Preston Stratton Foster

 Preston Stratton Foster (August 24, 1900 – July 14, 1970)

Foster began working in films in 1929 after acting on Broadway, where he was still performing as late as November 1931 in the cast of Two Seconds. He soon reprised that stage role in Hollywood in the filmed version of the play. Some of his subsequent films include Doctor X (1932), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Annie Oakley (1935), The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), The Informer (1935), Geronimo (1939), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944). Over the years, as Foster's film experience in Hollywood grew, producers and directors gained increasing respect for his ability to play an array of characters, ranging from the "snarling family‐deserting criminal" in The People's Enemy in 1935 to the soft-spoken, fatherly chaplain on the Pacific battlefront in the 1943 film Guadalcanal Diary. Foster's career was interrupted by World War II, when he served with the United States Coast Guard. While in active service he rose to the rank of captain, and later he was awarded the honorary rank of commodore.

In addition to performing on stage and in numerous films, Foster was an accomplished singer who performed on both radio and in nightclubs, as well as a voice actor on radio. On July 25, 1943, Foster co-starred with Ellen Drew in "China Bridge," a presentation of Silver Theater on CBS radio. During times between his performances in films and on television, Foster often enjoyed boating and deep-sea fishing, especially for marlin, off California's southern coast. He continued to accept acting offers in his later years, although far less regularly during the final decade of his life. Foster was married twice, and adopted a daughter with his first wife, actress Gertrude Elene Leonard. His second wife was actress Sheila Darcy, they were married from 1946 until his death. Foster died on July 14, 1970 at age 69. He is interred at El Camino Memorial Park in San Diego, California.