Preston Foster

Preston Stratton Foster (1900‑08‑24 – 1970‑07‑14) was a versatile American performer whose career spanned stage, film, radio, and early television. Born the eldest of three children in Ocean City, New Jersey, he grew up in a modest household where his father worked as a painter and later as a machinist. After completing his education, Foster held a clerical job at the New York Ship Company before moving to Queens, New York, where he married actress Gertrude Elene (Warren) Leonard, a widow seven years his senior. By the late 1920s he was already listed as an actor in the federal census, working in “Legitimate Vaudeville”, and his Broadway credits culminated with the play Two Seconds in 1931. That same year he transitioned to Hollywood, reprising his stage role in the film adaptation and launching a prolific screen career that would include such classics as Doctor X (1932), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), The Informer (1935), Geronimo (1939), My Friend Flicka (1943) and the gritty Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944). Known for his ability to embody both menacing villains and compassionate fathers, he once quipped that his mother disapproved of his darker roles, yet she still called him “nice” afterward.

During World II Foster answered the call of duty, serving in the United States Coast Guard where he rose to the rank of captain and later earned the honorary title of commodore in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. After the war he expanded his talents to radio, co‑starring in the CBS Silver Theater presentation “China Bridge” (1943), and formed a vocal trio with his second wife Sheila Darcy and guitarist Gene Leis, performing on radio and in nightclubs. The 1950s saw him adapt to the emerging medium of television, headlining the series Waterfront (1954‑55) as Captain John Herrick and making guest appearances on shows such as Going My Way (1963). In his later years he remained active in the entertainment community of La Jolla, California, even penning the official song “Let’s Go Padres” for the 1969 San Diego Padres. Preston Foster’s legacy endures through a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a filmography that reflects the evolution of American popular culture across four decades.