Biografie

Member of the Triple Nine Society, a high-IQ organization for persons whose IQ is in the 99.9th percentile.

Once worked as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman.

One of his last film roles, El Camino: Ein Breaking Bad Film (2019), was released on the day of his death.

Father of three daughters, with June Forster, Elizabeth (born 1967) Kate Forster (born 1969) and Maeghen (born 1972).

Attended University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. Majored in psychology.

[about luck in the movie business] I'm not sure how a guy wins or loses in this business, but somebody's got to come along and make you lucky. You can't do it yourself.

[about his character in Jackie Brown (1997)] This is the great noir hero. If Humphrey Bogart or Robert Mitchum were around today, they'd be playing that role.

[about the rules to succeed in Hollywood] Step #1 is you've got to have a good attitude, Step # 2 is accept all things, deliver excellence to whatever is offered, give it your best shot. And rule #3 is never quit. It's not over 'til it's over.

[about Quentin Tarantino and his relationship with the cast] This guy is very smart, and he's great to his actors. He wants them to be great. He keeps the stuff fresh. When he gave me the script [for Jackie Brown (1997)] he knew I hadn't had a big part like this in 25 years and he said, "Here, read this, and don't put any pressure on yourself. Just prepare the way you normally prepare." And I said, "Oh, what a liberating thing." This guy is totally secure. He doesn't seem to be worried about anything. He's as good a guy as I have ever worked with. He screened movies once a week for his crew. One of them was American Perfect (1997), a recent indie film I did. The last week of production he threatened to screen it for the crew and I said to him, "Listen, there's a tiny bit of 'adult content' in this, so I don't want to hear any catcalls. I don't know if this is the right thing to screen." He got on the walkie-talkie and said, "Hey, anybody who wants to see Forster naked come on in!"

[about his comeback and the comparison with John Travolta's career turn in Pulp Fiction (1994)] If I get 10% of John Travolta's bounce, I will be thrilled.