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David Foster

David Foster, a native of New York City, grew up with ambitions of becoming a sportswriter like his idol, the late New York Times sports columnist Red Smith. To that end, he earned a B.A. in Journalism and Cinema from the University of Southern California.

During the Korean War, Foster wrote speeches for Iron Mike Daniels, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific, and those duties gave him training in public relations, a career he pursued after he completed his military service. He started in the mailroom at Rogers & Cowan and eventually left to co-found his own P.R. firm, handling such clients as Richard Attenborough, Faye Dunaway, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Norman Jewison, Steve McQueen, Sam Peckinpah, Robert Redford, Peter Sellers and many others.

Upon the encouragement of several of his clients, Foster embarked on a producing career in 1970, and in 1971, he produced the Robert Altman classic, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. Listed as one of the hundred best American films of all time by the American Film Institute, Foster's first venture into motion picture producing not only won numerous awards, but the film now resides in the archives of New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Foster followed that success with other early hits such as The Getaway, directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw, The Drowning Pool, starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Heroes, starring Henry Winkler, Sally Field and Harrison Ford, John Carpenter's The Thing, starring Kurt Russell, Mass Appeal, with Jack Lemmon and Phillip Borsos' The Mean Season, starring Kurt Russell and Mariel Hemingway.

Foster's impressive filmography also includes such credits as Running Scared, Short Circuit, Short Circuit 2, The Getaway, starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, The River Wild, directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon, The Mask of Zorro, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Collateral Damage, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hart's War, starring Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell.

Married with three sons, all of whom work in the entertainment industry, Foster is a member of the Executive Committee of the Producers' Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2003.

David Foster Facts

OccupationProducer
BirthplaceNew York, New York, USA

Selected Filmography

Hit Man David Foster & Friends
Andrea Bocelli / David Foster: My Christmas
Hit Man Returns
David Foster And Friends
Panic Room
All Hat
The End Of The Tour
David vs. Goliath: Battle of Faith
Verona
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
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