Norman Foster

Norman Foster

Born: December 13, 1903
Died: July 7, 1976
in Richmond, Indiana, USA
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.

Movies for Norman Foster...

The Other Side of the Wind
Title: The Other Side of the Wind
Character: Billy Boyle
Released: November 2, 2018
Type: Movie
Surrounded by fans and skeptics, grizzled director J.J. "Jake" Hannaford returns from years abroad in Europe to a changed Hollywood, where he attempts to make his innovative comeback film. This film was started in 1970 but never completed during Welles lifetime.
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They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Title: They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: August 31, 2018
Type: Movie
As his life comes to its end, famous Hollywood director Orson Welles puts it all on the line at the chance for renewed success with the film The Other Side of the Wind.
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Double Solitaire
Title: Double Solitaire
Character: Ernest Potter
Released: January 16, 1974
Type: Movie
With his parents about to celebrate their wedding anniversary, a middle-aged husband agrees to renew his vows to his longtime wife. But as they assess their relationship, the couple discovers that their marriage no longer has any meaning. A televised production of Robert Anderson's thoughtful play, this fascinating drama deftly examines the institution of marriage and the nature of love.
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Play It as It Lays
Title: Play It as It Lays
Character: Abortionist
Released: October 19, 1972
Type: Movie
Burned-out B-movie actress Maria, depressed and frustrated with her loveless marriage to an ambitious film director, Carter Lang, who would rather work on his career than on his relationship with her, numbs herself with drugs and sex with strangers. Only her friendship with a sensitive gay movie producer, B.Z., offers a semblance of solace. But even that relationship proves to be fleeting amidst the empty decadence of Hollywood.
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Title: Cannon
Released: September 14, 1971
Type: TV
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976. The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes.
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The Love Goddesses
Title: The Love Goddesses
Character: (archive footage)
Released: March 3, 1965
Type: Movie
This insightful documentary features some of the major and most beautiful actresses to grace the silver screen. It shows how the movie industry changed its depiction of sex and actresses' portrayal of sex from the silent movie era to the present. Classic scenes are shown from the silent movie 'True Heart Susie,' starring Lillian Gish, to 'Love Me Tonight' (1932), blending sex and sophistication, starring Jeanette MacDonald (pre-Nelson Eddy), and to Elizabeth Taylor in 'A Place in the Sun' (1951), plus much , much more.
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Title: Espionage
Released: October 2, 1963
Type: TV
Espionage is a 1963 Associated Television series, distributed outside the UK by ITC Entertainment and networked in the United States by NBC.
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The Disneyland Story
Title: The Disneyland Story
Released: October 27, 1954
Type: Movie
Walt Disney presents a preview for both his upcoming park called Disneyland and several episodes of the show to come. Then the show focuses primarily on the career of Mickey Mouse.
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Mysterious Mr. Moto
Title: Mysterious Mr. Moto
Character: Hoodlum in Tavern
Released: September 17, 1938
Type: Movie
The Japanese detective rounds up a league of assassins for Scotland Yard.
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I Cover Chinatown
Title: I Cover Chinatown
Character: Eddie Barton
Released: October 1, 1936
Type: Movie
A tour guide in Chinatown and his girlfriend get mixed up with jewel thieves and murder.
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High Tension
Title: High Tension
Character: Eddie Mitchell
Released: July 10, 1936
Type: Movie
Brawling cable layer Steve Reardon doesn't want to marry girlfriend Edith but he also doesn't want her to date other men.
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Fatal Lady
Title: Fatal Lady
Character: Phillip Roberts
Released: May 15, 1936
Type: Movie
On her debut as an opera star, Marion Stuart is interrogated and possibly implicated in the death of a male acquaintance. Released, although thoroughly shaken-up, Marion attempts to perform but loses her voice onstage. Humiliated, but driven to sing, she travels to South America under the assumed name of Maria Delasano, and works in an opera company under the tutelage of Feodor Glinka, who wants her to shun men and save herself for her art. Mary resists the persistent attentions of wealthy young Phil Roberts, who follows the company in hopes of marrying her. ...
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The Leavenworth Case
Title: The Leavenworth Case
Character: Detective Bob Grice
Released: January 20, 1936
Type: Movie
Director Lewis D. Collins' 1936 whodunit is about the investigation into the death of an elderly tycoon, who is murdered shortly after announcing he plans to change his will and give away his fortune.
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Suicide Squad
Title: Suicide Squad
Character: Larry Barker
Released: December 2, 1935
Type: Movie
Larry Baker is a young fireman whose daring exploits have led him to receiving a lot of newspaper publicity which goes to his head. His sweetheart, Mary O'Connor, and fire-department friends begin to shun him as they think he is just a publicity hound. But a daring rescue of Mary and her younger brother, Mickey, from a blazing inferno shows him to be more than just a publicity-chaser and, now, a real hero to all.
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The Fire-Trap
Title: The Fire-Trap
Character: Bill Farnsworth
Released: November 26, 1935
Type: Movie
An insurance investigator falls in love with a society girl, unaware that her uncle and his boss are conspiring to commit insurance fraud by overvaluing a decrepit warehouse and its contents and burning the building to the ground.
