Early life

Forster was born in Rochester, New York, the son of Grace Dorothy (née Montanarella) and Robert Wallace Forster, Sr., who worked as an elephant trainer for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and later as an executive for a baking supply company. His mother was Italian American, while his father was of English and Irish descent. The two divorced in 1949.

As a tribute to his father, Forster hung one of his father's Barnum & Bailey Circus posters in the office of his character in Jackie Brown. Forster completed his Bachelor of Arts in history in 1964 at the University of Rochester, where he starred in student dramatic performances such as Bye Bye Birdie and, after initially intending to study law, instead decided to forgo his future legal career in favor of acting.

Career

After acclaimed supporting performances in two major Hollywood films, one as Private Williams in John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), another as part-Indian Army scout Nick Tana in Robert Mulligan's The Stalking Moon (1968), Forster starred in the critically acclaimed 1969 film Medium Cool. After starring roles in the TV shows Banyon (1972) and Nakia (1974), he played mostly supporting roles in action and horror films including Disney's The Black Hole (1979). Forster had lead roles in cult B-movies in the 1980s like Alligator (1980), Vigilante (1983), The Delta Force (1986), and The Banker (1989).

Forster was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1997 for Jackie Brown, which he credits with reviving his career. He has since had consistent work in the film industry, appearing in Like Mike, Mulholland Drive, Me, Myself, & Irene, Lucky Number Slevin, and Firewall, to name a few. He recently appeared in the made-for-television movie The Hunt for the BTK Killer, as the detective intent on capturing serial killer Dennis Rader. Forster also played the father of Van on the short-lived Fox series Fastlane.

Forster recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's Hip-Hop Literacy campaign, encouraging reading of books by Elmore Leonard (he starred in the movie adaption of Leonard's book Rum Punch, filmed as Jackie Brown). Forster appeared in the hit NBC show Heroes as Arthur Petrelli, the father of Nathan and Peter Petrelli, as well as the Emmy award winning AMC crime drama Breaking Bad as Walter White's new identity specialist. Forster is also a motivational speaker.

