Veteran actor Forrest Compton, known for The Edge of Night, dies of coronavirus

Veteran actor Forrest Compton, best known for playing the role of district attorney Mike Karr in the long-running soap opera The Edge of Night, has died due to coronavirus complications.

Veteran actor Forrest Compton, best known for playing the role of district attorney Mike Karr in the long-running soap opera The Edge of Night, has died due to coronavirus complications at the age of 94.

Forrest Compton’s other credits include The Twilight Zone, That Girl, Mayberry RFD, and Hogan’s Heroes.

According to the Shelter Island Reporter, close friends of Compton confirmed he died on Sunday. Born in 1925 in Pennsylvania's Reading, the actor served with the 103rd Infantry Division in France during World War II.

He then went on to enrol in Swarthmore College where he studied pre-law and political science before switching to English. From there on, Compton started acting in school theatre productions before he graduated and made his way to study acting at the Yale Drama School alongside his classmate, cinema legend Paul Newman.

Besides The Edge of Night, Compton appeared on the CBS series Gomer Pyle: USMC as the no-nonsense Lieutenant Colonel Edward Gray. The show also starred Jim Nabors and Frank Sutton.

The actor also has a few popular soap operas to his credit such as As the World Turns, One Lie to Live and All My Children. Compton featured in a recurring role on the NBC series The Troubleshooters and also appeared alongside Christopher Walken in McBain, the 1991 film.

His TV credits include The Twilight Zone, That Girl, Mayberry RFD, and Hogan’s Heroes.

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