Mark Forest
{{Short description|American actor and bodybuilder (1933–2022)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mark Forest
| image = Lou Degni 1955.png
| image_caption = Forest in 1955
| birth_name = Lorenzo Luis Degni
| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|01|06}}
| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|01|07|1933|01|06}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Bodybuilder, film actor}}
Lou Degni (January 6, 1933 – January 7, 2022), known professionally as Mark Forest, was an American actor and bodybuilder — widely known as the protagonist in a series of 1960s sword and sandal or peplum movies — including his recurring role as Maciste.[http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/gallery-of-ironmen-mark-forest/ Mark Forest] at Ironman Magazine
Life and career
Born Lorenzo Louis (Lou) Degni in Brooklyn, NY, Forest was a third generation Italian-American; his grandparents were from Naples.{{cite web
|title = È morto Mark Forest, Ercole e Maciste dei peplum anni 60
|publisher = Repubblica
|author =
|date = January 10, 2022
|url = https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/cinema/2022/01/10/news/e_morto_mark_forest_il_maciste_di_cinecitta_-333315512/}} He began bodybuilding at 13, subsequently opening his own gym in Long Island. A talent scout saw his picture and invited him to Hollywood to audition for the role of Tarzan. Though he did not get the part, he became a member of the musclemen troupe in Mae West's Las Vegas stage show. During this time he entered numerous weightlifting competitions, winning the title of "Mr. Muscle Beach" in Venice, California.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/gallery-of-ironmen-mark-forest|title = Gallery of Ironmen: Mark Forest -|date = February 2003}}
After the worldwide success of Hercules, he became the second American actor recruited by Italian producers (after Steve Reeves), and was signed to a three-picture contract with La vendetta di Ercole (retitled Goliath and the Dragon) as his first film for the US market. At this time Degni began using the pseudonym Mark Forest, and using his advantage of speaking fluent Italian prior to arriving in Europe. For the English version of the film he was dubbed by Jackson Beck who voiced Bluto in the Popeye cartoons.Schiller, Ralph The Complete Films of Broderick Crawford Lulu Press, Inc, 27 Feb. 2016
Forest continued in the peplum genre, active in Rome from 1961-1965, leaving the cinema to pursue a career as a European opera singer (tenor), skilled in the bel canto technique, instructed by Giovanni Millo, composer and former tenor of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, father of the lyric soprano Aprile Millo. In his later years, Forest became a vocal coach in Studio City, California.p. 165 Bondanella, Peter A History of Italian Cinema A&C Black, 12 Oct 2009
He later lived in Arleta, California, and died on January 7, 2022, a day after his 89th birthday.{{cite web |title=Mark Forest (1933–2022) |url=http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/markforest.html |website=Brian's Drive-In Theater |access-date=9 January 2022 |date=8 January 2022}}{{cite news |title=Der Sandalenfilm-Star Mark Forest ist gestorben |url=https://www.rheinpfalz.de/kultur_artikel,-der-sandalenfilm-star-mark-forest-ist-gestorben-_arid,5300908.html?reduced=true |access-date=9 January 2022 |publisher=Die Rheinpfalz |date=9 January 2022}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | The Egyptian | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1960 | Goliath and the Dragon | Ercole / Emilius the Goliath | |
| 1960 | Son of Samson | rowspan="3"|Maciste - Son of Hercules | |
| 1961 | Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules | ||
| 1962 | Colossus of the Arena | ||
| 1963 | Goliath and the Sins of Babylon | Maciste / Goliath / Marcellus | |
| 1963 | Hercules Against the Mongols | rowspan="2"|Maciste | |
| 1964 | The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules | ||
| 1964 | Hercules Against the Barbarians | Maciste / Hercules | |
| 1964 | The Lion of Thebes | Arian | |
| 1964 | Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun | Hercules | |
| 1964 | The Magnificent Gladiator | Hercules / Attalus | |
| 1965 | Kindar the Invulnerable | Kindar | (final film role) |
References
- {{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Howard|title=Cinema Italiano - The Complete Guide From Classics To Cult|publisher=I.B.Tauris|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84885-608-0 |location=London - New York}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0286127}}
- [http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/markforest.html Mark Forest] at Brians Drive in Theater
{{Physical culture}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forest, Mark}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male bodybuilders
Category:American male film actors
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:Male actors from Brooklyn
Category:People associated with physical culture