Robert Forster Dead: Quentin Tarantino Admits Casting Late Actor in ‘Jackie Brown’ Was ‘One Of The Best Choices’ Ever Made

Jackie Brown director Quentin Tarantino remembered the late Robert Foster as a “good man” and called casting Forster in the film one of the best decisions he ever made. Tarantino revived Forster’s career by casting him as the bail bondsman Max Cherry, who fell in love with Pam Grier’s title character. Forster died Friday at age 78.

“Today the world is left with one less gentlemen,” Tarantino said in a statement to Deadline. “One less square shooter. One less good man. One less wonderful father. One less marvelous actor. I remember all the breakfasts we had at silver spoons. All the stories. All the kind words. All the support. Casting Robert Forster in Jackie Brown was one of the best choices I’ve ever made in my life. I will miss you dearly my old friend.”

“Bye bye Max. Bye bye Miles. Bye bye Bob,” Tarantino wrote, referring to Forster’s character in Jackie Brown and Forster’s role in the 1970s TV series Banyon.

Other Forster collaborators, including those who worked with him on Jackie Brown, mourned his death.

“RIP Robert Forster!! A truly class act/ Actor,” Samuel L. Jackson, who played Ordell in the film, tweeted.

“Robert Forester: Pam, call me when ya get into town. I’ll take you to my fave place for breakfast. We’ll catch up…….” Grier tweeted.

Forster’s career was stuck in obscurity at the time Tarantino cast him in Jackie Brown. The 1997 film made Forster, who started working in Hollywood in the late 1960s, suddenly an in-demand actor. Forster even earned the film’s only Oscar nomination. He lost the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Good Will Hunting star Robin Williams.

In 2011, Forster told IndieWire Tarantino was responsible for the success he found late in his career.

“Here was a guy who liked me when he was growing up, who decided he was going to put me back to work, and he has given me a huge, huge gift,” Forster said at the time. “And these last 14 years have been filled with the fruits of that gift. So if you start out with great material and a guy who takes care of you on the set, and then in post, and even after, and here we are. I’m still alive, and it’s been a great run.”

Forster made more than 100 movies, including El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. In the film, Forster reprised the role of Ed, who first appeared in the Breaking Bad episode “Granite State.” The film, which continued the events of the AMC series, was released on Friday, hours before Forster’s death.

Forster also filmed an episode of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, a project in development for Apple TV+.

The actor is survived by his third wife, Evie, and children Elizabeth, Katherine, Maeghen and Robert.

Photo credit: Duffy-Marie Arnoult/WireImage/Getty Images