Steve Forrest (born William Forrest Andrews; September 29, 1925 – May 18, 2013) was an American actor who was well known for his role as Lt. Hondo Harrelson in the hit television series S.W.A.T., which was broadcast on ABC from 1975 to 1976. He was also known for his performance in Mommie Dearest (1981).

Early years

Forrest was born William Forrest Andrews in Huntsville, Texas, the 12th of 13 children of Annis (née Speed) and Charles Forrest Andrews, a Baptist minister. One of his older brothers was film star Dana Andrews.

Forrest enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 18 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. In 1950, he earned a bachelor's degree with honors from University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in theater with a minor in psychology.

Career

Forrest worked as a stagehand at the La Jolla Playhouse outside San Diego. There Gregory Peck discovered him, cast him in the Playhouse's production of Goodbye Again, and then arranged for Forrest's first screen test with MGM, where he was signed to a contract.

Forrest was also a trained vocalist, and he made his debut on Broadway as boxer Bob Stanton in the 1958 production of the Harnick and Bock musical The Body Beautiful opposite Mindy Carson, Jack Warden and Brock Peters.

Partial filmography

  • The Ghost Ship (1943) as Sailor (uncredited)
  • Sealed Cargo (1951) as Holtz (uncredited) (this film starred his brother Dana Andrews)
  • Geisha Girl (1952) as Rocky Wilson
  • The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) as Actor in Georgia's Screen Test (uncredited)
  • The Clown (1953) as Young Man
  • Last of the Comanches (1953) as Lieutenant Floyd (uncredited)
  • Battle Circus (1953) as Sergeant
  • I Love Melvin (1953) as Photographer on Crane (uncredited)
  • Dream Wife (1953) as Louis
  • The Band Wagon (1953) as Passenger on Train (uncredited)
  • So Big (1953) as Dirk DeJong
  • Take the High Ground! (1953) as Lobo Naglaski
  • Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) as Professor Paul Dupin
  • Prisoner of War (1954) as Corporal Joseph Robert Stanton
  • Rogue Cop (1954) as Eddie Kelvaney
  • The Long Gray Line (1955) as Sergeant (uncredited)
  • Bedevilled (1955) as Gregory Fitzgerald
  • Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) as Steve Forrest (uncredited)
  • The Living Idol (1957) as Terry Matthews
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series) (1957) (Season 2 Episode 22: "The End of Indian Summer") as Joe Rogers
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series) (1958) (Season 3 Episode 33: "Post Mortem") as Steve Archer
  • It Happened to Jane (1959) as Lawrence Clay "Larry" Hall
  • Heller in Pink Tights (1960) as Clint Mabry
  • Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (1960, TV series) as Mike Bagley
  • Five Branded Women (1960) as Sergeant Paul Keller
  • Flaming Star (1960) as Clint Burton
  • The Second Time Around (1961) as Dan Jones
  • The Longest Day (1962) as Captain Harding
  • The Twilight Zone (1963, TV series) as Major Robert Gaines
  • The Yellow Canary (1963) as Hub Wiley
  • The Virginian (1963–1964, TV series) as James Templeton / Roger Layton
  • 12 O'Clock High (1965, TV series) as Major Peter Gray
  • Rawhide (1965, TV series) as Cable
  • The Fugitive (1965, TV series) as Barry Craft
  • Burke's Law (1965, TV series) as Jocko Creighton
  • The Baron (1966–1967, TV series) as John Mannering 'The Baron'
  • Cimarron Strip (1967–1968, TV series) as Clayton Tyce / Wiley Harpe
  • Bonanza (1967-1969, TV series) as Dan Logan / Josh Tanner
  • Rascal (1969) as Willard North
  • Gunsmoke (1970–1973, TV series) as Scott Coltrane / Cord Wrecken / Cole Morgan / Will Mannon
  • The High Chaparral (1970, TV series) as Johnny Rondo
  • The F.B.I. (1970) as Lee Barrington
  • The Wild Country (1970) as Jim Tanner
  • The Late Liz (1971) as Jim Hatch
  • Mission: Impossible (1971, TV series) as Edward Granger
  • Nichols (1971, TV series) as Sam Yeager
  • Alias Smith and Jones (1972, TV series) as Jake Halloran
  • Night Gallery (1972, TV series) as Grant Wilson (segment "Hatred Unto Death") / Sam Dichter (segment "The Waiting Room")
  • The Sixth Sense (1972, TV series) as Glenn Tuttle
  • Ghost Story (1972, TV series) as Andrew Alcott
  • Hec Ramsey (1972, TV series) as Wes Durham
  • The Streets of San Francisco (1973, TV series) as Art Styles
  • The Hanged Man (1974) (TV pilot) as James Devlin
  • The Six Million Dollar Man (1974, TV series) as Quail
  • Cannon (1974, TV series) as Arthur Rogers
  • S.W.A.T. (1975–1976, TV series) as Lieutenant Dan "Hondo" Harrelson
  • Testimony of Two Men (1977, TV series) as Martin Eaton
  • Last of the Mohicans (1977, TV movie) as Hawkeye
  • Maneaters Are Loose! (1978) as David Birk
  • The Deerslayer (1978) as Hawkeye
  • Captain America (1979, TV movie) as Lou Brackett
  • North Dallas Forty (1979) as Conrad Hunter
  • Condominium (1980, TV movie) as Gus Garver
  • Mommie Dearest (1981) as Greg Savitt
  • Hotline (1982, TV movie) as Tom Hunter
  • Malibu (1983, TV movie) as Rich Bradley
  • Sahara (1983) as Gordon
  • Hollywood Wives (1985, TV series) as Ross Conti
  • Spies Like Us (1985) as General Sline
  • Dallas (1985 & 1986, TV series) as Ben Stivers (1985, The Dream Season) & Wes Parmalee (1986)
  • Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) as Captain Steve Nelson (segment "Amazon Women on the Moon")
  • Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987, TV movie) as Will Mannon
  • Dream On (1990, TV series) as Eden Pilott
  • Murder, She Wrote — Night of the Coyote (1992, TV series)
  • Storyville (1992) as Judge Quentin Murdoch
  • Columbo: A Bird in the Hand (1992) as Big Fred
  • Killer: A Journal of Murder (1995) as Warden Charles Casey
  • S.W.A.T. (2003) as SWAT Truck Driver (cameo) (final film role)

Radio appearances

{| class="wikitable"

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! Year !! Program !! Episode/source

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| 1953|| Lux Radio Theatre || The Girl in White

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References

  • Obituary - Hollywood Reporter
  • Obituary - Dignity Memorial