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John
Forsythe was born in Penn Grove, New Jersey on January 29th, 1918.
Forsythe attend the University of North Carolina. After graduating
he moved to New York city for his true passion, acting.
Trained
at the University of North Carolina and New York's Actors Studio,
John Forsythe made his first professional stage appearance with
a children's theatre troupe in 1939. Drawing upon his experience
as a college baseball player, Forsythe spent a year or so as sportscaster
for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The son of a Wall Street businessman,
Forsythe chose to pursue acting over the objections of his father.
He did some work in radio soaps and on Brodway before signing a
movie contract with Warner Brothers.
His
early career was interrupted by World War II. During the war, Forsythe
made his Broadway bow in 1942, he entered the Army Air Corps appearing
in the Air Corps Show "Winged Victory". That same year,
he was brought to Hollywood by Warner Bros, where he was immediately
cast in the wartime dramas "Destination Tokyo" (1943),
his first significant film role, and "Action in the North Atlantic"
(1943).
After
military service, Forsythe began working in television, the medium
that would occupy most of his career. In the late 40s, he appeared
in many of the New York-based live TV series such as "Studio
One", "Lights Out", "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars"
and "Climax". Returning to the stage, he replaced Henry
Fonda in the road company of Mister Roberts, then in 1953 starred
as Captain Fisby in John Patrick's "Teahouse of the August
Moon" and "All my Sons".
Alfred
Hitchcock, who cast Forsythe in the 1955 black comedy, "The
Trouble with Harry" and in several episodes of "Alfred
Hitchcock Presents", reportedly advised the handsome leading
man that he was best suited to television work. This was good advice
(even if Hitchcock himself would later cast him in "Topaz",
his 1969 political thriller feature).
It
was not until 1957 when John Forsythe took the title role in the
hit television series, "Bachelor Father" which made him
a star. The series ran for six years (1957-1962). Though he'd occasionally
find time for film appearances ("In Cold Blood", "And
Justice for All", "Scrooged"), Forsythe spent the
most of the second half of his career on television. He starred
in three additional comedy series, "The John Forsythe Show"
(1965), "To Rome With Love" (1969-1971) and "The
Powers That Be" (1992); hosted the syndicated documentary weekly
"The World of Survival" (1971-1977); and "appeared"
as the unseen, uncredited Charlie on "Charlie's Angels"
(1976-1981). Forsythe got a phone call from his buddy, Aaron Spelling
(1976) asking him to record the voice of a detective name Charles
Townsend, for the new Spelling-Goldberg TV movie, "Charlie's
Angels". Forsythe continued with doing the voice over for Charlie
until the series ended in 1981.
His
most celebrated assignment of the 1980's was as millionaire oil
magnate Blake Carrington on the prime-time serial "Dynasty"
(1981-1989). Though Carrington was not always the pleasantest of
men, Forsythe himself was regarded as one of Hollywood's few genuine
"nice guys." A dedicated worker who respected his craft,
he nonetheless refused to take himself too seriously, issuing such
self-deprecating statements as "Being a 64-year-old sex symbol
is a hell of a weight to carry."
ABC's
answer to hit CBS show "Dallas", "Dynasty" featured
Forsythe in the role of Blake Carrington, head of a wealthy Denver
family. As Blake Carrington, the steely patriarch of the wealthy,
tempestuous Carrington clan of Denver, Colorado, he became a TV
matinee idol. His Blake Carrington became a significant icon of
the Reagan era; in the words of the "Entertainment Celebrity
Register", he was "capitalism's most attractive symbol."
In 1985, Forsythe even became the spokesperson for a men's cologne
line called "Carrington". When asked about the possible
new episodes of Dynasty, he said Dynasty ended and should be left
alone because the risk of destroying something that was once beautiful
is to high.
John
Forsythe won two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Dramatic
Television Series for his work in "Dynasty". Since the
series ended in 1989 he has recreated his role as Blake Carrington
in "Dynasty: The Reunion" (1991). Mr. Forsythe is actively
interested in ecology, and has been a spokesperson and sponsor of
the World Wildlife Fund. He also supports the American Cancer Society
and the United Nations Association.
On May 2, 2006, Forsythe appeared alongside his
"Dynasty" co-stars Linda Evans, Joan Collins, Pamela Sue Martin, Al Corley, Gordon Thomson and Catherine Oxenberg in
"Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar". The one-hour reunion special aired on CBS.
John
Forsythe was married three times. First, very briefly to Parker McCormick
(1938-1940), second to Julie Warren (1943-1994, died in 1994),
then to Nicole Carter in 2002. He
has two daughters, Page and Brooke (with Julie); as well as a son
named Dall (with Parker).
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| The
complete data from John
Forsythe filmography is included
in the biggest film data-base on the internet, site Internet
Movie Database, and we have inter-linked the IMDb site with
the individual pages of each Dynasty actor. |
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