Art LaForest

born: 24 July 1891 Purington, Illinois, United States of America

died: 21 November 1962 Los Angeles County, California, United States of America (age 71)

Short, muggish American actor, extra, and stuntman, a former lightweight boxer, who worked in films for over four decades. In a 1960 article, LaForest recalled that his first film work was in 1916 at the Lubin Studio in San Diego, as an extra in a film called "Black Sheep" (it is not exactly known which film this actually might be; there was one film in 1916 titled "The Black Sheep of the Family," but it was a Universal film). His film career was interrupted by World War I service, after which he briefly resumed boxing before re-committing to film work full-time. He also had sidelines as a masseur and shoe salesman during his film career. In 1958, he was among 35 veteran extras, all 65 years of age or older, who were given gold life membership cards at the Screen Extras Guild's annual membership meeting that year (also among this group of 35 honorees were Billy Engle, William H. O'Brien, Jeanne Beeks, Jack Deery, Ben Corbett, and Harry Evans). LaForest retired in 1960, with his final film being "North of Alaska" starring John Wayne. After his passing two years later, LaForest was interred at Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach, California. His surname has also been spelled "LaForrest" and "LeForest."

Real name: Joseph Aureal LaForest Height: 5'3¾"

Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

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1932 Scram! Defendant 1932 The Soilers Gangster 1939 The Housekeeper's Daughter Suspect MISCELLANEOUS (click any image to enlarge) Acknowledgements: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H9V4-NMW2 (baptism record) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H9V8-F2ZM (baptism record) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS78-M2N (1900 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVLT-LJW (1910 Census: San Diego, CA) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK8F-2VP (1910 Census: Chicago, IL) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K68K-NBF (WWI draft reg. card) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7QQ3-KL6Z (WWI draft reg. card) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QYW4-4CT2 (WWI record) Aureal La Forest and Sarah Myrtle Blanchard, "Web: Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2022" (Ancestry.com) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQV-5QZ (1920 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCJK-2TT (1930 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K97Y-D6N (1940 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4D8-45F (WWII draft reg. card) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGF-XYCB (1950 Census) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGT2-HC3 (CA Death Index) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JTHQ-PMN (Social Security Death Index) https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPHC-XG8N (U.S. Veterans Adm. Master Index) https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/L4JN-3Q8 (family tree, FamilySearch.org) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157711102 (Find a Grave) https://billiongraves.com/grave/Aureal-A-LaForest/17388046 (BillionGraves) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDDU19160424.2.63 (San Diego Union, 24 Apr 1916) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDDU19160507.2.303 (San Diego Union, 07 May 1916) https://archive.org/details/filmdailyvolume55657newy/page/541/mode/1up?q=%22art+laforest%22&view=theater (The Film Daily, 06 Sep 1931) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/54559856/ (Ironwood Daily Globe, 02 Jun 1944) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/303029766/ (Miami Daily News, 10 Oct 1951) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/433528799/ (Boston Globe, 26 Oct 1951) https://digitalcollections.oscars.org/digital/collection/p15759coll35/id/27812/rec/1 (Academy Players Directory, Aug 1952) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1201876843/ (Houston Chronicle, 18 Jan 1959) https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/869714546/ (Sunday Star [Washington, D.C.], 26 Jun 1960) https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAM19600824-02.1.22 (Los Angeles Mirror, 24 Aug 1960) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?keyword=%22art+laforest%22®ion=us-ca&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?keyword=%22art+leforest%22&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?keyword=%22art+le+forest%22&sort=paper-date-asc (Newspapers.com, search) https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/159606 (BoxRec) Jesse Brisson (bio notes and research; identification in all films) This page was last updated on: 15 September 2025