John Forsythe

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John Forsythe

in the trailer for The Trouble with Harry (1955)
Born John Lincoln Freund
January 29, 1918 (1918-01-29) (age 90)
Penns Grove, New Jersey
Years active 1943 - 2003
Spouse(s) Parker McCormick (1938-1940)
Julie Warren (1943-1994)
Nicole Carter (2002-)

John Lincoln Freund - better known as John Forsythe (born January 29, 1918), is an American stage, television and character actor who starred in three television series that spanned three decades such as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the 1950s sitcom Bachelor Father (1957 – 1962); as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the popular 1970s crime drama Charlie's Angels (1976 – 1981), and as ruthless and beloved patriarch Blake Carrington on the popular 1980s soap opera Dynasty (1981 – 1989). He’s also well-known for hosting World of Survival during the 1970s. Forsythe currently appears each year to read children's fiction during the annual Christmas program near his retirement home at the rural resort community of Solvang, California, north of Los Angeles.

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[edit] Early life

Forsythe, the oldest of three children, was born in Penns Grove, New Jersey to a factory worker,[1] and was raised in Brooklyn, New York where his father worked as a Wall Street businessman during the Great Depression of 1929.

At only 16 years of age Forsythe graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn and began attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1936 at age 18, he took a job as the announcer at Ebbets Field Stadium in Brooklyn, New York, confirming a childhood love of baseball.

[edit] Movie career and army service

The handprints of John Forsythe in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.
The handprints of John Forsythe in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

Despite showing initial reluctance, Forsythe began an acting career at the suggestion of his father. While there he met actress Parker MacCormick and the two were married in 1939. The couple had a son, Dall (born in 1941), but divorced the following year.

As a bit player for Warner Brothers, Forsythe appeared promising in several small roles. As a result he was given a small role in Destination Tokyo (1943). Leaving his movie career for service in World War II, he appeared in the U.S. Army Air Forces play and film Winged Victory, then worked with injured soldiers who had developed speech problems.

Also in 1943, Forsythe met Julie Warren, initially a theatre companion but later a successful actress in her own right, landing a role on Broadway in Around the World in 80 Days. Warren became Forsythe's second wife and in the early 1950s the marriage produced in two daughters - Page and Brooke.

In 1947, Forsythe joined the initial class of the soon-to-be prestigious Actors Studio, where he met other promising young actors such as Marlon Brando and Julie Harris. During this time he appeared successfully on Broadway in Mister Roberts and The Teahouse of the August Moon.

In 1955, Alfred Hitchcock hired Forsythe to star in the movie The Trouble with Harry, alongside a young Shirley MacLaine. However, this movie didn't fare well at the box office, and Forsythe found high profile movie work increasingly hard to find.

[edit] Television work

[edit] Bachelor Father

In 1957, Forsythe moved into series television, starring in the situation comedy Bachelor Father for CBS as Bentley Gregg, a playboy lawyer who has to become a father to his niece Kelly (played by Noreen Corcoran), upon the death of her biological parents. The show was an immediate smash hit and moved to NBC a few years later.

On various episodes Forsythe had the pleasure of working with such up-and-coming startlets as Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara Eden, Donna Douglas, Sally Kellerman, Sue Ane Langdon, and Linda Evans (who immediately formed a crush on the much older actor). During the 1961 season, Bachelor Father moved to ABC but was cancelled that season because of declining ratings.

[edit] Post-Bachelor Father

In the early 1960s, Forsythe made further movies including Kitten with a Whip (1964) and In Cold Blood (1967), but made several attempts at developing new television series including: The John Forsythe Show (1965-1966) and To Rome with Love (1969-1971). However, neither were successful.

Between 1971 and 1977, Forsythe served as narrator on the syndicated nature series, The World of Survival.

[edit] Charlie's Angels

Forsythe's big break came in 1976 (beginning what would be a 13-year relationship with Aaron Spelling), in the role of a mysterious millionaire and private investigator, Charles Townsend, on the ABC crime drama Charlie’s Angels. The character of Charlie never appeared on-screen so Forsythe was not required to be on set. Instead, he would record his voice on tape which was presented as a speaker phone conversation in the show, instructing the eponymous Angels of their mission for the episode. His original co-stars on Charlie's Angels included Farrah Fawcett as Jill Munroe, Jaclyn Smith as Kelly Garrett, and Kate Jackson in the role of Sabrina Duncan, the "smart" angel.

