Ruth Foster
{{short description|American actress (1920-2012)}}
{{distinguish|Ruthie Foster}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2016}}
{{infobox person
| name = Ruth Foster
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|01|29}}
| birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, US
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|05|12|1920|01|29}}
| death_place = Del Mar, California, US
| image = Sam Jaffe & Ruth Foster 1965.jpg
| caption = Sam Jaffe and Foster on set of Ben Casey
| spouse = {{marriage|Bobby Pinkus|1939|1986|end=died}}
| occupation = Actress
}}
Ruth E. Foster (January 29, 1920 – May 12, 2012) was an American actress who portrayed Walnut Grove's postmaster, 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.{{cite web|url=http://westernboothill.blogspot.com/2012/05/rip-ruth-foster.html|title=Ruth Foster|work=Western Boot Hill|publisher=Blogger|location=United States|date=May 16, 2012|accessdate=July 22, 2016}} 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.{{sfn|Green|2014|pages=120–121}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/peter_accardy#col_a_10071|title=California Deaths, 1940 - 1997|location=Or Yehuda and Tel Aviv|work=MyHeritage|access-date=July 20, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://grave-records.mooseroots.com/d/f/Peter-Accardy|title=Find Peter Accardy Graves Records|work=Grave-Records Mooseroots|access-date=July 22, 2016|location=United States}} Foster died of natural causes in Del Mar, California at the age of 92.{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2012/scene/news/actress-ruth-foster-dies-at-92-1118055137/|title=Actress Ruth Foster dies at 92|work=Variety|publisher=Penske Media Corporation|location=United States|access-date=July 19, 2016|date=June 6, 2012}} Several Little House cast-mates attended her funeral services.
Filmography
=Acting=
==Film==
==Television==
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"|Notes |
|---|
| 1954
| Pickpocket | Episode: "Panel Shows" (S 1:Ep 2) |
| 1962–64
| Miss Fleming | {{cRecurring}} |
| 1969
| Bonanza | Woman on Street | Episode: "A Darker Shadow" (S 11:Ep 10) |
| 1971
| Nurse | Episode: "Web of Darkness" (S 2:Ep 17) |
| 1974
| Aunt Ruby | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1974–83
| Little House on the Prairie |rowspan="3" | Melinda Foster | {{cRecurring}} |
| rowspan="2" | 1984
| Little House: Bless All the Dear Children | Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Victor French & written by Chris Abbott-Fish and based on the Little House series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. |
| Little House: The Last Farewell
| Made-for-TV-Movie written & directed by Michael Landon and based on the Little House series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. |
| 1989
| Woman #1 | Episode: "The Reunion" (S 5:Ep 5) |
=Producing=
==Television==
=Editing=
==Documentaries==
==Film==
==Television==
References
{{reflist|30em}}
=Sources=
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ga6DAwAAQBAJ&q=dimension+5&pg=PA120|title=Jeffrey Hunter, the Film, Television, Radio, and Stage Performances|pages=120–121|first=Paul|last=Green|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2014|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0786478682}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0288038}}
- {{Find a Grave|90101537}}
- [http://westernboothill.blogspot.se/2012/05/rip-ruth-foster.html Ruth Foster R. I. P.]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Ruth}}
Category:American television actresses
Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)