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Actor Michael Forest, best known for his appearances in the “Star Trek” franchise, has died. He was 97.
Forest died Wednesday, according to his friend, James A. Brown, who announced his death Friday in a post on Facebook.
“It is with great sadness that I report that we have lost Michael Forest,” Brown wrote. “I knew him as an actor and loved him as a friend. I’m sure others will share, 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 picture of the nameplate outside the actor’s room — which read “Jerry Charlebois” — at MorningStar Senior Living in Sparks, Nevada, where he had recently been living, 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 for Adonais?,” which aired in 1967.
He later reprised the role in the fan-produced web series “Star Trek Continues” in 2013.
In a 2012 interview with StarTrek.com, Forest discussed how he landed the role, revealing that he had to read for the producers three times before being cast.
“They had me take my shirt off to see if I had the muscles they were looking for,” Forest recalled. “Then they wanted me to do it in a British accent. I said, ‘That, for me, won’t work out. I can give you Mid-Atlantic theater speech, which I think will work for this character.’
“So I read it in that vernacular and they said, ‘Yes,’ and came to the conclusion that I was the one to play the role.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Forest admitted that he felt the work he had done before and after his “Star Trek” appearance was “as good, if not better” than the episode itself, but acknowledged that the role had “really given [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 worked as a voice actor, starred in B movies produced by Roger Corman, and appeared in television series including “Zorro,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Gilligan’s Island,” as well as the 2000 film “Cast Away.”