Barry Foster (actor)

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(John) Barry Foster (21 August 1927 – 11 February 2002 was a British actor best known for his role as the TV detective in the five-series-long ITV program Van der Valk that spanned 20 years.

Born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, England, Foster worked as a plastics chemist before embarking on a career in acting. Foster trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, arriving there at the age of 20, a little older than the other students. It was here he became friends with an actor called David Baron, better known as playwright Harold Pinter.

Foster would go on to appear in two of Pinter's plays, The Basement and The Tea Party. Foster's professional stage debut came in 1952 as 'Lorenzo' in The Merchant of Venice, then in 1955 he made his London stage debut.

His first film role came in 1956 in the war film Battle of the River Plate. Over the years, he played in a wide variety of film and television roles, including David Lean's epic Ryan's Daughter, Battle of Britain, Joseph Losey's King and Country, The Troubleshooters, The Family Way, The Wild Geese, Robbery, Sweeney! and Inspector Clouseau, Merchant Ivory's Heat and Dust and Maurice, and up to his final film Rancid Aluminium in 2000.

But it was in 1972 that he was to play two memorable roles, on opposite sides of the law. First was cynical Dutch detective Van der Valk and second was Bob Rusk, the necktie murderer in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy - Rusk, a seemingly charming man, intent on pinning his murders onto his best friend - but in the end not succeeding. The film is notorious for a graphically detailed ten-minute sequence in which Rusk confronts, rapes and strangles his friend's ex-wife. Van Der Valk would resurface twice more in his career, in 1977 and once more in the early 1990s.

Shortly after the third series in 1978, Foster was to take on the role of the most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, in a series of radio appearances for the BBC. He recorded 13 episodes of the Holmes canon, with David Buck as Watson. In 1974 he was also seen in Fall of Eagles in the role of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

His marriage to singer and actress Judith Shergold was a long and happy one; the couple were married for 40 years. His daughters Miranda and Joanna are both actresses, but his son Jason has not gone into acting. After Foster's death, a trust was set up, The Barry Foster Memorial Appeal to help disabled children become involved in the theatre.

From '90s, he mainly performed for stage. He succecced for the role Inspector Goole for J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls directed by Stephen Daldry. In 2001, he started performing Yasmina Reza's 'Art' alongside Nigel Havers and Roger Lloyd Pack. Once he left that, he returned in 2002, but on February 11 he died of a heart attack while being cared for at the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford

[edit] Filmography

Rancid Aluminum (2000) - Doctor
The Free Frenchman (1989) - Maj. Trent
King of the Wind (1989) - Mr. Williams
The Killing Game (1988) - Jack
Maurice (1987) - Dean Cornwallis
Three Kinds of Heat (1987) - Norris
Beyond the Next Mountain (1987) - Actor
The Whistle Blower (1986) - Charles Greig
Heat and Dust (1983) - Major Minnies, the Political Agent
Danger on Dartmoor (1980) - Green
The Wild Geese (1978) - Thomas Balfour
Sweeney! (1977) - Elliott McQueen
The Last Word (1975) - Edward
A Quiet Day in Belfast (1974) - John Slattery
Frenzy (1972) - Robert Rusk
Ryan's Daughter (1970) - Tim O'Leary
Battle of Britain (1969) - Squadron Leader Edwards
The Guru (1969) - Chris
Twisted Nerve(1968) - Gerry Henderson
Inspector Clouseau (1968) - Addison Steele
Robbery (1967) - Frank
The Family Way (1966) - Joe Thompson
King & Country (1964) - Lt. Webb
Playback (1962) - Dave Hollis
Surprise Package (1960) - US Marshal
Yesterday's Enemy (1959) - Actor
Desert Patrol (1958) - Cpl. Matheson
Sea Fury (1958) - Vincent
Dunkirk (1958) - Don R
High Flight (1957) - Wilcox
Yangtse Incident (1957) - PO McCarthy RN
The Battle of the River Plate (1956) - Bill Roper, Capt. Bell's messenger, HMS Exeter (uncredited)
The Baby and the Battleship (1956) - Bit Role (uncredited)