Michael Forest is an American actor and voice actor, born Gerald Michael Charlebois on April 17, 1929, in Harvey, North Dakota. He began his career in live-action film and television, appearing in series such as Star Trek, where he played the god Apollo in the episode Who Mourns for Adonais?, The Outer Limits, and Gunsmoke. He later became a prolific voice actor, contributing extensively to the English dubbing of Japanese anime from the 1990s through the 2010s. Forest is also known by the pseudonym Alfred Thor for some of his voice work.

Forest's voice can be heard in a wide array of anime films and series. In the film Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato, he voiced the character General Gorse. He played Braya Mattingly in the film Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers, a role he also originated in the Eureka Seven television series. In the Ghost in the Shell franchise, he provided the voice of Kubota, an intelligence officer, appearing in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, its second season 2nd GIG, and the film Solid State Society. He voiced Dr. Seijiro Inui in the acclaimed film Paprika and Frederick Ohara in Armitage: Dual-Matrix. His other notable roles include Aichi Shibosawa in the OVA Doomed Megalopolis, Alex Rosewater in The Big O, and various characters in the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, such as Captain Paolo Cassius in the compilation films and Charlie in War in the Pocket.

Throughout his career, Forest frequently collaborated with prominent anime dubbing studios and directors, becoming a familiar voice in dubs produced by Streamline Pictures, Animaze, and Bang Zoom! Entertainment. His deep and authoritative voice led him to be frequently cast in roles of authority, such as emperors, kings, scientists, and military officers. In addition to anime, his extensive voice work includes characters in Western animation, video games like the Dynasty Warriors series, and live-action projects such as Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, where he voiced the villain Olympius under his Alfred Thor alias.