Ron Foster (actor)
Ronald R. Foster (February 19, 1930 – February 26, 2015) was an American actor.
Ron Foster | |
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Ron Foster (left) and Ernest Borgnine in the "Seven Against the Sea" April 3, 1962 episode of Alcoa Premiere (pilot for the 1962–66 World War II ABC sitcom McHale's Navy) | |
Born | Ronald R. Foster February 19 1930 Wichita, Kansas, USA |
Died | (aged 85) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1956–2008 |
Career
His early work included twenty-four appearances from 1957 to 1959, mostly in the role of Officer Garvey in the Broderick Crawford syndicated television series Highway Patrol. Foster also made five appearances between 1959 and 1960 on CBS's short-lived adventure series Men into Space in the role of Lieutenant Neil Templeton. He appeared three times in different roles from 1959 to 1964 on CBS's Rawhide, starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. From 1964 to 1971, he appeared five times in different roles on another western, NBC's Bonanza. He appeared twice in 1957 on separate episodes in the first season of the NBC western Wagon Train.[1]
One of Foster's most memorable half-hour appearances was as Master Sergeant William Connors on CBS's The Twilight Zone in the 1963 episode "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms", a story of a modern military patrol which encounters shocking evidence from the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana. His co-stars in the segment are Randy Boone and Warren Oates.[2]
In 1957, Foster played Kenny Hedges in the episode entitled "Jet Flight" of the military series The West Point Story. He appeared at this time on Death Valley Days as Siles Begg in "Rough and Ready".
In 1959, he was cast as Steve in the film Diary of a High School Bride;[1] and appeared in starring roles in several low budget films for producer Edward Small and director Edward L. Cahn, including Cage of Evil and The Walking Target (both 1960).[3][4]
Partial filmography
- The Proud and Profane (1956) - Bolton (uncredited)
- The Storm Rider (1957) - Burns (uncredited)
- Under Fire (1957) - Lieutenant (uncredited)
- Young and Dangerous (1957) - Rock's Buddy (uncredited)
- Rockabilly Baby (1957) - Carnival Barker (uncredited)
- Cattle Empire (1958) - Stitch (uncredited)
- Thundering Jets (1958) - Control Tower Sergeant (uncredited)
- Desert Hell (1958) - Pvt. Bergstrom
- Diary of a High School Bride (1959) - Steve
- Ma Barker's Killer Brood (1960) - Doc
- Three Came to Kill (1960) - Herb Morely (uncredited)
- The Music Box Kid (1960) - Larry Shaw
- Cage of Evil (1960) - Det. Scott Harper
- The Walking Target (1960) - Nick Harbin
- Operation Bottleneck (1961) - Lt. Rulan H. Voss
- Secret of Deep Harbor (1961) - Skip Hanlon
- House of the Dammed (1963) - Scott Campbell
- Private Lessons (1981) - Fillmore
- The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) - Man in Winesop's Office
- Ninja III: The Domination (1984) - Jiminez
- The Money Pit (1986) - Record Producer
- Legal Eagles (1986) - Reporter #3
Other television roles
- Official Detective "Murder In A Girl's School" - Miller Dolce (1958)
- Peter Gunn "Murder on the Midway" - Martin Franklin (1958)
- Perry Mason as Fred Pike in "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor" (1960)
- The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp as Johnny in "Arizona Lottery" (1960)
- Sea Hunt, twice (1959–1960, Season 3, Episode 18)
- Colt .45 as Tommy Potts in "Bounty List" (1960)[5]
- Checkmate as Bill in "The Mask of Vengeance" (1960)
- Bat Masterson, twice as Toby Dawson in "Six Feet of Gold" (1960) and as Sheriff Buck Simpson in "Jeopardy at Jackson Hole" (1961)
- Gunsmoke, twice (1961)
- Tales of Wells Fargo as Ken Logan in "Royal Maroon" (1962)
- Alcoa Premiere as Lieutenant Durham in "Seven Against the Sea" (1962)
- Laramie as Lee Taylor in "The Wedding Party" (1963)
- The Virginian as Charlie Dorsey in "The Money Cage" (1963)
- G.E. True as Captain James Dunlop in "Black Market" (1963)
- The Outer Limits as Dr. Robert Richardson in "The Mice" (1964)
- Kraft Suspense Theatre as Reverend Larson in "Portrait of an Unknown Man" (1964)
- Combat! as Private Marshall in "Crossfire" (1965)
- Twelve O'Clock High as Captain Borega in "Gauntlet of Fire" (1966)
- Run for Your Life as Major Conway in "Rendezvous in Tokyo" (1967)
- The High Chaparral as Lieutenant Corey in "The Peacemaker" (1968)
- The Bill Cosby Show as Dr. Madeo in "Let X Equal a Lousy Weekend" (1969)
- O'Hara, U.S. Treasury as Al Ellis in "Operation Crystal Springs" (1970)
- Petrocelli, twice (1974 and 1976)
- Dynasty, as a sheriff in "Colorado Roulette" (1988)
- The Cosby Show, twice (1987 and 1991)[1]
Most recent work
Foster's last regular role was in segments of NBC's Law and Order as William Jefferson in the 1990 episode "Everybody's Favorite Bagman" and as Councilman Clayton in "Haven" in 1999. He performed voice work between 1995 and 2008 in such video games as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, The Longest Journey, Grand Theft Auto IV and Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne.[6]
Death
Ron Foster died on February 26, 2015 in Placerville, California. He was 85.
References
- "Ron Foster". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
- "The Twilight Zone: "The Seventh Is Made up of Phantoms" (1963)". IMDB. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
- "Abbreviated View of Movie Page". afi.com.
- "Detail view of Movies Page". afi.com.
- "Colt .45". ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
- "The Twilight Zone". epinions.com. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
External links
- Ron Foster on IMDb
- Ron Foster at Find a Grave