Biography

A tall, willowy, highly attractive blonde, Canadian leading lady Rosemary Forsyth was born in Montreal on July 6, 1943, who moved to New York at age 5 with her divorced mother who found work as a model. Rosemary was keen on the idea of acting and studied drama both in high school. Inspired by her mother, she became a teenage model and attended the Wynn Handman Drama School.

In the mid 1960s, Rosemary attracted the attention of Universal and was groomed for TV and films. The soft, demure beauty with a similar classic elegance and resemblance to Grace Kelly showed quite a bit of promise amid the rugged surroundings as the young ingénue or romantic co-star to a number of top male veterans. James Stewart in Shenandoah (1965) (for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination for "Promising Newcomer"), Charlton Heston in The War Lord (1965), and both Dean Martin and Alain Delon in Texas Across the River (1966) all utilized her services in their respective films.

Marrying actor Michael Tolan in 1966, Rosemary took a leave of absence from filming to have their child, daughter Alexandra. While the occasion, of course, was a joyous and fulfilling one, it managed to put a damper on her career. She returned to filming with the so-so film Where It's At (1969) starring Robert Drivas and the very mediocre Dick Van Dyke comedy vehicle Some Kind of a Nut (1969), never quite reaching the peak prior to her maternity time off.

Rosemary showed up regularly on the small screen, however, in a slew of standard 70s TV-movies and episodic guest roles. On daytime, she took over the role of Laura Horton on Days of Our Lives (1965) from 1976-1980 and also had regular, albeit brief, parts on Santa Barbara (1984) and General Hospital (1963).

In recent years, she has popped up as more and arch matron types on such popular shows as Monk (2002), NYPD Blue (1993), and Without a Trace (2002). She also appeared in several films, often as mom or various professional types, including the crime comedy Exit to Eden (1994), the music dramedy Girl (1998), the dark drama Valerie Flake (1999) and the sci-fi horror Ghosts of Mars (2001). She made her last appearances to date on TV with "Providence," "Boston Public," "Monk," "NYPD Blue" and "Without a Trace," having been last seen featured in the tender family-oriented TV movie Sweet Nothing in My Ear (2008) starring Jeff Daniels and Marlee Matlin.

Rosemary divorced actor/husband Tolan in 1970 and married and divorced twice more and widowed once.
- IMDb mini biography by: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Striking resembance to Grace Kelly.

Once involved with actor David Janssen from 1968-1971. They shared a home at one point.

Was elected to the board of directors of the Screen Actors' Guild in 2003.

Mother, with Michael Tolan, of daughter Alexandra Tolan.

Appears as a psychiatrist in the teaser for I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).

Naturalized U.S. citizen.