John Forsythe made authority sound reassuring, even when the man exercising it deserved suspicion. We rate his calm, polished presence most when a role gives us reason to question the good manners.
Fi1m perspective
John Forsythe's voice suggests a man accustomed to being heard without having to raise it. Casting him as Lew Hayward, the ghostly mentor in Scrooged (1988), puts that reassuring familiarity to mischievous use. We enjoyed the ghosts' bite more than the attempted warmth, because the harsher comedy suits a film whose chief pleasure is Bill Murray's bad temper.
Television had made that voice sufficient in itself. As the unseen Charlie Townsend in Charlie's Angels (1976–1981), Forsythe could establish authority without appearing on screen. His earlier prominence as Bentley Gregg in Bachelor Father (1957–1962) gave way to the grander surroundings of Blake Carrington in Dynasty (1981–1989). He appeared in every episode of the latter, a dependable centre for a programme that made extensive use of his polished bearing.
His film work offered opportunities to unsettle that comfortable impression. Alfred Hitchcock cast him as Sam Marlowe in The Trouble with Harry (1955) and worked with him again on Topaz (1969). Richard Brooks used him as investigator Alvin Dewey in In Cold Blood (1967), while ...And Justice for All (1979) placed him opposite Al Pacino as the corrupt Judge Henry T. Fleming. That departure from amiability helped lead to his casting in Dynasty, where authority became his defining business.
The reservation is that familiarity can do too much of the acting. A well-dressed man with Forsythe's reassuring voice arrives with his importance already established, and we sometimes want more than the assurance that he belongs behind the desk. His casting as Fleming makes particular sense because it gives us a reason to distrust precisely those qualities. Respectability needs some pressure applied to it.
Scrooged supplies a less solemn setting for that idea, though Richard Donner's uneven comedy is no reason to overstate Forsythe's contribution. His supporting appearance as Hayward belongs to a film we find decent rather than essential, and Murray supplies most of its pleasure. Try it for an encounter with Forsythe outside his familiar television roles, but allow for Donner's difficulty in making Christmas kindness as entertaining as cruelty.
Biography
John Forsythe was an American actor who worked in theatre, film and television. Born Jacob Lincoln Freund on 29 January 1918 in Penns Grove, New Jersey, he began his career on stage and appeared in early films including The Trouble with Harry (1955).
He achieved his greatest success on television, starring as Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father (1957–1962), providing the voice of the unseen Charles Townsend in Charlie's Angels (1976–1981) and its later films, and playing Blake Carrington in the soap opera Dynasty (1981–1989). He also hosted the documentary series World of Survival (1971–1977).
Forsythe's other notable film roles include appearances in In Cold Blood (1967), Topaz (1969), ...And Justice for All (1979) and Scrooged (1988). He died on 1 April 2010.
