Denis Forest

Denis Forest
Born(1960-09-05)September 5, 1960
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
DiedMarch 18, 2002(2002-03-18) (aged 41)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1982–2002

Denis Forest (September 5, 1960 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian character actor.[1] He was known for portraying henchmen in Academy Award-nominated blockbusters The Mask and Cliffhanger. He was the lead villain in the second season of the War of the Worlds television series.

A graduate of the Ryerson Theatre School, he was an early founding member of Richard Rose and Thom Sokoloski's Autumn Angel Repertory theatre company,[2] who received a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Best Original Play, General Theatre at the 1984 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for the collective play Mein.[3]

In 1986 Forest and Bruce Verine premiered Projekt Putz, a satirical send-up of avant-garde performance art, at the Toronto Free Theatre.[4] He also had occasional film and television roles in this era, including the television miniseries Race for the Bomb[5] and Champagne Charlie.[6]

After the 1989 film The Long Road Home, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue work in American film and television.

Forest died suddenly following a massive stroke in Los Angeles on March 18, 2002, after having dinner in a Franklin Avenue restaurant in Hollywood with a few friends.[7]

  1. ^ "New Faces". Toronto Star, March 7, 1987.
  2. ^ Stephen Godfrey, "A promising debut for Autumn Angel". The Globe and Mail, February 11, 1983.
  3. ^ Stephen Godfrey, "Jungle of Cities wins four Doras". The Globe and Mail, October 23, 1984.
  4. ^ Robert Everett-Green, "It seemed like a good idea: Projekt Putz is a real chuckle until the curtain goes up". The Globe and Mail, August 21, 1986.
  5. ^ Jim Bawden, "Race For The Bomb joins race for ratings". Toronto Star, January 20, 1987.
  6. ^ "TV series bubbles with talent". Toronto Star, June 9, 1988.
  7. ^ Lee Berthiaume, "Ottawa actor dies suddenly in L.A.". Ottawa Citizen, March 24, 2002.