Birthday: Jul 15, 1961

Birthplace: Longview, Texas

Biography: Whitaker's first onscreen role of note was in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High alongside the likes of Judge Reinhold, Nicolas Cage, and Phoebe Cates. He followed with notable roles in Platoon, Good Morning, Vietnam, and The Color of Money. In 1988, Forest played the role of musician Charlie Parker in the Clint Eastwood directed film, Bird, for which he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. Whitaker was originally called upon to write and direct a live-action movie adaptation of Bill Cos... ... (read more...) by's cartoon, Fat Albert, but differences between the two led to Whitaker leaving production. Whitaker was considered for the role of Dr Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow in Batman Triumphant. However, the film was nixed in pre-production. The film had been expected to take the dark tones of the first two incarnations and Forest was to have been Batman's primary antagonist. In 2002, he was the host and narrator of The Twilight Zone, which lasted one season. In 2006, Whitaker joined the cast of FX's cop serial The Shield, as Lieutenant John Kavanaugh. His performance as a tormented internal affairs cop only strengthened the show's attractiveness to fans and advertisers alike. Whitaker received critical acclaim for his peformance as dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland. He will be a guest star in the October 19, 2006 episode of ER.