Norman Foster photo

Norman Foster

Directing
1903-12-13
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.
Known For 45 titles
No Limit (1931) subtitle poster
No Limit
1931 Movie
as Douglas Thayer
Subtitles
Steady Company (1932) subtitle poster
Steady Company
1932 Movie
as Jim
Subtitles
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood (1932) subtitle poster
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1932 Movie
as Maurice Cohen
Subtitles
Men Call It Love (1931) subtitle poster
Men Call It Love
1931 Movie
as Jack
Subtitles
Strange Justice (1932) subtitle poster
Strange Justice
1932 Movie
as Wally Baker
Subtitles
Escape from Devil's Island (1935) subtitle poster
Escape from Devil's Island
1935 Movie
as Andre Dion
Subtitles
The Leavenworth Case (1936) subtitle poster
The Leavenworth Case
1936 Movie
as Detective Bob Grice
Subtitles
Young Man of Manhattan (1930) subtitle poster
Young Man of Manhattan
1930 Movie
as Toby McLean
Subtitles
Confessions of a Co-Ed (1931) subtitle poster
Confessions of a Co-Ed
1931 Movie
as Hal Evans
Subtitles
Girl of the Rio (1932) subtitle poster
Girl of the Rio
1932 Movie
as Johnny Powell
Subtitles
Rafter Romance (1933) subtitle poster
Rafter Romance
1933 Movie
as Jack
Subtitles
Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937) subtitle poster
Sunday Night at the Trocadero
1937 Movie
as Norman Foster
Subtitles
Alias the Doctor (1932) subtitle poster
Alias the Doctor
1932 Movie
as Stephan Brenner
Subtitles
Suicide Squad (1935) subtitle poster
Suicide Squad
1935 Movie
as Larry Barker
Subtitles
I Cover Chinatown (1936) subtitle poster
I Cover Chinatown
1936 Movie
as Eddie Barton
Subtitles
Behind the Green Lights (1935) subtitle poster
Behind the Green Lights
1935 Movie
as Detective Lt. Dave Britten
Subtitles
Everybody's Old Man (1936) subtitle poster
Everybody's Old Man
1936 Movie
as Ronald Franklin
Subtitles
Up Pops the Devil (1931) subtitle poster
Up Pops the Devil
1931 Movie
as Steve Merrick
Subtitles
Walls of Gold (1933) subtitle poster
Walls of Gold
1933 Movie
as Barnes Ritchie
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The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935) subtitle poster
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
1935 Movie
as Ralph Hartsook
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Super Speed (1935) subtitle poster
Super Speed
1935 Movie
as Randy Rogers
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