Farrah Forke, known for her role as Alex Lambert on the sitcom Wings, and Mayson Drake on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, has passed away. She was 54.
The actress’ family announced that she died on Friday, February 25th, at her home in Texas after a long battle with cancer. “Farrah was fierce, tender, loyal, loving, strong, funny, smart, protective, kind, passionate and utterly irreplaceable,” her family said in a statement. “She brought a light so great to the world that even after her passing, the light remains.”
Farrah Forke’s career
A Texas native, Forke entered the world of acting with a role in a Texas production of the musical The Rocky Horror Show. After moving to New York to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute, she made her feature debut in the 1991 film Brain Twisters.
Forke became more popular after landing the role of Alex Lambert on NBC’s Wings. She was introduced as a recurring cast member in season 4 of the (1992-1993) sitcom and was promoted to series regular for the show’s season 5 (1993-1994). Forke reprised her role in season 6 (1994-1995) as a guest star. A helicopter pilot, Alex was a love interest for Tim Daly’s Joe Hackett and Steven Weber’s Brian Hackett. Alex ultimately ended up choosing Brian.
For DC fans, Forke was Mayson Drake, a recurring character in season 2 (1994-1995) of the ABC series Lois and Clark: The New Adventure of Superman. Mayson was an attorney who considers Dean Cain’s Superman a vigilante but holds a candle for Clark Kent. Her character was killed in a car bombing.
Fast-forward to the 2000s, Forke returned to the Superman universe when she voiced the character Big Barda in two episodes of Batman Beyond in 2000, and in an episode of Justice League Unlimited in 2005. Both animated series are set in the same universe as Superman: The Animated Series.
Forke’s other notable acting credits include the 1994 erotic thriller movie Disclosure, 1995 drama film Heat, the short-lived 1995 CBS sitcom Dweebs, and the comedy series Mr. Rhodes, which ran from 1996 to 1997 on NBC.
Farrah Forke’s retirement from acting
In an interview with ETruth, Forke revealed she eventually decided to step away from acting and Hollywood after realizing she had enough of the Los Angeles lifestyle. “I lost it,” Farrah said. “I was in the middle of that movie, but I had to get out of L.A.”
The movie mentioned by Forke was It Is What It Is, which was screened at the New York International Film Festival in 2003. Though the film was not shown on a broadcast network or the big screen, Forke considered it as the “best work” she had ever done.
After leaving L.A., Forke visited her father in New Mexico, where she resided for quite some time. Apparently, she moved back to Texas, in Houston specifically, where she died.