Born John Lincoln Freund on 29 January 1918 Penn's Grove, New Jersey, USA

Deceased on April 1st in Santa Ynez, CA USA to complication from pneumonia

The son of a Wall Street businessman, the New Jersey-born John Forsythe, graduated from the University of North Carolina, and then moved to New York City where he began his career as a sports announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbet's Field, and segued into radio acting.  He then auditioned and became one of the original members of the prestigious Actors Studio.  His first Broadway appearances in “Vickie” and “Yankee Point” led to a motion picture contract with Warner Bros. and his Hollywood debut with Cary Grant in “Destination Tokyo.”

After enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, Forsythe was selected for the cast of “Winged Victory,” Moss Hart's all service Broadway stage musical.  From there he went on to starring roles in such notable Broadway productions as “Yellow Jack,” “It Takes Two,” “All My Sons,” “Mr. Roberts,” the Pulitzer Prize winning “Teahouse of the August Moon” and Gore Vidal's “Weekend.”  And many years later in Los Angeles, he starred in “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial,” directed by Henry Fonda. While still in New York, Forsythe participated in many of the notable live television shows, including “Studio One,” “Philco Playhouse,” “Kraft Theatre” and “Robert Montgomery Presents.”

Upon moving to Los Angeles, Forsythe began receiving the first of numerous Emmy nominations while starring in the television series “Bachelor Father” from 1957 to 1962.  At the same time, he continued to work in feature films, including Robert Wise's “Captive City,” “It Happens Every Thursday” with Loretta Young, “The Glass Web,” and two Alfred Hitchcock films, “The Trouble with Harry” and “Topaz.”  He also starred in “The Ambassador's Daughter,” “Madame X,” Truman Capote's “In Cold Blood,”  “The Happy Ending,”  “And Justice For All” and “Scrooged.”

Television appearances since joining “Dynasty” include hosting numerous Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and People's Choice Awards telecasts and serving as the master of ceremonies for various television shows, including the prestigious 1986 “Christmas in Washington” special and for the “George Burns: 80 Years in Show Business” special.  Over the years, Forsythe has starred in numerous “Hallmark Hall of Fame” television films and television movies, including “Amelia Earhart,” “Opposites Attract” and “On Fire,” for which he also served as executive producer.  He was also the host of the long-running syndicated nature series “World of Survival.”  In addition, he starred in “Dynasty: the Mini-Series,” recreating his role as Blake Carrington for the reunion show and appeared for two seasons as the on-camera host for “I Witness Video.”

Forsythe also served as executive producer, director and host-narrator of a one-hour film documentary on the life and career of legendary jockey Bill Shoemaker entitled “Nice Guys Finish First” and he appeared as host and narrator of four one-hour documentaries for Turner Broadcasting called  “Portrait of Great Britain.”  He also narrated the documentary entitled, “The Song of the Basque,” by the award winning documentary producer, Edmund Penney.

Mr. Forsythe was actively interested in ecology, and was a spokesperson and sponsor of the World Wildlife Fund.  He supported the American Cancer Society and the United Nations Association. He also owned, bred and raced thoroughbred horses and was Vice President of Hollywood Park Racetrack in Los Angeles for four years and was a member of the Board of Directors at the same racetrack for eleven years.

John Forsythe was married three times - First, very briefly to Parker McCormick (1938-1940), then to Julie Warren (1943 until her death in 1994) and Nicole Carter-Forsythe. He had two daughters, Page and Brooke (with Julie); as well as a son named Dall (with Parker).

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