Actor John Forsythe of ‘Dynasty’ fame dies at 92

LOS ANGELES — John Forsythe,
the suave actor with the silvery hair and mellifluous voice who was
familiar to millions of TV viewers for starring roles in the popular
television series “Bachelor Father,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “Dynasty,”
died Thursday. He was 92.

Forsythe, who had heart bypass surgery in 1979 and was hospitalized for colon cancer in September 2006, died at his home in Santa Ynez from complications of pneumonia, according to publicist Harlan Boll.

Skilled at comedy and drama, the actor began his long career in acting on Broadway, where he stepped in for Henry Fonda in “Mister Roberts” and later originated the lead role in the hit
comedy, “Teahouse of the August Moon.” He also appeared in many movies,
including Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Trouble With Harry” and “Topaz.”

But he was best known for three roles: Bentley Gregg,
a bachelor uncle who finds his social life curtailed by the arrival of
a young niece put into his care; the unseen Charlie, who gives three
sexy young detectives their assignments in ABC’s “Charlie’s Angels” and, most notably, Blake Carrington,
the oil tycoon around whom life revolves in one of TV’s most successful
prime-time soap operas, “Dynasty.” More than the others, Carrington was
his signature role.

As the man whom Forsythe once described as
“ruthless, powerful, cruel, selfish, kind, loving, tender, passionate,”
Carrington inspired catfights between his ex-wife (Joan Collins) and melancholy second wife (Linda Evans),
all the while fending off nonstop crises set off by his business, his
gay son and his long-lost daughter. He was always impeccably dressed
and so dashing that he inspired the men’s cologne dubbed Carrington.

The part came to Forsythe partly because he had
starred against his good-TV-dad type as a sadistic judge in Norman
Jewison’s “And Justice for All,” which starred Al Pacino.

“To be seen in so unredeemable a part was a
revelation to some people,” Forsythe told the Los Angeles Times in
1980. “Had I not played the evil Judge Fleming, I don’t think they
would have thought of me for this tycoon, who can be very rough on
occasion.”

“Dynasty” ended in 1989 after more than eight years on the air. Although he had a long and respectable career in Hollywood, Forsythe said he “never had an illusions about being an (Laurence) Olivier.”

“I’ve had an interesting life for a guy who stumbled into the whole acting business,” Forsythe told The Times in 1992.

For many years, Forsythe was deeply involved in horse racing and owned and bred horses at his ranch north of Santa Barbara. He was the national spokesman for the Breeders Cup and was on the board at Hollywood Park for several years.

Forsythe’s wife Julie died in 1994 after more than 50 years of marriage. In 2002, Forsythe married Nicole Carter, who survives him as do his son, Dall, his daughters, Page Courtemanche and Brooke Forsythe; as well as six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

———

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.