Charlie's Angels was almost immediately a huge success much as Bachelor Father had been before, and was exported to over 90 countries. Forsythe quickly became the highest paid actor on television. The show survived the departure in 1977 of its biggest visible star, Farrah Fawcett, who was replaced by Cheryl Ladd after a contract dispute. Ladd, a neighbor and good friend of Forsythe's, was immediately offered the role of Kris Monroe, Jill's younger sister, and remained with the series for the next four seasons. Kate Jackson stayed with Charlie's Angels for three seasons before leaving in 1979 to participate in other projects. Jaclyn Smith remained on the show until its end.

During this period, Forsythe invested a lot of money in thoroughbred racing, a personal hobby. Gaining respect with the celebrity thoroughbred circuit, he has served on the Board of Directors at the Hollywood Park Racetrack since 1972, and has been on the committee for more than 25 years.

Following heart problems, Forsythe underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 1979. This was so successful that he safely returned to work on Charlie’s Angels, and also appeared in the courtroom drama ...And Justice for All later that year.

By 1980, Charlie's Angels was starting to decline in ratings, but Forsythe remained under contract to Spelling.

[edit] Dynasty

In 1981, nearing the end of Charlie’s Angels, Forsythe was selected as a last minute replacement for George Peppard in the role of conniving patriarch Blake Carrington in Dynasty. Another Aaron Spelling production, Dynasty was ABC's answer to the highly successful CBS series Dallas. Between 1985 and 1987, Forsythe also appeared as Blake Carrington in the short-lived spin-off series The Colbys.

Dynasty was another hit for Forsythe and proved his most successful role yet. Forsythe and his Blake Carrington character became pop culture icons of the 1980s, making him one of Hollywood’s leading men and sex symbols. The series explored real-life and fictionalized topics including family feuds, foreign revolutionary gunplay, illegitimate children, sex, drugs, and featured lavish lifestyles and glamorous clothes.

The series reunited Forsythe with Bachelor Father guest star Linda Evans, who had replaced Angie Dickinson to play Blake’s compassionate and caring younger wife Krystle. The chemistry between Forsythe and Evans was apparent and as the principal married couple on the show, the two appeared on numerous talk and news magazine shows. The series also reunited Forsythe with Joan Collins, who had been one of his students during the 1950s. During the run of the series, Forsythe, Evans and Collins promoted the Dynasty line of fragrances. [2]

Dynasty finally came to an end in 1989, after a total of nine seasons, with Forsythe being the only actor to appear in all 220 episodes.

Forsythe was nominated for Emmy awards three times between 1982 and 1984 for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" but each time failed to win. He was also nominated six times for Golden Globes, winning twice. He was nominated five times for the "Soap Opera Digest Awards", also winning twice. During this time, Forsythe celebrated his 45th wedding anniversary.

[edit] The Powers That Be

In 1992, after a three-year absence, Forsythe returned to series television starring in Norman Lear’s situation comedy, The Powers That Be for NBC. The show wasn’t a ratings winner, however, and was swiftly cancelled after only one year.

[edit] Post-1990s work and life

On August 15, 1994, Forsythe's wife of 51 years, the former Julie Warren, died in hospital after he made the difficult decision to turn off her life-support system. She had been in a coma following severe breathing difficulties.

In 2002, eight years after his wife's death, Forsythe married businesswoman Nicole Carter, 22 years his junior. Forsythe has one son, two daughters, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren from his previous marriages.

Forsythe reprised his role as Charlie for the film version of Charlie’s Angels (2000) and its sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), but is now retired from acting. Besides spending time with his family, he now enjoys ownership of an art gallery.

In 1982, Forsythe quit smoking when he learned from a physician that he was at strong risk of developing emphysema.

On May 2, 2006, Forsythe appeared with 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.

It was announced that Forsythe was being treated for colorectal cancer on October 13, 2006. [1] However, he was discharged from hospital in a month. [2]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television Work

[edit] References

  1. ^ Borough of Penns Grove, Salem County, New Jersey. Accessed December 11, 2007.
  2. ^ TVAcres.com.

[edit] External links