Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ruth Foster" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Ruth Foster
Sam Jaffe and Foster on set of Ben Casey
Born	(1920-01-29)January 29, 1920 Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Died	May 12, 2012(2012-05-12) (aged 92) Del Mar, California, US
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	Bobby Pinkus ​ ​(m. 1939; died 1986)​

Ruth E. Foster (January 29, 1920 – May 12, 2012) was an American actress who portrayed Walnut Grove's post-mistress, also named Foster, for several seasons on the NBC TV series Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983).

Life and career

Foster was born on January 29, 1920, in Cincinnati, Ohio, as Ruth Emma Foerstel, the first child of George and Helen Wilhelmy Foerstel. She first broke into show business at the age of 12 when the Shubert Theater sponsored a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance contest. Foster competed and won first place. This exposure lead to a job as a dancer with a traveling dance group. Soon, she was offered a job as a dancer for the Latin Quarter Show. After several years of dancing, Foster went on to become an actress.

She traveled with vaudeville dance troupes in the early 1930s. Foster was on Ben Casey as Miss Fleming from 1962 to 1964. She was in Dimension 5 and Cyborg 2087 that were going to be released on television as television films, instead were theatrically released across the United States. Foster is most remembered as Melinda Foster, the Post office manager, on Little House on the Prairie for 61 episodes from 1974 to 1983. She was also a film editor, video tape editor and an associate producer. In 1984, Foster reprised her role as Melinda Foster in the Made-for-TV-Movies Little House: Bless All the Dear Children and Little House: The Last Farewell. Foster danced professionally in the Palm Springs and Branson Follies until the age of 85.

Personal life and death

Foster married comedian Bobby Pinkus, a.k.a. Peter J. Accardy, in 1939. Accardy died on September 16, 1986. Foster died of natural causes in Del Mar, California at the age of 92. Several Little House cast-mates attended her funeral services.

Filmography

Acting

Film

Television

Producing

Television

Editing

Documentaries

Film

Television

References

1. "Ruth Foster". Western Boot Hill. United States: Blogger. May 16, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
2. ^ "Actress Ruth Foster dies at 92". Variety. United States: Penske Media Corporation. June 6, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
3. Green 2014, pp. 120–121.
4. "California Deaths, 1940 - 1997". MyHeritage. Or Yehuda and Tel Aviv. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
5. "Find Peter Accardy Graves Records". Grave-Records Mooseroots. United States. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
6. "Dimension 5". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 19, 2016.
7. "Cyborg 2087". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 19, 2016.
8. ^ "Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 19, 2016.
9. Paul Simon: Graceland - The African Concert.
10. Maslin, Janet (October 12, 1996). "Taking a Trip Back in Time To the Sleek Young Stones". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
11. "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 19, 2016.
12. "The Object of Beauty". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 21, 2016.
13. "Frankie Starlight". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 21, 2016.
14. Raymo, Chet (1994). The Dork of Cork (Reprint ed.). New York City: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0446670005.
15. "Tanner '88". The Criterion Collection. New York City. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
16. "Tidy Endings". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 20, 2016.
17. Tidy Endings (1988) (VHS). Retrieved July 20, 2016.
18. "The Christmas Wife". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 20, 2016.
19. "Glory! Glory!". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved July 21, 2016.

Sources

• Green, Paul (2014). Jeffrey Hunter, the Film, Television, Radio, and Stage Performances. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-0786478682.

External links

• Ruth Foster at IMDb
• Ruth Foster at Find a Grave
• Ruth Foster R. I. P.

• 1920 births
• 2012 deaths
• American television actresses
• Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
• 21st-century American women