Michael Forest, the veteran actor whose career stretched from classic Star Trek to beloved anime voice roles, has died at 97. He passed away on October 14, according to reports from The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.
Michael Forest as Apollo (Credits: Paramount Television)
For anime fans, Forest was a familiar and commanding presence in English dubs. He voiced Kubota in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the scheming Alex Rosewater in The Big O, two roles that showcased his gravitas and theatrical range.
His anime credits ran deep. Forest played Kojima in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Braya in Eureka Seven, Takeshi Kusumi in Patlabor WXIII, and Dr. Seijiro Inui in Satoshi Kon’s Paprika. Long before many of these dubs existed, he had already built a reputation as a powerhouse character actor across seven decades of television.
A Storied Career Beyond Anime
Outside of animation, Forest was perhaps best known to sci-fi fans as Apollo in the original Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” — a role that became one of the most memorable guest spots in the show’s history. He also appeared as Steve in the classic Twilight Zone episode “Black Leather Jackets”, as Father Joe Coogan in The Dick Van Dyke Show, and as Anastacio in Zorro.
His television résumé reads like a history of the medium itself: Bonanza, Gilligan’s Island, Rawhide, and Get Smart all featured him. Later generations knew him as Olympius in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, while film audiences may remember him from Cast Away alongside Tom Hanks.
A Legacy Across Generations
Few actors managed to bridge the worlds of golden-age television, anime dubbing, and modern genre franchises the way Forest did. His voice work in particular introduced him to a generation of anime viewers who knew him not from the 1960s soundstages but from late-night programming blocks and DVD-era classics.
Whether he was a god on the bridge of the Enterprise, a conspirator in Paradigm City, or a bureaucrat in Section 9’s world, Forest brought the same stage-trained authority to every role. His passing marks the end of a career that spanned nearly the entire history of television — and touched more fan communities than almost any of his contemporaries.
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Source: Anime News Network — read the full story there.
