RIP Henderson Forsythe

[Penelope]

Henderson Forsythe, 88, Character Actor, Dies
By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Henderson Forsythe, an accomplished character actor who demonstrated his versatility in plays by dramatists like O'Neill, Beckett and Pinter and in rollicking musicals, movies and television — including 31 years on the soap opera "As the World Turns," died on Monday at his home in Williamsburg Landing, Va. He was 88.

His death was announced by the Nelson Funeral Home of Williamsburg, Va.

Mr. Forsythe was acclaimed for his portrayal of Ed Earl Dodd, the earthy, profane sheriff in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." He won the 1979 Tony Award for outstanding featured actor in a musical for the role, and when he reprised the role in London, was nominated there for actor of the year in a musical.

In a mostly disparaging article on the Broadway production, Walter Kerr wrote in The New York Times, "When there are laughs, it's Mr. Forsythe who gets them."

Mr. Kerr praised Mr. Forsythe as an actor, singer and dancer, calling him "a triple-threat fellow."

Mr. Forsythe created roles, although seldom leads, in many significant plays. These included "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "A Delicate Balance," "The Texas Trilogy" and "The Birthday Party."

Millions of fans of "As the World Turns," knew Mr. Forsythe's character, Dr. David Stewart, as if he were a family member. From the time he replaced Ernest Graves, who briefly played Dr. Stewart, in December 1960, Mr. Forsythe saw his character through almost innumerable twists and turns, none more intriguing than when he almost married a second wife while suffering from amnesia in 1981. Dr. Stewart died in 1991.

Mr. Forsythe had roles in movies including "Silkwood (1983)" and "End of the Line" (1988). His television appearances ranged from playing Dr. Kildare's father to roles in episodes of "Law & Order" to Big Bud, a crotchety old geezer, in "Eisenhower and Lutz," a 1988 series.

In one episode, Big Bud recounts that he took some sushi home once. He said he "fried it up and wasn't half bad."

In interviews, Mr. Forsythe insisted he did not consider acting in a soap opera to be beneath him. "It's the variety that makes it interesting," he told The Associated Press in 1979.

But his first love remained serious theater, though in 1994 he played a reincarnated Col. Harland Sanders in commercials for KFC restaurants. In 1993, Ben Brantley of The New York Times, in reviewing "A Quarrel of Sparrows," said Mr. Forsythe's character, a harpist, "suggests an updated aesthete-bachelor version of the aphorism-spouting sages Lionel Barrymore used to play."

Mr. Forsythe was born on Sept. 11, 1917, in Macon, Mo., where he first studied theater, ran track and worked in his family's filling station and produce company. He transferred from Culver-Stockton College in 1938 to the University of Iowa, where he appeared in many productions, earned his undergraduate degree and was a classmate of Tennessee Williams.

The University of Iowa said he was the first person to earn a master's in fine arts from its theater department. He met Dorothea Maria Carlson at the university and they married in 1942.

He was in the Army in Europe during World War II. After he returned, he and his wife, an actress, spent nine years with the Erie Playhouse in Pennsylvania.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Forsythe is survived by his sons Eric, of Iowa, and Jason, of New Jersey, and four grandchildren.