Screen wife Collins leads tributes to Forsythe

Joan Collins led tributes to John Forsythe, the actor who made his fortune as the scheming oil tycoon in 'Dynasty' and the voice of the leader of 'Charlie's Angels', who died after a year-long battle with cancer.

Forsythe, 92, died at his home in Santa Ynez, California, from complications of pneumonia, his publicist Harlan Boll said yesterday.

"He died as he lived his life, with dignity and grace," his daughter Brooke Forsythe said.

Despite his distinguished work in theatre and films, Forsythe's greatest fame came from his role as Blake Carrington in producer Aaron Spelling's 1981-89 prime-time soap opera 'Dynasty'.

The tale of murder, deceit, adultery and high finance often brought Carrington into conflict with his flashy, vengeful ex-wife Alexis Colby, played to the hilt by Collins.

"He was one of the last of the true gentlemen of the acting profession," Collins said. "I enjoyed our nine years of feuding, fussing and fighting as the Carringtons."

Heather Locklear, another 'Dynasty' co-star, called him "a gifted actor who knew the true meaning of being gracious and kind".

Forsythe was an important part of another hit Spelling series without being seen. From 1976 to 1981 he played the voice of Charlie, the boss who delivered assignments to his beautiful detectives, including Farrah Fawcett, via telephone in 'Charlie's Angels'.

"We were so happy when he agreed to be the voice of Charlie and he always laughed about having to take a back seat to Farrah's hair," Spelling's widow Candy said.

Forsythe evidenced little of the ego drive that motivates many actors. He viewed himself with a self-effacing humour, considering himself "a vastly usable, not wildly talented actor".

In a 1981 interview he said: "I figure there are a few actors like Marlon Brando, George C Scott and Laurence Olivier who have been touched by the hand of God. I'm in the next bunch."

With his full head of silver hair, tanned face and soothing voice, Forsythe, as Carrington, then in his 60s, captivated millions of female television viewers.

New Jersey-born Forsythe had small roles in a couple of films in the early 1940s, but his first successes were mainly on the stage.

A role in Arthur Miller's 'All My Son's led to the awesome task of replacing Henry Fonda in Mister Roberts and he was next able to create a role of his own, as the naive army officer in occupied Okinawa in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'The Teahouse Of The August Moon'.

But the call to Hollywood was irresistible and Forsythe came west to star in such films as 'The Captive City', 'The Glass Web' and 'Escape From Fort Bravo'.

His best break came in 1955 when he starred in Alfred Hitchcock's one attempt at whimsy, 'The Trouble With Harry', about a corpse that kept turning up in a New England town.

His later films included 'Madame X' opposite Lana Turner and 'In Cold Blood' and Hitchcock's spy thriller 'Topaz'.

In a departure for the actor, director Norman Jewison cast him as a judge with a kinky sex life in 'And Justice For All', in 1979 - a role Forsythe credited for causing him to be considered as the unscrupulous Carrington in 'Dynasty'.

"The producers didn't know what the hell they wanted," Forsythe recalled. "They talked to me in terms of JR in Dallas. I said: 'Look fellas, I don't want to play JR'.

"Part of my strength as an actor comes from what I've learned all these years: when you play a villain, you try to get the light touches; when you play a hero, you try to get in some of the warts."