Bette Midler Reveals ‘Beloved’ Co-Star Frederic Forrest Has Died at 86

Acclaimed actor Frederic Forrest has died at age 86. Bette Midler, his co-star in The Rose, for which he received an Academy Award nomination, shared the news Friday night.

“The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died. Thank you to all of his fans and friends for all their support these last few months. He was a remarkable actor, and a brilliant human being, and I was lucky to have him in my life. He was at peace.”

Forrest starred in dozens of films during his career, including Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The Two Jakes, One From The Heart, The Missouri Breaks and Falling Down.

Born in Waxahachie, Texas in 1936 he moved to New York as an adult where he was tutored by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Forrest landed a small role in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation in 1974, which began a long working relationship between the two.

Coppola paid tribute to the actor in a statement after hearing about his death.

“Freddie Forrest was a sweet, much beloved person, a wonderful actor and a good friend,” he wrote. “His loss is heartbreaking to me.”

He famously played Chef in Apocalypse Now in 1979, the same year he starred alongside Midler as limo driver Huston Dyer, who begins a whirlwind romance with her rock singer Mary Rose Foster in The Rose. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

He also starred in the first season of 21 Jump Street alongside Johnny Depp as Captain Richard Jenko.

Forrest was married to Nancy Ann Whittaker from 1960 to 1963, and he was later married to the actress Marilu Henner in 1980. They divorced in 1983.