Denis Forest (September 5, 1960 – March 18, 2002) was a Canadian

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

. He was known for portraying henchmen in

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-nominated blockbusters '' The Mask'' and ''

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

''. He was the lead villain in the second season of the '' War of the Worlds'' television series.

Early life and education

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.

Career

In 1986 Forest and Bruce Verine premiered ''Projekt Putz'', a satirical send-up of avant-garde

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, at the Toronto Free Theatre. He also had occasional film and television roles in this era, including the television miniseries '' Race for the Bomb'' and '' Champagne Charlie''. After the 1989 film ''The Long Road Home'', he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to pursue work in American film and television.

Award nominations

Forrest 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''.

Death

Forest died suddenly following a massive

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in Los Angeles on March 18, 2002, after having dinner in a Franklin Avenue restaurant in Hollywood with a few friends.Lee Berthiaume, "Ottawa actor dies suddenly in L.A.". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', March 24, 2002.

Filmography

Film

*'' The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew'' (1983) - Policeman *'' Head Office'' (1985) - Rich *''The Climb'' (1986) - Hermann Kollensperger *'' Tadpole and the Whale'' (1988) - Marcel *''Lonely Child: The Imaginary World of Claude Vivier'' (1988) - Claude Vivier, age 26 *''Destiny to Order'' (1989) - Chicout *''The Long Road Home'' (1989) - Michael Posen *'' Wedlock'' (1991) - Puce *''

'' (1993) - Heldon *'' The Mask'' (1994) - Sweet Eddy *''New Crime City'' (1994) - Wizard *''Where Truth Lies'' (1996) - Jonas Kellar *'' Eraser'' (1996) - Technician *''Dead Men Can't Dance'' (1997) - Dennis Larson *''Hidden Agenda'' (1999) - Christoph *''Detonator'' (2003) - Steve Kerwin (final film role)

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forest, Denis 1960 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Canadian male actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Male actors from Ottawa Franco-Ontarian people Dora Mavor Moore Award winners