Michael Forest, Star Trek's Apollo, dies aged 97

Actor Michael Forest, best known for playing the Greek god Apollo in the original “Star Trek” series, has died. He was 97.

Forest died on Wednesday, according to his friend James A. Brown, who announced the death on Friday in a post on Facebook. “It is with great sadness that I report that we have lost Michael Forest,” Brown wrote. “I knew him as an actor and loved him as a friend.”

Brown shared the statement alongside a photo of himself with Forest — born Gerald Michael Charlebois — and a picture of the nameplate outside the actor’s room, reading “Jerry Charlebois”, at MorningStar Senior Living in Sparks, Nevada, where he had recently been living.

Across more than 200 credits, Forest was best known for playing Apollo in the “Star Trek” episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, which aired in 1967. He later reprised the role in the fan-produced web series “Star Trek Continues” in 2013.

In a 2012 interview with StarTrek.com, Forest recalled reading for the producers three times before being cast, and saying he could not do a British accent but could offer “Mid-Atlantic theater speech”.

Beyond “Star Trek”, Forest worked as a voice actor, starred in B movies produced by Roger Corman, and appeared in television series including “Zorro”, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, “The Twilight Zone” and “Gilligan’s Island”, as well as the 2000 film “Cast Away”. He was also among 40 “Star Trek” actors to appear in Snoop Dogg’s 2020 sci-fi parody “Unbelievable!!!!!”