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Escape from Devil's Island
Title: Escape from Devil's Island
Character: Andre Dion
Released: November 24, 1935
Type: Movie
Two men escape from the French penal colony but not from their jealousy over a woman.
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The Bishop Misbehaves
Title: The Bishop Misbehaves
Character: Donald Meadows
Released: September 13, 1935
Type: Movie
On a walking tour of English cathedrals, Donald Meadows meets Hester Granthem in church. Hearing he is from that hot-bed of crime, Chicago, Hester asks Donald to help her in a robbery she has planned. Thinking it a joke, he plays along; but Hester is serious, and hearing that she plans to rob Mr. Waller, the man who has cheated her father out of thousands of pounds, Donald agrees. A robbery at a pub is arranged, but the Bishop of Broadminster, an avid mystery fan, and his sister stumble into it. Playing detective the Bishop complicates matters and each side, the Bishop, the unscrupulous Waller, the gang Hester hires, and Hester and Donald, each get the upper hand along the way.
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Ladies Crave Excitement
Title: Ladies Crave Excitement
Character: Don Phelan
Released: June 21, 1935
Type: Movie
Bored rich girl hooks up with news photographer, gets caught up in his adventures.
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The Hoosier Schoolmaster
Title: The Hoosier Schoolmaster
Character: Ralph Hartsook
Released: May 14, 1935
Type: Movie
Right after the Civil War, an ex-Union soldier sets out to become a schoolmaster in his small town, even though many locals still harbor a resentment against "Yankees". He goes up against the town bully, who both want the same girl, and his troubles multiply when a vicious band of nightriders set out to drive him out of town.
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Behind the Green Lights
Title: Behind the Green Lights
Character: Detective Lt. Dave Britten
Released: March 11, 1935
Type: Movie
A police detective's (Norman Foster) lawyer girlfriend (Judith Allen) works for a crooked criminal lawyer (Sidney Blackmer).
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Behind the Evidence
Title: Behind the Evidence
Character: Tony Sheridan
Released: January 8, 1935
Type: Movie
Norman Foster plays a millionaire who takes a job as a reporter after he's wiped out in the Stock Market. Foster's managing editor Samuel S. Hinds considers the young upstart to be a pain in the neck. But all is forgiven-at least until next time-when Foster solves a series of puzzling robberies..
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Elinor Norton
Title: Elinor Norton
Character: Bill Foster
Released: November 2, 1934
Type: Movie
A romantic triangle during WW I provides the basis of this drama. The trouble begins when a young wife gets involved with a coffee baron while her husband is off fighting WW I. Her shell-shocked husband finally returns. He is terribly jealous. To help him, the wife takes him to a Western dude ranch. Her lover also goes, and the two men soon become friends. The coffee magnate helps to cure him, but then breaks his heart by telling him that he and the wife are planning to run away.
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Strictly Dynamite
Title: Strictly Dynamite
Character: Fleming
Released: May 11, 1934
Type: Movie
A failed poet ends up becoming a gag writer for a bombastic comedian.
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Orient Express
Title: Orient Express
Character: Carlton Myatt
Released: February 28, 1934
Type: Movie
Based on Graham Greene's novel Stamboul Train, the movie focuses on the lives of individuals aboard the Orient Express as it makes a three-day journey from Ostend to Constantinople.
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Walls of Gold
Title: Walls of Gold
Character: Barnes Ritchie
Released: October 21, 1933
Type: Movie
A career woman marries her boyfriend's rich uncle when the boyfriend marries her sister.
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Rafter Romance
Title: Rafter Romance
Character: Jack
Released: September 1, 1933
Type: Movie
A working girl shares her apartment with an artist, taking the place in shifts.
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Pilgrimage
Title: Pilgrimage
Character: Jim 'Jimmy' Jessop (Hannah's son)
Released: July 12, 1933
Type: Movie
A mother from Arkansas is very possessive of her grown son. To prevent him from getting married she has him drafted into WW I.
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Professional Sweetheart
Title: Professional Sweetheart
Character: Jim Davey
Released: June 9, 1933
Type: Movie
Radio singer Glory Eden is publicized as the ideal of American womanhood in order to sell the sponsor's product Ippsie-Wippsie Washcloths. In reality, Glory would like to at least sample booze, jazz, gambling, and men. When the strain of representing "purity" brings her to rebellion, the sponsor and his nutty henchmen pick her a public-relations "sweetheart" from fan mail, who turns out to be a hayseed.
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State Fair
Title: State Fair
Character: Wayne Frake
Released: February 10, 1933
Type: Movie
The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.
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Prosperity
Title: Prosperity
Character: John Warren
Released: November 18, 1932
Type: Movie
Longtime friends become feuding mothers-in-law when their children marry.
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Strange Justice
Title: Strange Justice
Character: Wally Baker
Released: October 7, 1932
Type: Movie
Socialite banker Henry Judson maintains his extravagant lifestyle by embezzling from his bank, but is caught by sleazy assistant manager Waters and is blackmailed by him into continuing. Close to being found out, the two devise a scheme which sends Wally, the ex-con boyfriend of pretty hat check girl Rose Abbott, to death row.
