Lt. Paul Stratton
Murder, She Wrote
Captain Ned Larkin
Murder, She Wrote
Max Teller
Dallas
Ben Stivers
Dallas
Wes Parmalee
Bonanza
Dan Logan
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Mike Bagley
The Six Million Dollar Man
Quail
Columbo
Big Fred
The Twilight Zone
Robert Gaines
Love, American Style
Don Finletter
Cannon
Climax!
Ben
Climax!
Pete Mayer
Climax!
Tom Gardener
Mission: Impossible
Medical Center
Medical Center
Dr. Eric Canford
Ironside
The F.B.I.
Lee Barrington
The High Chaparral
Johnny Rondo
The Name of the Game
A.J. Ward
The Name of the Game
Walter Royce
Burke's Law
Jocko Creighton
The Fugitive
Barry Craft
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Major Anderson
Hotel
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Steve Archer
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Joe Rogers
The Virginian
Roger Layton
The Virginian
James Templeton
Arrest and Trial
Kraft Suspense Theatre
David Buchanan
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Mike Taggart
The Streets of San Francisco
The Rookies
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Self
Night Gallery
Grant Wilson (segment "Hatred Unto Death") (as Stephen Forrest)
Finder of Lost Loves
James Osborne
Target: The Corruptors!
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Alias Smith and Jones
Dinah!
Self
Gunsmoke
Mannon
Gunsmoke
Morgan
Gunsmoke
Cord Wrecken
Gunsmoke
Scott Coltrane
Dream On
Eden Pilott
Outlaws
Lux Video Theatre
Matt Barker
Ghost Story
Andrew Alcott
Nichols
Sam Yeager
The Sixth Sense
Letter to Loretta
Mark Carter
Bus Stop
Cimarron Strip
The Baron
John Mannering
S.W.A.T.
Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Eddie Martin
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Sam Rayford
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Harpenning Brothers
S.W.A.T.
S.W.A.T. Truck Driver
Kraft Mystery Theatre
A Rumor of War
Col. Atherton
Hollywood Wives
Ross Conti
The Manions of America
James Kent
The Longest Day
Capt. Harding
Condominium
Gus Garver
Kodiak
Samson Toey
Spies Like Us
General Sline
Mommie Dearest
Greg Savitt
The Bad and the Beautiful
Actor in Georgia's Screen Test (uncredited)
Sahara
Gordon
The Band Wagon
Passenger on Train (uncredited)
Amazon Women on the Moon
Captain Nelson (segment "Amazon Women on the Moon")
Miracle at St. Anna
Capt. Harding in The Longest Day (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Hanged Man
James Devlin
Flaming Star
Clint Burton
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Steve Forrest (uncredited)
Killer: A Journal of Murder
Warden Charles Casey
Captain America
Lou Brackett
Heller in Pink Tights
Clint Mabry
Last of the Comanches
Lt. Floyd (uncredited)
The Clown
Young Man
Five Branded Women
Paul Keller
Hotline
Tom Hunter
Storyville
Judge Quentin Murdoch
Phantom of the Rue Morgue
Prof. Paul Dupin
Rascal
Willard North
It Happened to Jane
Larry Hall
The Hatfields and the McCoys
Randall McCoy
Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge
Will Mannon
Take the High Ground!
Lobo Nagalaski
I Love Melvin
Photographer on Crane (uncredited)
North Dallas Forty
Conrad Hunter
Bedevilled
Gregory Fitzgerald
So Big
Dirk De Jong
The Second Time Around
Dan Jones
Rogue Cop
Eddie Kelvaney
Roughnecks
Paul Marshall
Sealed Cargo
Holtz
The Wild Country
Jim Tanner
Malibu
Rich Bradley
Prisoner of War
Cpl. Joseph Robert Stanton
Wanted: The Sundance Woman
Charlie Siringo
Geisha Girl
Rocky Wilson
Maneaters Are Loose!
David Birk
The Yellow Canary
Hubbard "Hub" Wiley
A Chant of Silence
State Police Officer
The Living Idol
Terry Matthews
The Late Liz
Jim Hatch
The Deerslayer
Hawkeye
The Man in a Looking Glass
John Mannering 'The Baron'
The Baron: Mystery Island
John Mannering 'The Baron'
Great Lady Has an Interview
Reporter (uncredited)
The Magic of Walt Disney World
Narrator
Last of the Mohicans
Hawkeye
The Owl That Didn't Give a Hoot
Jr. Narrator