Doctor Clayton Forrester (War of the Worlds)
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| Dr. Clayton Forrester | |
|---|---|
 Gene Barry as Dr. Clayton Forrester |
|
| First appearance | The War of the Worlds |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | Death age = 68 |
| Year of birth | January 6, 1920 Sacramento, California, US |
| Year of death | December 15, 1988 Los Angeles, California, US |
| Occupation | Scientist |
| Title | Doctor |
| Family | Dr. James Forrester (father) Lewis Forrester (grandfather) |
| Portrayed by | Gene Barry |
| Created by | Byron Haskin |
Doctor Clayton Forrester is a fictional scientist in the 1953 science fiction film The War of the Worlds, the first film adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. The character is played by Gene Barry.
Forrester was born in California, he started as an doctor in 1947. He was an succesfull scientist and infact became the nickname of The Chief of Science. In October 1953 a unusual meteor hit California in the suburbs and was so hot that it'll burn anything that touches it, then people from the police and other pedestrians arrive at the crash sight. When a miner comes with a shovel and starts to hit the meteor with his shovel and suddenly some parts break off, it is hot fire. Then the people leave, just leaving 3 people behind to see if anything happens to the meteor. After the meteor opens and a weird looking thing appears out of it and kills the 3 people left behind and causes a huge commosion to the hole world then little space ships appear and take out the army by shooting green and red bullets like aliens do. What can Dr. Forrester do? just save the world. Some how the aliens die from breathing in the human atmosphere and half of the world is destroyed.
[edit] Television Series
The television series War of the Worlds (developed as a sequel to the film, not the original Wells novel) makes a number of references to Forrester, but does not actually feature the character. The show's back-story establishes that Dr. Forrester adopted a young boy, Harrison Blackwood, who was orphaned during the conflict in the film. (Blackwood's parents were Forrester's colleagues at the Pacific Institute of Technology.) Forrester's discovery that the aliens, believed to have been killed by common bacteria, were still alive, has led to his professional downfall, but Blackwood has assumed his role as leader of new fight against the invaders. Forrester's research is occasionally mentioned and proves useful at times throughout the ensuing battles with the aliens. There is also frequent mention of an "Ezekiel Project" that Clayton was in charge of, though nothing is truly revealed about this secret project.
Harrison's statement in the first season that Sylvia Van Buren, Forrester's budding love interest in the film, was practically a mother to him implies that Forrester and Van Buren never married (she is even referred to as "Ms. Van Buren"), and speaks of their relationship as though the two were nothing more than professional work associates. This conflicts with a second season episode in which Harrison refers to her as "Mrs. Forrester" and includes a scene with a young Harrison in the same household as Sylvia. Because of the various other conflicting information in the second season with the first season, this isn't necessarily considered canonical. The film takes several liberties with the source material; rather than taking place in early 20th century England, the film is set in mid-century California. Clayton Forrester is the main character in the film, taking up half of the role assumed by an unnamed narrator in the original novel (Cedric Hardwicke provides the narration). Forrester is a respected scientist on a fishing holiday who gets caught up in an invasion from Mars, as well as falling in love with Ann Robinson's character Sylvia Van Buren.
[edit] Forrester's Death After
Though absent from the series, Forrester is integrated into the novelization of the pilot episode. In it, after the Blackwood Project has been formed and begins their efforts, Forrester himself is given a rejuvenated lease on life, only to suffer from a fatal heart attack. However, Dr. Blackwood later states in the early episode "Thy Kingdom Come" that Sylvia's mental collapse transpired after Forrester's death, indicating that he had passed away quite some time before the series began.
[edit] External links
| The War of the Worlds | |
|---|---|
| Battles | Horsell Offensive • Battle of Pine Summit • Battle of Weybridge/Shepperton • Fall of London • HMS Thunder Child |
| Martians | Black Smoke • Embankment-machine • Flying-machine • Handling-machine • Heat-Ray • Red weed • Tripod |
| Radio | The War of the Worlds • Grover's Mill • The Night That Panicked America |
| Films | The War of the Worlds • H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds • H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds • War of the Worlds |
| Jeff Wayne | Musical • Musical Highlights • Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds |
| Television Series | War of the Worlds (Mor-Tax • Mor-Taxan • List of War of the Worlds episodes) |
| Sequels | Edison's Conquest of Mars • Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds • Scarlet Traces • War of the Worlds: New Millennium |
| Miscellaneous | Doctor Clayton Forrester • Comic • The Space Machine • Superman • Arcade game |
