Irene Cagen Forrest, a casting director and actress known for playing eccentric, high-strung characters, died July 25, 2010, in Providence, Rhode Island. According to news reports, she had a brain tumor. She was 65.

On television, she is perhaps best known for playing an incompetent secretary on the drama L.A. Law. She also appeared in episodes of Fame and Dead by Sunset, and the TV movies Alien Nation: Millennium and Midnight Run for Your Life.

Her feature film credits include Sitting Ducks, THX1138, Communion, Playing by Heart and Babyfever.

Forrest, who also taught acting, also performed on stage, including productions of the New York Shakespeare Festival. Her Los Angeles theater resume included Lovers and Other Strangers, Poor Little Match Girl and House of Blue Leaves.

In the late 1980s she began a second career as a casting director, working at Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting as Irene Cagen. Her credits included the feature film Masked and Anonymous, the miniseries Kingdom Hospital and A Wrinkle in Time and the weekly series Medium and The 4400. Her independent casting credits include the television series Crash and the feature film Light and the Sufferer, on which she was also executive producer.

Survivors include a brother.