Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 20, 1993 TAG: 9302200357
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JERRY BUCK ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FORMIDABLE TV DEBUT
WILLIAM Forsythe, elegantly clad in a dark suit and shirt, his black hair combed straight back, looked like Al Capone holding court in a restaurant corner.If a few henchmen had been standing around clutching submachine guns, it might have been a scene from the new syndicated series "The Untouchables."
But it was not 1930s Chicago. Instead, Forsythe, who plays the gangster, was talking about his role in modern-day Los Angeles.
"In the past couple of years, I've been dressing up," he said, referring to his off-duty attire. "I go from suit suits to business suits. I don't mess around with anything in between."
This is the third incarnation of "The Untouchables," previously a hit television series starring Robert Stack and later a motion picture with Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Robert De Niro.
Tom Amandes plays Eliot Ness to Forsythe's "Scarface" in the one-hour show, syndicated across the country by Paramount Television. (It airs at 1:30 a.m. Saturdays and at 11:45 p.m. Sundays on WDBJ-Channel 7.)
"After I got the role, I took off for some research," said Forsythe, whose piercing eyes and prominent chin give him a formidable presence. He played a gangster in "Once Upon a Time in America" and Flattop in the movie "Dick Tracy."
"I went back to Brooklyn," he said. "Capone and I grew up about a mile and a half apart. I went to P.S. 133, where he went to school, and to the church where he was married. I took the walk he took to school. I went to the corner of Union and Fourth Avenue, where he got his first job at 11 running errands for Johnny Torrio.
"I wanted to take the paths he took. I went to Mass at St. Mary's by the Sea. I talked to people who knew him. Al was a regular kid who had a shoeshine kit. He said other kids beat him up and took his shoeshine kit. Later, looking back, he said that was the turning point that led him into a life of crime."
Forsythe also stood in a parking lot in Coney Island and studied the site where the Harvard Inn once stood.
"That's where Al Capone got the scar," he said. "I'd have to say that was another turning point. He took a liking to a girl, who told her brother he wouldn't take no for an answer. Al made a remark and the guy pulled a knife and jumped him. He was cut on the cheek and neck."
Forsythe, who has worked mostly on the stage and in movies, said he was reluctant at first to take the role. He's been in such films as "The Waterdance," "American Me," "Patty Hearst," "Weeds," "Raising Arizona," "The Lightship," "Extreme Prejudice," "Stone Cold," "Cloak and Dagger" and "Dead Bang."
He plays what he calls a "smart-talking, big-hearted cop" in the upcoming NBC movie "Bedroom Eyes," with Mimi Rogers and Tim Matheson.
"I was skeptical about television because I'd never worked in it," he said. "Television never seemed like something I wanted to do. But I was drawn to playing Al Capone. Now I'm challenged by TV, the pacing and trying to do quality work within its limits. I met with Christopher Crowe, the executive producer of `The Untouchables,' and found he's as much into history as I am. We spent an hour and a half talking about Chicago and that era.
"They wanted to see something of me on film, so I came in and did five minutes. And five minutes later, I had the job. When I walked outside, Christopher handed me a cigar and said, `Get to work.' "
In the original "The Untouchables," which ran from 1959 to 1963, Capone was featured only in the television drama that inspired the series. But his bloody rise to mob boss is an important part of the current series.
"He rarely behaved like a thug," said Forsythe. "Capone had an incredibly bad temper, but he could also be charming. People liked to hang out with him. One editor told him he was a celebrity. The irony is that was probably the start of his downfall. He became too famous."