Preston Foster

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Preston S. Foster

Birth Place

Ocean City, New Jersey, USA

Born

August 24, 1900

Died

July 14, 1970

Cause of Death

Cardiac Arrest

Biography

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Preston Foster was a gifted actor and singer best remembered for his highly physical film roles in '40s and '50s combat dramas and westerns. A former member of the Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company, in the 1920s Foster took his robust vocal talents to the Broadway stage, landing his first movie roles by late decade. After memorable supporting parts on pre-Code classics such as "Doctor X" ...

Filmography

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Chubasco (1968)

You've Got To Be Smart (1967)

The Time Travelers (1964)

Dr. Erik von Steiner

Advance to the Rear (1964)

The Man From Galveston (1963)

Judge Homer Black

Destination 60,000 (1957)

Col. Editor Buckley

Photos & Videos

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Last Days Of Pompeii, The -- (Movie Clip) Greatest Man In Judea

Last Days Of Pompeii, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) In Caesar's Name!

Family & Companions

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Sheilah Darcy

Wife

Actor. Second wife; survived him.

Biography

Preston Foster was a gifted actor and singer best remembered for his highly physical film roles in '40s and '50s combat dramas and westerns. A former member of the Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company, in the 1920s Foster took his robust vocal talents to the Broadway stage, landing his first movie roles by late decade. After memorable supporting parts on pre-Code classics such as "Doctor X" (1932) and "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" (1932), Foster starred as sharpshooter Toby Walker in the 1935 biopic "Annie Oakley," opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the title role. That same year he continued with strong performances in "The Last Days of Pompeii" (as a Roman blacksmith-turned-gladiator) and in director John Ford's Oscar-winning war drama, "The Informer." Although he gained some renown as a singer during the postwar period, Foster, beginning in the mid-'50s, became better known to television audiences as the star of the sea-adventure series "Waterfront" and the short-lived TV Western "Gunslinger."

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Chubasco (1968)

You've Got To Be Smart (1967)

The Time Travelers (1964)

Dr. Erik von Steiner

Advance to the Rear (1964)

The Man From Galveston (1963)

Judge Homer Black

Destination 60,000 (1957)

Col. Editor Buckley

Law and Order (1953)

I, the Jury (1953)

Capt. Pat Chambers

The Marshal's Daughter (1953)

Montana Territory (1952)

Sheriff Henry Plummer

Kansas City Confidential (1952)

The Big Gusher (1951)

Tomahawk (1951)

Col. Carrington

Three Desperate Men (1951)

The Big Night (1951)

The Tougher They Come (1950)

The Big Cat (1949)

I Shot Jesse James (1949)

The Hunted (1948)

Thunderhoof (1948)

King of the Wild Horses (1947)

Strange Triangle (1946)

Inside Job (1946)

The Harvey Girls (1946)

Judge Sam Purvis

Col. Jose Artiego

Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1945)

Twice Blessed (1945)

The Valley of Decision (1945)

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945)

Bermuda Mystery (1944)

Steven Carromond

Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944)

My Friend Flicka (1943)

Guadalcanal Diary (1943)

Father Donnelly

Thunder Birds (1942)

Little Tokyo, U.S.A. (1942)

Night in New Orleans (1942)

Secret Agent of Japan (1942)

American Empire (1942)

A Gentleman After Dark (1942)

[Capt.] Tom Gaynor

Unfinished Business (1941)

The Round Up (1941)

Geronimo (1940)

Captain Bill Starrett

Moon over Burma (1940)

20,000 Men a Year (1939)

The Last Warning (1939)

Cafe Hostess (1939)

Society Smugglers (1939)

[Richard] "Sully" [Sullivan]

News Is Made at Night (1939)

Chasing Danger (1939)

Missing Evidence (1939)

Army Girl (1938)

[Captain] Dike Conger

Up the River (1938)

The Lady in the Morgue (1938)

Everybody's Doing It (1938)

Double Danger (1938)

Robert Crane, also known as "The Gentleman"

Submarine Patrol (1938)

Lieut. J. C. Drake

The Storm (1938)

The Plough and the Stars (1937)

First Lady (1937)

Sea Devils (1937)

You Can't Beat Love (1937)

James Ellsworth Hughes

We Who Are About to Die (1937)

The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1937)

The Westland Case (1937)

Love Before Breakfast (1936)

Muss 'Em Up (1936)

Tippecanoe "Tip" O'Neil

Strangers All (1935)

Annie Oakley (1935)

We're Only Human (1935)

Detective Sergeant Pete McCaffrey

The People's Enemy (1935)

Vince [M.] Falcone

The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)

The Arizonian (1935)

The Informer (1935)

Baby Take a Bow (1934)

The Band Plays On (1934)

[Howard] Howdy [Hardy]

Sleepers East (1934)

Wharf Angel (1934)

Heat Lightning (1934)

George [also known as Jerry]

Corruption (1933)

Sensation Hunters (1933)

Devil's Mate (1933)

Inspector O'Brien

The Man Who Dared: An Imaginative Biography (1933)

Dangerous Crossroads (1933)

Ladies They Talk About (1933)

Elmer the Great (1933)

The Man Who Dared (1933)

Life Begins (1932)

The All American (1932)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

Two Seconds (1932)

Doctor X (1932)

You Said a Mouthful (1932)

The Last Mile (1932)

[Killer John] Mears--cell 4

Heads Up (1930)

