Steve Forrest has gone down in television history as Lieutenant Dan "Hondo" Harrelson, the leader of a S.W.A.T. team in the 1970s series "Harrelson's Men."
The actor, who also appeared in titles such as "The Longest Day", died on May 18 at his residence in Thousand Oaks, California. He was 87 years old.
Born on September 29, 1924 in Hustville, east Texas, William Forrest Andrews was the younger brother of the legendary actor Dana Andrews.
He began his career in a minor role in Crash Dive, a film starring Tyrone Power in 1943. He shared the screen with Ronald Reagan in Prisoner of War, with Robert Taylor in Prisoner of Betrayal, with Humphrey Bogart in Battlefield, with Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn in The Prisoner of Cheyenne, with Doris Day and Jack Lemmon in The Wild One and the Millionaire, and with Richard Widmark in Men of Foot.
Steve Forrest was also Elvis Presley's brother in Firestar. In The Longest Day he was a captain in the American army.
In the 50s and 60s he lavished himself on television. In 1966 he starred in the British series The Baron, where he was an undercover agent posing as an antiques dealer. In 1975 he was hired as the protagonist of Harrelson's Men. 37 episodes were filmed. In the film adaptation, S.W.A.T.: Harrelson's Men, he had a cameo as a truck driver. It marked his last appearance on screen.
Steve Forrest married Christine Carilas on December 23, 1948. Both she and the three children they had accompanied the actor in his last hours at his home.
