Bette Midler reveals that her Rose costar Frederic Forrest has passed away at the age of 86

Acclaimed actor Frederic Forrest has passed away at the age of 86, according to his friend and former costar Bette Midler.

The 77-year-old stage and film veteran shared the news in a tweet on Friday evening.

“The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has passed away. Thank you to all his fans and friends for all their support over the past few months,” she wrote. “He was a remarkable actor and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.’

The two actors starred together in the 1979 classic rock musical The Rose, which marked the film debut of the Hocus Pocus actress.

Forrest also had major leading and supporting roles in several New Hollywood classics of the 1970s and 1980s. Among them are several classic films directed by Francis Ford Coppola, including The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), and One From The Heart (1979). 1981).

Honored: Forrest received his only Academy Award nomination – for Best Supporting Actor – for 1979’s The Rose, the film debut of his costar Midler (R)

High praise: Midler called him a “remarkable actor and a brilliant human being” while praising him. She also received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for The Rose

Forrest received his only Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for the critically acclaimed film.

In it, he played limo driver Huston Dyer, who begins a whirlwind romance with rock singer Mary Rose Foster (Midler), whose short, tumultuous life was inspired by Janis Joplin.

A critical and commercial success, the film also received nominations for Best Editing and Best Sound, while Midler’s screen debut earned her a Best Actress nomination.

While Forrest had had film and television appearances dating back to the mid-1960s, it was 1972’s When The Legends Die that helped break him out.

He earned a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer and quickly followed it up with more prominent roles.

In 1974 he made the first of several films with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

He plays a man who has an affair with the wife (Cindy Williams) of the CEO of a large corporation (Robert Duvall), all of which is documented after the CEO hires a security expert (Gene Hackman) to surreptitiously record their conversations.

The Conversation is now regarded as one of the greatest American films ever made and won the Palme D’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Winning Collaboration: Forrest (R) was one of director Francis Ford Coppola’s most reliable actors. He appeared in four of the filmmaker’s films, along with one film produced by Coppola; seen in 2019 in Hollywood with (RL) Laurence Fishburne, Coppola, Martin Sheen and Albert Hall

One-two punch: After appearing in the Palme D’Or winning collaboration, Forrest collaborated again with Coppola on the Palme D’Or winner Apocalypse Now (pictured, 1979)

Reviewed again: He also appeared with Teri Garr, Nastassja Kinski and Raul Julia in the cult classic musical novel One From The Heart (photo, 1981)

Forrest next starred in another Palme D’Or winner – again teaming up with Coppola – when he had a major role in his Vietnam War masterpiece Apocalypse Now, which also stars Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Duvall and Dennis Hopper.

He later starred in Coppola’s musical romance One From The Heart, which was ravaged by critics at the time but has since become a cult classic, and made his final appearance for the filmmaker in the film Tucker: The Man And His Dream starring Jeff Bridges. (1988).

Coppola also served as an executive producer on Forrest’s 1982 neo-noir mystery film Hammett, which was directed by German author Wim Wenders.

He starred in the movie as the famous mystery and detective novelist Dashiel Hammett.

Forrest’s other major films include The Missouri Breaks (1976), directed by Arthur Penn and starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson; the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes, directed by and starring Nicholson; and the Joel Schumacher-directed thriller Falling Down (1993), starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall.

The actor also appeared in several TV movies, miniseries and full shows.

He was paired again with Robert Duvall in the classic western miniseries Lonesome Dove, and he appeared in the first season of 21 Jump Street before being replaced in the second season.

Strong collaboration: Forrest also starred in the neo-noir mystery Hammett (pictured, 1982), directed by German author Wim Wenders and executive produced by Coppola

Spouses: The actor’s first marriage was to Nancy Ann Whittaker from 1960 to 1963, and he later married the actress Marilu Henner (pictured) in 1980. They divorced in 1983; seen in 1981 in Beverly Hills

Forrest continued to work with acclaimed filmmakers even for his last few projects in the 2000s.

In 2002, he appeared with Michael Gambon, Alec Baldwin and Donald Sutherland in the HBO movie Path To War, the latter film directed by John Frankenheimer.

Forrest’s last credited film was the 2006 adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s classic novel All The King’s Men, starring Sean Penn.

The actor’s first marriage was to Nancy Ann Whittaker from 1960 to 1963, and he was later married to the actress Marilu Henner in 1980. They divorced in 1983.