Billy Ray "Bill" Foster (April 7, 1932 – February 2, 2011) was an American

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

known for his work with

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

. His credits, which spanned more than fifty years and encompassed hundreds of hours, included episodes of ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...

'', ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...

'', ''

Amen Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jews, Jewish, Christia ...

'', ''

Marblehead Manor ''Marblehead Manor'' is an American sitcom that originally aired in first-run syndication from September 19, 1987 to May 28, 1988. It starred Paxton Whitehead, Phil Morris, Linda Thorson, Bob Fraser and Michael Richards. The series was a Dames- ...

'' and ''

You Again? ''You Again?'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for two seasons on NBC from February 27, 1986, to January 7, 1987. It was based on the British show ''Home to Roost''. Synopsis Jack Klugman stars as Henry Willows, a man still em ...

''. Foster directed the 1967

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

of ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...

'', which earned him the only

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nomination of his career. Foster went on to direct the television broadcasts of the 23rd and 24th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1971 and 1972 respectively. He also directed the AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to James Cagney in 1974, for which he won a

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

in 1975. In 1986, Foster directed the live syndicated special, ''

The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults ''The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults'' is a two-hour live American television special that was broadcast in syndication on April 21, 1986, and hosted by Geraldo Rivera. It centered on the live opening of a walled-off underground room in the Lexingt ...

'', which was hosted by

Geraldo Rivera Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Riviera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, political commentator, and former television host. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He gained publicity with the liv ...

. The special, which advertised the potential to find the secrets of

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

buried in a vault beneath the

Lexington Hotel Lexington Hotel or Hotel Lexington may refer to: * Lexington Hotel (Chicago), now demolished * Lexington Hotel (New York City) * Lexington Hotels & Inns, a brand operated by Vantage Hospitality {{dab ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, turned up very little. Foster spent much of his career directing television sitcoms, especially during the 1970s and 1980s. He directed 43 episodes of the sitcom, ''

Benson Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...

'', between 1982 and 1986. Foster also directed 36 separate episodes of NBC's ''

'', which starred

Sherman Hemsley Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Deac ...

and

Clifton Davis Clifton Duncan Davis (born October 4, 1945) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, minister, and author. Davis wrote The Jackson 5's No. 2 hit "Never Can Say Goodbye" in 1971. He appeared on Broadway in the musicals '' Two Gentlemen of Verona ...

, between 1986 and 1989. Foster largely retired after directing 23 episodes of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television series, ''

'', from 1989 to 1990. Foster died of cancer on February 2, 2011, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife, Lynn, and children, Julia, Susan and Michael.

References

External links

* 1932 births 2011 deaths People from Augusta, Georgia American television directors Deaths from cancer in California {{Tv-director-stub