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Los Angeles – The unforgettable actor Robert Forster had one of the most celebrated of “second acts” in show biz history, but he would humbly characterize himself as a “working actor,” performing in film and TV for over 50 years. Forster passed away on October 11th, 2019, in Los Angeles. He was 78 years old.

Robert Wallace Forster Jr. was born in Rochester, New York, and graduated from the University of Rochester in the mid-1960s. His father had done time as an elephant trainer for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses, so the show business coursing through his blood changed his ambitions from the legal profession to acting. After making his Broadway debut in 1965 with “Mrs. Dolly,” the rave reviews got him a screen test at 20th Century Fox, and he was one of the last put under contract by old school studio chief Darryl Zanuck.

Robert Forster at the 54th Chicago...

When Jackie Brown was released twelve years ago expectations were off the charts. It had been three and a half long years since Quentin Tarantino had rocked the movie world with the one-two punch of Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Since then he had laid relatively low, directing a segment of the anthology Four Rooms, writing the vampire hybrid From Dusk Til Dawn, and performing several forgettable “acting” roles (remember Destiny Turns On The Radio? ……didn’t think so.) I remember my own expectations and anticipation for Jackie Brown when I first heard that Tarantino had cast ebony action icon Pam Grier in the lead. I assumed that he was going to take a crack at the Blaxploitation genre that he was a such a fan of and was honestly expecting afros, pimps, and bell-bottoms but, with the exception of it’s lead and some funky music from those films,...