Follow the Leader (1930)

Music (Feature Film)

The Express (2008)

Friday Night Lights (2004)

Meet the Parents (2000)

Art Department (Feature Film)

The Last Innocent Man (1987)

Cast (Short)

The 42nd. Street Special (1933)

Life Events

Photo Collections

Sea Devils - Lobby Cards

Here are a few Lobby Cards from RKO's Sea Devils (1937), starring Victor McLaglen, Ida Lupino, and Preston Foster. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Sea Devils - Movie Poster

Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster from RKO's Sea Devils (1937). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Videos

Last Days Of Pompeii, The -- (Movie Clip) Greatest Man In Judea Once virtuous blacksmith turned gladiator turned horse and slave trader Marcus (Preston Foster), still devoted to his adopted son (David Holt), pursuing a prophesy that the greatest man in Judea would come to their aid, visits Pontius Pilate (Basil Rathbone, just introduced, in an atypical hairdo), in The Last Days Of Pompeii, 1935.

Last Days Of Pompeii, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) In Caesar's Name! SPOILER except the title suggests Vesuvius will erupt, more special effects are deployed as Marcus (Preston Foster) chooses his wounded Christian son (John Wood) over his Roman prefect master (Louis Calhern) and his troops, in the disaster epic from RKO’s King Kong team (Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack), The Last Days Of Pompeii, 1935.

Last Days Of Pompeii, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) The Physical Setting Of This Picture Make no mistake about your epic scale, as producer Merian C. Cooper and director Ernest B. Schoedsack (of King Kong fame, two years earlier) bank their hefty set and special effects costs, with an unusual prologue attributing the story, and we meet Lucius and Gaius (Marc Loebell, Frank Conroy), opening The Last Days Of Pompeii, 1935.

Last Days Of Pompeii, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Just About What The Job Is Worth We’ve established the city of Pompeii, in what must be the early years Anno Domini, when gladiator wrangler Cleon (William V. Mong) needs an assist from top-billed Preston Foster (introduced here as blacksmith Marcus), Gloria Shea his wife, and Frank Conroy as interested nobleman Gaius, early in RKO’s The Last Days Of Pompeii, 1935.

Big Night, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Make A Wish Downtrodden from the opening frame, still-teenaged John Barrymore Jr. as Georgie, bullied then consoled by bartender Flanagan (Howland Chamberlin) and his dad, Preston Foster, in The Big Night, 1951, screenplay by director Joseph Losey and Stanley Ellin, from his novel, with uncredited contributions from Ring Lardner Jr. and Hugo Butler.

I Shot Jesse James (1949) -- (Movie Clip) The Tragic Corner First-time writer-director Sam Fuller is efficient introducing actress Cynthy (Barbara Britton), manager Harry (J. Edward Bromberg), prospector Kelley (Preston Foster) and their relations with Ford (John Ireland) in I Shot Jesse James, 1949.

You Said A Mouthful (1932) -- (Movie Clip) The Sharks Won't Like The Flavor Nearing the end, Joe E. Brown, a nerd non-swimmer, mistaken for a Canadian champ, thinking he’s wearing the unsinkable swimsuit he invented, with sidekick Farina, desperate to impress Ginger Rogers as heiress Alice, getting ready for the big race from Catalina Island, Preston Foster his rival Ed, in You Said A Mouthful, 1932.

Hunted, The (1948) -- (Movie Clip) Why Else Do Guys Drink? Having just helped his now-paroled ex-girlfriend, whom he sent to jail, and who maintains her innocence, find a new job, cop Johnny (Preston Foster) drops in on barkeep Joe (George Chandler), who remembers the case, in The Hunted, 1948, from director Jack Bernhard and writer Steve Fisher.

Hunted, The (1948) -- (Movie Clip) This Case Had A Queer Twist Cracking opening, from the last frame of credits, cop Johnny (Preston Foster) at a Los Angeles bus station, tracking (we’ll learn) Belita as paroled Laura, then meeting with ladies’ parole officer Miss Turner (Edna Holland), in The Hunted, 1948, from Allied Artists and director Jack Bernhard.

Hunted, The (1948) -- (Movie Clip) Lovely, But Still A Liar Still inquiring about his ex-girlfriend, for whom he’s just found a job, after she spent four years in prison, for a crime she claims she didn’t commit, and for which he sent her up, cop Johnny (Preston Foster) visits her lawyer Rand (Pierre Watkin), who, like him, she once swore to kill, in The Hunted, 1948.

Hunted, The (1948) -- (Movie Clip) I Want You To Meet Someone Warming to his ex-girlfriend Laura (Belita) who’s been paroled for several weeks now, after serving four years for the robbery conviction for which he busted her, and which she never admitted-to, cop Johnny (Preston Foster) at the beach, and checking one last possible witness, an ex-con (Larry Blake), in The Hunted, 1948.

Hunted, The (1948) -- (Movie Clip) Laura Mead The only Olympic quality ice skating performance in any legit Film Noir, one-time United Kingdom skater Belita as recently paroled “Laura Mead” on a Los Angeles rink between periods at a hockey game, Preston Foster as cop Johnny Saxon, her erstwhile boyfriend, in director Jack Bernhard’s The Hunted, 1948, from Steve Fisher’s story and screenplay.

Companions

Sheilah Darcy

Wife

Actor. Second wife; survived him.

Bibliography

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