Michael Forest, the actor who played Apollo in Star Trek, died Wednesday at 97. James A. Brown announced that Forest died in a facility for seniors in Sparks, Nevada.
That role first reached viewers in September 1967, when Who Mourns for Adonais? aired, and it became the credit most people tied to his name. Forest returned as Apollo again in 2013 on Star Trek Continues, a late-life reprise that underlined how firmly the character stuck with fans.
Born Gerald Michael Charlebois on April 17, 1929, in Harvey, North Dakota, he grew up after his family moved to Seattle and later studied at the University of Washington and San Jose State. He chose acting after seeing a friend perform at the Seattle Rep Playhouse, then moved to Los Angeles in 1955 and quickly began working on Highway Patrol.
But Apollo was only one part of the story. Forest built much of his career in B-movies and overseas productions, starring in Beast From Haunted Cave, Ski Troop Attack and Atlas for Roger Corman, and appearing in more than 20 movies in Spain, France and England. He also worked steadily as a voice actor, fluent in Italian and dubbing more than 500 films while living in Rome from 1968 to 1978.
His filmography reached from The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent to Black Leather Jackets and an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, but the man who died in Sparks is likely to be remembered first for a god-like figure from Star Trek. The unanswered detail is the cause of death, which has not been disclosed.
