Robert Forster, born Robert Wallace Foster, Jr. in Rochester, New York, started his acting career at the University of Rochester in theatre productions. After graduating in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in history, Forster had his first starring role in 1969's Medium Cool. Following his starring roles in the TV series Banyon in 1972 and Nakia in 1974, Forster appeared in several B-movies. His acting career was elevated by his Academy-Award nominated role as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown in 1997, after which he appeared in other successful movies such as 2000's Me, Myself, & Irene, 2002's Like Mike, and 2006's Lucky Number Slevin.
Forster starred in the short lived 2003 crime drama Karen Sisco as the wise father of the main character. Forster appeared in the third season of NBC's Heroes, as Arthur Petrelli, the father of two of the show's main characters. His character has been mentioned by name constantly before his first appearance in the season's fifth episode, "Angels and Monsters". His character was killed off in the twelfth episode, "Our Father", and appeared as a corpse in the following episode, "Dual."
