Actor Michael Forest, best known for his appearances in the “Star Trek” franchise, has died. He was 97 years old.
Forest died Wednesday, according to his friend James A. Brown, who announced his death Friday in a Facebook post.
“It is with great sadness that I announce the loss of Michael Forest,” Brown wrote. “I knew him as an actor and loved him as a friend. I’m sure others will share that, but that’s all I’m capable of right now.”
Brown shared the statement alongside a photo of himself with Forest (born Gerald Michael Charlebois) and a photo of the nameplate outside the actor’s room — which read “Jerry Charlebois” — at MorningStar Senior Living in Sparks, Nevada, where he recently lived, according to Deadline.
Among his more than 200 credits, Forest was best known for playing the Greek god Apollo in the original “Star Trek” series episode “Who Mourns Adonais?” », broadcast in 1967.
He then reprized the role in the fan-produced web series “Star Trek Continues” in 2013.
In a 2012 interview with StarTrek.com, Forest explained how he landed the role, revealing that he had to read for the producers three times before being cast.
“They made me take off my shirt to see if I had the muscles they were looking for,” Forest recalls. “Then they wanted me to do it in a British accent. I said, ‘That, for me, won’t work. I can give you a Mid-Atlantic theater speech, which I think will work for this character.’
“So I read it in this vernacular and they said ‘Yes’ and came to the conclusion that it was me playing the role.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Forest admitted that he felt the work he did before and after his appearance on “Star Trek” was “as good, if not better” than the episode itself, but acknowledged that the role “really gave him his 15 minutes of fame.”
Forest was also among 40 “Star Trek” actors to appear in Snoop Dogg’s 2020 sci-fi film “Unbelievable!!!!! ”, a parody of the iconic franchise.
Beyond “Star Trek,” Forest has worked as a voice actor, starred in B-movies produced by Roger Corman and appeared in such television series as “Zorro,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Gilligan’s Island,” as well as the 2000 film “Cast Away.”
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