LOS ANGELES — Veteran gay talent agent David Forest has died at the age of 66.
Forest, who for years promoted “private meeting” connection services through sites like MaleAdultStars.com and IWannaMeetaPornStar.com and repping gay porn stars like Zeb Atlas, passed away from the side effects of diabetes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Forest was a showman with 35 years in the gay porn biz who consistently got the word out about his enterprises.
He regularly sent out his opinionated “From the Desk of David Forest” columns to those in the trade — even after breaking two bones in his leg and suffering a massive heart attack earlier this summer.
“The trees in the ‘Forest’ are still standing tall,” Forest wrote in a July 24 column post. “A broken leg and a heart attack can’t keep me down.”
Forest, always seemingly wearing an Aloha shirt, was born in Long Beach and went to work for Bill Graham's Millard Agency in San Francisco at Fillmore West where he handled the Grateful Dead and Santana.
Later he ended up promoting the Moody Blues, Leon Russell, Carole King, James Taylor, Crosby Stills, Nash & Young and The Carpenters.
He moved on to book acts for the Whisky a Go Go and the Starwood in West Hollywood, Calif., before entering the gay porn space.
Three years ago, Forest chronicled his career from mainstream rock promoter to gay porn talent agent in “From Rock to Cock,” available here.
A “celebration of life service” will be Friday at 11 a.m. at Hillside Mortuary in Los Angeles.
