Bette Midler Confirms Death of Close Co-Star
Bette Midler is mourning one of her former co-stars.
The Oscar-nominated actress took to Twitter on June 23 and announced that Frederic Forrest, her co-star in the 1979 film The Rose, had passed away. He was 86.
"The great and beloved Frederic Forrest has died," she wrote in her online note. "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."
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Forrest—who was previously nominated for an Oscar for his work as Huston Dyer in the Midler-led film—died while at home in Santa Monica, Calif. While a cause of death has not been revealed, it's believed he passed after battling an unspecified illness.
Specifically, in the fall of 2022, a GoFundMe page was started to help fundraise for caregiving funds for the actor. The page raised over $57,000 and a note from Forrest's friends read, "Thanks to the many generous donations so many friends and fans have made so far, we have been able to maintain Frederic's home care for the past six months by paying caregivers to be with him 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, to maintain his care, we will need to raise additional funds at this time."
The message added, "All the proceeds from this GoFundMe campaign go towards the daily caregiving costs for Frederic. Our goal is to maintain his care for an additional 6 months."
In addition to his work in The Rose, Forrest was best known for his role as Chef Hicks in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, which also starred Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen.
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