With his tanned, handsome mien, silver hair and urbane style, John Forsythe has been a recognizable television personality associated with suavity and upper-class elegance since the 1950s. He has made his mark chiefly in debonair paternal parts in several long­ running television series. The actor's distinctive voice and precise diction have also served him well, particularly in parts where the actor was never seen on­ screen, as in the 1970s Aaron Spelling hit Charlie's Angels, in which Forsythe voiced the role of Charlie Townsend, the eponymous employer of a trio of fe­ male detectives.

     Forsythe's first roles permitted him to hone and showcase his vocal talents. After studying at the University of North Carolina, he began his career as a sports announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field and then segued into acting in radio soap operas. Subsequent appearances on Broadway led to a motion picture contract with Warner Brothers and a Hollywood debut with Cary Grant in the film Destination Tokyo.

     After World War II Forsythe went on to starring roles in a number of Broadway productions. While still in New York, he appeared in many of the live television shows based there, such as Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles and took a starring role as a playboy Hollywood attorney responsible for raising his orphaned niece in the television series Bachelor Father, which was broadcast from I 957 to 1962. Forsythe was nominated for an Emmy for this television role, his first as a father figure, and he would be nominated again for his portrayal of the head of the Carrington clan in the hit show Dynasty in the 1980s.

     ABC's answer to hit CBS show Dallas, Dynasty featured Forsythe in the role of patriarch Blake Car­rington, head of a wealthy Denver, Colorado, family, plagued by a scheming ex-wife, a bisexual son, and other tribulations. The show, which ran roughly in tan­ dem with the Reagan era, was known for its opulent at­mosphere, lavish sets and costumes, and typical preoccupation with the problems of the wealthy, rang­ ing from murder and greed to lust and incest. The show, which hit its ratings peak in 1984-85, solidified Forsythe's "nice guy" image even in the role of a ruthless oil magnate, exploring plotlines focusing on his emotional reactions to Joan Collins's villainy, his son's sexuality, and his attempts to maintain the family. Blake Carrington even pitched his own line of cologne in advertisements featuring his love for his wife, who, in a commercial narrative extending from Dynasty, had the fragrance designed for him.

     Forsythe won two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Dramatic Television Series for his work in Dynasty. Since the series ended in 1989, he has recreated his role as Blake Carrington in a reunion movie and appeared as the on-camera host for I Witness Video. He also starred in a 1992-93 series, a political satire sitcom called The Powers That Be and reprised his television role of Charlie for the feature film version of Charlie's Angels in 2000.