Norman Foster
1903 - 1976Born 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.
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Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race
Norman Foster
Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen
Davy and Georgie end a particularly successful season of trapping and hunting with the hopes of easy sales, only for such hopes to be dashed by the self-proclaimed "King of the River", Mike Fink, and a band of renegade Indians that have been notorious for attacking passing boats.
Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race
Santa
Norman Foster, Alfredo Gómez de la Vega
Esther Fernández, José Cibrián
Santa is a beautiful and very humble young girl living in Chimalistac, a small and quiet spot south of the 1930's Mexico City. After Santa is cheated by arrogant soldier Marcelino, she's rejected by her family and friends and expelled of Chimalistac. Santa finds shelter in a whorehouse and becomes a cinic and bitter woman, mistreated by bullfighter "Jarameno" and silently loved by blind pianist Hipolito
Santa
Davy Crockett Goes To Congress
Norman Foster
Fess Parker
The second of five programs about Davy Crockett involves him being bored with life, so he and Georgie plan to resettle their families and file their claims. In town, Davy wins a gunfight against the town bully, Big Foot Mason, and, as a result, he becomes the town lawman.
Davy Crockett Goes to Congress
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates: Part 2
Norman Foster
Rony Zeaner, Carin Rossby
The continuation and conclusion of the story of the famed Zeider Zee youth Hans Brinker, who desperately needing money for his father's operation, strives to win an ice-skating race.
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates: Part 2
Behind the Evidence
Lambert Hillyer
Norman Foster, Donald Cook
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..
Behind the Evidence
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates
Norman Foster
Rony Zeaner, Carin Rossby
Set in 1860s Holland along the famed Zeider Zee — young Hans Brinker finds himself responsible for supporting his family after his father becomes injured in an accident. He and his sister, Gretel, travel to Amsterdam in search of funds to help pay for their father's operation. Their only hope lies in the city's annual ice skating race in which Hans must face off against his arch-rival, Ludwig Schimmel, in hopes of winning the prize money.
Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Morgan Neville
Alan Cumming, Peter Bogdanovich
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.
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
Norman Foster
Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung
Charlie Chan's investigation of a blackmail-induced suicide as a case of murder leads him into a world of magick and mysticism peopled with a stage magician, a phoney spiritualist, and a for-real mind reader.
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
Skyscraper Souls
Edgar Selwyn
Warren William, Maureen O'Sullivan
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.
Skyscraper Souls
Woman on the Run
Norman Foster
Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe
Frank Johnson, a sole witness to a gangland murder, goes into hiding and is trailed by Police Inspector Ferris, on the theory that Frank is trying to escape from possible retaliation. Frank's wife, Eleanor, suspects he is actually running away from their unsuccessful marriage. Aided by a newspaperman, Danny Leggett, Eleanor sets out to locate her husband. The killer is also looking for him, and keeps close tabs on Eleanor.
Woman on the Run
Charlie Chan in Panama
Norman Foster
Sidney Toler, Jean Rogers
Charlie impersonates an employee of the U.S. government to foil an espionage plot which would destroy part of the Panama Canal, trapping a Navy fleet on its way to the Pacific after maneuvers in the Atlantic.
Charlie Chan in Panama