Personal life

Forster is a member of the Triple Nine Society.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Reflections in a Golden Eye	Private L.G. Williams
1968	The Stalking Moon	Nick Tana
1969	Justine	Narouz
1969	Medium Cool	John Cassellis
1970	Cover Me Babe	Tony Hall
1973	The Don Is Dead	Frank
1977	Stunts	Glen Wilson
1978	Avalanche	Nick Thorne
1979	The Lady in Red	Turk	Uncredited
1979	The Black Hole	Captain Dan Holland
1980	Alligator	David
1981	Goliath Awaits	Jeff Selrik	Television film
1981	Heartbreak High	Coach Alan Arnoldi
1983	Vigilante	Eddie Marino
1983	Walking The Edge	Jason Walk
1986	Hollywood Harry	Harry Petry	Also producer and director
1986	The Delta Force	Abdul Rafai
1988	Counterforce	The Dictator
1989	The Banker	Dan
1990	Checkered Flag	Jack Cotton
1990	Peacemaker	Yates
1991	29th Street	Srgt. Tartaglia
1993	Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence	Dr. Powell
1994	American Yakuza	Littman
1996	Original Gangstas	Detective Slatten
1997	Demolition University	Gentry
1997	American Perfekt	Jake Nyman
1997	Night Vision	Teak Taylor
1997	Jackie Brown	Max Cherry	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1998	Psycho	Dr. Simon
1998	Rear Window	Detective Charlie Moore	Television film
1998	Outside Ozona	Odell Parks
1999	It's the Rage	Tyler
1999	Kiss Toledo Goodbye	Sal Fortuna
2000	Supernova	A.J. Marley
2000	Lakeboat	Joe Kitko
2000	Me, Myself & Irene	Colonel Parington
2000	Diamond Men	Eddie Miller	Hamptons International Film Festival: Special Recognition
2001	Mulholland Dr.	Detective Harry McKnight
2001	Human Nature	Nathan's father
2001	Finder's Fee	Officer Campbell
2002	Like Mike	Coach Wagner
2002	Lone Hero	Gus
2002	Strange Hearts	Jack Waters
2002	Murder in Greenwich	Steve Carroll	Television film
2003	Confidence	Morgan Price
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Roger Wixon
2003	Grand Theft Parsons	Stanley Parsons
2005	The Hunt for the BTK Killer	Detective Jason Magida
2006	Firewall	Harry Romano
2006	Lucky Number Slevin	Murphy
2007	D-War	Wilson
2007	Rise	Lloyd
2007	Cleaner	Arlo Grange
2008	Jack and Jill vs. the World	Norman	Uncredited
2009	Thick as Thieves	Lt. Samuel Weber
2009	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	Srgt. Volkom
2010	Middle Men	Louie
2011	Girl Walks into a Bar	Dodge
2011	The Descendants	Scott Thorson	Nominated—Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2013	Olympus Has Fallen	US Army Chief of Staff General Edward Clegg
2014	Autómata	Robert Bold
2015	Survivor	Bill Talbot
2016	London Has Fallen	US Army Chief of Staff General Edward Clegg
2016	The Confirmation	Otto	Completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	N.Y.P.D.	Tony	Episode: "To Catch a Hero"
1968	Judd, for the Defense	Ray Elliott	Episode: "In a Puff of Smoke"
1971-1973	Banyon	Miles Banyon	9 episodes
1974	Nakia	Deputy Nakia Parker	14 episodes
1975-1977	Police Story	Bob Vandon	5 episodes
1976	Gibbsville	N/A	Episode: "All the Young Girls"
1985	Magnum, P.I.	Tyler Peabody McKinney	2 episodes
1986	Tales from the Darkside	Gary Gooley	Episode: "The Milkman Cometh"
1986	Murder, She Wrote	Gilbert Gaston	Episode: "The Perfect Foil"
1987	Hotel	Steve Cameron	Episode: "Unfinished Business"
1987-1988	William Tell	Aymong	3 episodes
1991	Jake and the Fatman	Ed Delaney	2 episodes
1995	Walker, Texas Ranger	Ricky Rickettes	Episode: "The Big Bingo Bamboozle"
1995	Murder, She Wrote	Frank Roussel	Episode: "Big Easy Murder"
1997	Walker, Texas Ranger	Lane Tillman	Episode: "Texas vs. Cahill"
2002-2003	Fastlane	Raymond Ray	2 episodes
2003-2004	Karen Sisco	Marshall Cisco	10 episodes
2004	The Grid	Jay Aldrich	2 episodes
2004	Clubhouse	Burt Austin	Episode: "Spectator Interference"
2004-2005	Huff	Ben Huffstodt	3 episodes
2006	Numb3rs	Agent Thomas Lawson	Episode: "Protest"
2007	Army Wives	General Grayson	Episode: "Truth and Consequences"
2007	Desperate Housewives	Nick Delfino	Episode: "Now I Know, Don't Be Scared"
2007-2008	Heroes	Arthur Petrelli	10 episodes Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television
2008	The Simpsons	Lucky Jim	Voice Episode: "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes"
2008	Would Be Kings	N/A	2 episodes
2011	CSI: NY	Joe Vincent	Episode: "Indelible"
2012	Alcatraz	Ray Archer	4 episodes
2012	Transformers: Prime	General Bryce	Voice Episode: "Grill"
2012-2015	Last Man Standing	Bud Baxter	9 episodes
2013	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Booth Whitman	Episode: "Unfrozen Agent Man"
2013	Breaking Bad	Ed	Episode: "Granite State" Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television
2014-2015	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Jack J. Kurtzman	Voice 3 episodes
2015	Backstrom	Blue Backstrom	2 episodes
2016	Divorce
2017	Twin Peaks	Sheriff Harry S. Truman	18 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]