Farrah Forke, ‘Wings’ Actress, Dies At 54

Actress Farrah Forke died in Houston, Texas on February 25 at 54 due to complications from cancer.

“Farrah was fierce, tender, loyal, loving, strong, funny, smart, protective, kind, passionate, and utterly irreplaceable,” her family wrote. “She brought a light so great to the world that even after her passing, the light remains.”

Forke was best known for her breakout role in Wings, playing pilot Alex Lambert for 35 episodes from 1992 to 1995. She quickly parlayed that role into more TV work through the 90s, being seen as a lawyer for four episodes of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and getting cast in main roles in short-lived sitcoms like Dweebs and Mr. Rhodes.

She also returned to DC properties for voice-over roles on animated shows Batman Beyond and Justice League Unlimited. After working as an actor regularly from 1991 to 2005, Forke retired from acting and moved to Houston to raise her twin sons Chuck and Whit.

Farrah Rachael Forke was born January 12, 1968, in Corpus Christi, Texas. She attended an all-girls private school called the Hockaday School and was a classmate of the singer Lisa Loeb. Her first exposure to acting was through performing in a community production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and that was enough to give her the showbiz bug. She later moved to New York to study at the Lee Strasburg Institute and appear in her first film Brain Twisters in 1991.

While she was most known for TV parts, she also had bit roles in some great films of the time, like playing a news reporter in the 1995 Michael Mann classic Heat and acting in the Barry Levinson film Disclosure. After stepping away from acting, Forke would sometimes make appearances for Superman and Batman fans at comic conventions.

Plenty of fans and former co-stars of Forke’s wrote tributes to the actress. Her former Dweebs co-star, David Kaufman, tweeted a cast photo of the show and said she was “one of the kindest, sweetest humans I ever worked with.”

Forke is survived by sons Chuck and Whit, her mother, stepfather, and her three sisters. The family has said that donations can be made to your favorite charity in honor of her if you wish.