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Skyscraper Souls
Title: Skyscraper Souls
Character: Tom Shepherd
Released: July 16, 1932
Type: Movie
Skyscraper Souls is a Pre-Code 1932 drama film starring Warren William and Maureen O'Sullivan. The film was directed by Edgar Selwyn and is based upon the novel Skycraper by Faith Baldwin. The film depicts the aspirations and lives of several people in the Seacoast National Bank Building. Among them is David Dwight, the womanizing bank owner who keeps his estranged wife happy by paying her bills. His secretary Sarah wants him to get a divorce so they can marry.
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Week-End Marriage
Title: Week-End Marriage
Character: Ken Hayes
Released: June 18, 1932
Type: Movie
In this comedy, a hard-working husband loses his job and his wife becomes the bread winner.
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The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Title: The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Character: Maurice Cohen
Released: March 27, 1932
Type: Movie
The Cohens and the Kellys invade a Hollywood studio after Kitty becomes the darling of the studio.
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Steady Company
Title: Steady Company
Character: Jim
Released: March 13, 1932
Type: Movie
Truck driver Norman Foster has aspirations to become a prize fighter, but romantic interest June Clyde finds the idea deplorable. Henry Armetta and ZaSu Pitts supply the laughs.
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Play Girl
Title: Play Girl
Character: Wallace 'Wally' Dennis
Released: March 12, 1932
Type: Movie
A young innocent falls for a compulsive gambler.
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Alias the Doctor
Title: Alias the Doctor
Character: Stephan Brenner
Released: February 25, 1932
Type: Movie
Karl is the workaholic adopted son while Stephan is the lazy one. They both go to Munich to study medicine and Karl is at the top of the class while Stephan is barely passing. When Stephan's actions causes the death of Anna, Karl is the one who takes the wrap and three years in prison. When he gets out, he finds Stephan is dead and a sick child needs an operation and he does brilliant surgery. This gets him noticed and his mother tells them that he is Stephan Brenner, not Karl Brenner. She tells Karl that he must cure sickness in the world. But, being that he is Stephan, he can no longer marry Lottie, as she is now his sister.
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Girl of the Rio
Title: Girl of the Rio
Character: Johnny Powell
Released: January 15, 1932
Type: Movie
A café dancer bluffs a Mexican landowner to save her lover.
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Under Eighteen
Title: Under Eighteen
Character: Alf
Released: January 2, 1932
Type: Movie
Working girl Margie Evans has decided there are two kinds of opportunities for a slum kid during the Depression: Those you make and those you take. Determined to help her family out of its financial bind, she is ready to do both after she shows up at the penthouse pool bash of a wealthy playboy.
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Reckless Living
Title: Reckless Living
Character: Doggie
Released: October 20, 1931
Type: Movie
In order to be able to buy a gas station, a young couple run a speakeasy. Complications arise when the husband loses their money to bookies.
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Confessions of a Co-Ed
Title: Confessions of a Co-Ed
Character: Hal Evans
Released: July 11, 1931
Type: Movie
A young college student gets pregnant by the man she loves, but circumstances prevent their marrying, so she marries a classmate she doesn't love. Soon, however, her lover returns, and she finds herself in a dilemma as to who to choose.
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Up Pops the Devil
Title: Up Pops the Devil
Character: Steve Merrick
Released: May 19, 1931
Type: Movie
The marriage of an advertising man is jeopardized when he gets a chance to sell a novel he's been working on and quits his job to concentrate on writing. In order to support the family, the wife is forced to take a job as a dancer in a Broadway show. As the marriage begins to fall apart, complications ensue when she discovers that she's pregnant.
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Men Call It Love
Title: Men Call It Love
Character: Jack
Released: March 14, 1931
Type: Movie
Pre-code melodrama about high society marriage and fidelity.
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It Pays to Advertise
Title: It Pays to Advertise
Character: Rodney Martin
Released: February 18, 1931
Type: Movie
To prove his thesis that any product--even one that doesn't exist--can be merchandized if it is advertised properly, a young man gets together with his father's savvy secretary to market a non-existent laundry soap. Complications ensue when his "product" turns out to be more successful than even he imagined--and now he has to deliver.
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No Limit
Title: No Limit
Character: Douglas Thayer
Released: January 15, 1931
Type: Movie
Theater usherette Bunny O'Day (Clara Bow) inadvertently becomes hostess of a private gambling den, and gets involved in a romance with a ne'er-do-well gambler.
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Young Man of Manhattan
Title: Young Man of Manhattan
Character: Toby McLean
Released: April 19, 1930
Type: Movie
Two flappers try to get their newspaper reporter boyfriends to pay attention to them.
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Love at First Sight
Title: Love at First Sight
Released: December 15, 1929
Type: Movie
Musical comedy.
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Gentlemen of the Press
Title: Gentlemen of the Press
Character: Ted Hanley
Released: May 4, 1929
Type: Movie
A newspaperman is drawn away from family life by the needs of his paper until a new woman enters his life.