Person Details

Birthday: 1903-12-13 06:06:08

Death: 1976-07-07 06:06:08

Aliases: No known aliases

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Richmond, Indiana

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 96

TV Involvements: 17


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Norman Foster (December 13, 1903 - July 7, 1976) was an American film director and actor. Born John Hoeffer in Richmond, Indiana, Foster originally became a cub reporter on a local newspaper in Indiana before going to New York in the hopes of getting a better newspaper job but there were no vacancies. He tried a number of theatrical agencies before getting stage work and later appeared on Broadway in the George S. Kaufman / Ring Lardner play June Moon in 1929. He has also acted in London, England. He started working in crowd scenes in films before moving to bigger parts. His film acting credits include Prosperity (1932), Pilgrimage (1933), Rafter Romance (1933) with Ginger Rogers and State Fair (1933). He has written several plays. He gave up acting in the late 1930s to pursue directing, although he occasionally appeared in movies and television programs. Some of Foster's directorial efforts include The Sign of Zorro (1958), and the stylish films noir Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948), Woman on the Run (1950) and Journey into Fear (1943). Foster directed Rachel and the Stranger and the Davy Crockett segments of Disneyland that were edited into feature films Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates where he did not accept any interference from Walt Disney. In 1967, he directed Brighty of the Grand Canyon, based on a children's novel by Marguerite Henry about a burro in the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The film starred Joseph Cotten, Karl Swenson, Dick Foran, and Pat Conway. It was rumored that Orson Welles took over direction of Journey Into Fear, which Welles later denied. Foster was the director of the "My Friend Bonito" segment of Orson Welles' Pan-American anthology film It's All True until RKO aborted the project. Foster directed a number of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto mysteries, including Charlie Chan in Panama (1940), Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939), Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939), Charlie Chan in Reno (1939), Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939), Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938), Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938), Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937), and Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937). Foster was married to Claudette Colbert from 1928 until their divorce in 1935. In 1937, he wed actress Sally Blane, an older sister of Loretta Young. The couple remained married until his death in 1976 from cancer in Santa Monica at the age of 75. They had two children, Robert and Gretchen. He is buried in Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery. Description above from the Wikipedia article Norman Foster, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Most Famous Work

Batman
Average
7

Batman

(1966) Director
Zorro
Average
8

Zorro

(1957) Writer
Cavalcade of America
Average
4

Cavalcade of America

(1952) Director
The Green Hornet
Average
7

The Green Hornet

(1966) Director
The Loner
Average
6

The Loner

(1965) Director
Adventures in Paradise
Average
6

Adventures in Paradise

(1959) Director
Bat Masterson
Average
6

Bat Masterson

(1958) Director
Tombstone Territory
Average
6

Tombstone Territory

(1957) Director

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2018 Billy Boyle
Self (archive footage)
1974 Ernest Potter
1972 Abortionist
1971 N/A
1965 (archive footage)
1963 N/A
1954 N/A
1938 Hoodlum in Tavern
1936 Eddie Barton
Eddie Mitchell
Phillip Roberts
Detective Bob Grice
1935 Larry Barker
Bill Farnsworth
Andre Dion
Donald Meadows
Don Phelan
Ralph Hartsook
Detective Lt. Dave Britten
Tony Sheridan
1934 Bill Foster
Fleming
Carlton Myatt
1933 Barnes Ritchie
Jack
Jim 'Jimmy' Jessop (Hannah's son)
Jim Davey
Wayne Frake
1932 John Warren
Wally Baker
Tom Shepherd
Ken Hayes
Maurice Cohen
Jim
Wallace 'Wally' Dennis
Stephan Brenner
Johnny Powell
Alf
1931 Doggie
Hal Evans
Steve Merrick
Jack
Rodney Martin
Douglas Thayer
1930 Toby McLean
1929 N/A
Ted Hanley
Year Character Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
2005 Director
1993 Director
1974 Director
Director
1968 Director
1967 Director
1966 Director
Director
Director
Director
1965 Director
Director
1962 Director
Director
Director
1961 Director
1959 Director
1958 Director
Director
Director
1957 Director
Director
1956 Director
1955 Director
Director
Director
Director
1954 Director
Director
Director
1953 Director
Director
1952 Director
Director
Director
1950 Director
Director
1949 Director
1948 Director
Director
Director
1946 Director
1945 Director
1944 Director
1943 Director
Director
1941 Director
Director
1940 Director
Director
1939 Assistant Director
Director
Director
Director
Director
1938 Director
Director
Director
1937 Director
Director
Director
1936 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

Writing

Production

Year Role Movie/Tv
1962 Associate Producer
Year Role Movie/Tv

Join the discussion

Please Log in to comment