--- name: "Preston Foster" canonical: "https://film.one/person/preston-foster" roles: ["Actor"] born: "22 August 1900" died: "14 July 1970" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 79 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-19T22:49:34.320264+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Preston Foster Actor. Born 22 August 1900 in Pitman, New Jersey, USA. Died 14 July 1970. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 22 August 1900, Pitman, New Jersey, USA - **Died:** 14 July 1970 - **Active:** 1932–1935 - **Also known as:** Preston S. Foster, Престон С. Фостер, Престон Фостер - **Average Fi1m score:** 79, as actor, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Foster, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q981418, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288003/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/33004 ## Fi1m on Preston Foster > Preston Foster was the big, deep-voiced man Hollywood put in a uniform when it needed someone to be believed without being watched. In the one part of his we have looked at closely, that is exactly the problem. In *The Informer* (1935), Foster's Dan Gallagher walks into rooms already certain of what will happen in them. He is the commandant, the man Gypo must answer to, and he stands very straight, speaks in whole paragraphs and never once looks as though he might be wrong. Set against Victor McLaglen's slow, frightened face, that is a fair contrast on paper. On screen we found him the weak spot: upright, handsome and dull, a speech in a trench coat. He came to films in 1929 from Broadway, after vaudeville and opera, and was noticed in 1932 when he carried a stage part to the screen in *Two Seconds*. The same year gave him Dr Wells in *Doctor X* and Pete in *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang*, where he is part of the machinery of a fast, angry film and our review did not stop to single him out. That is not a complaint; Paul Muni's face is the film. Then came the long middle, supporting parts and the odd lead through the 1930s and 1940s as soldiers, policemen, detectives and Western men: *Annie Oakley* (1935) opposite Barbara Stanwyck, *My Friend Flicka* (1943). The war took him into the Coast Guard, and the 1950s took him to television, where *Waterfront* (1954–1955) gave him Captain John Herrick and a second audience in living rooms. It is not hard to see what the casting directors saw. Six foot two, a deep voice, a frame that made uniforms look cut for him. He played heroes and villains with the same steadiness, and was handed the villains often enough that his mother wrote to object. Asked whether he minded, he said: "I don't, but my mother does. Every time I do a part like this, she writes, 'It was a nice picture, Preston, but do you have to play roles like that?'" Steadiness is the word. It is what a studio wants in the fourth name on the poster, and it is what made Gallagher a post rather than a person. Watching *The Informer* again, we caught ourselves waiting through his scenes for McLaglen to come back, and we do not say that lightly about a Ford film in which almost everyone else is good. A caveat is owed. Our view rests on one part in a film where the script was against him; we said Dudley Nichols kept saying aloud what the picture had already shown, and Gallagher is where a good deal of the saying happens. His reputation as a solid professional is not one we would argue with. The parts that might change our mind, the villains and the Westerns, we have not yet sat down with. Until we do, he remains for us the man standing very straight in the fog while the film happens to somebody else. ## Biography Preston Foster was an American actor and singer. After appearing on Broadway, he entered films in 1929. Early roles included Pete in *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932) and Dr. Wells in *Doctor X* (1932). Foster appeared in *The Informer* (1935), *Annie Oakley* (1935), *The Harvey Girls* (1946), *Ramrod* (1947), *I Shot Jesse James* (1949) and *Kansas City Confidential* (1952). He starred as Captain John Herrick in the television series *Waterfront* (1954–1955) and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. During the Second World War he served with the United States Coast Guard, rising to the rank of captain and later holding the honorary rank of commodore. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, themoviedb.org.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *The Informer* (1935), Fi1m 73, as Dan Gallagher — [page](https://film.one/film/the-informer.md) - *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), Fi1m 85, as Pete — [page](https://film.one/film/i-am-a-fugitive-from-a-chain-gang.md) ## Complete filmography (113) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Chubasco* (1968), as Nick - *You've Got To Be Smart* (1967), as D. O. Griggs - *The Time Travelers* (1964), as Dr. Erik von Steiner - *Advance to the Rear* (1964), as Gen. Bateman (uncredited) - *The Man from Galveston* (1963), as Judge Homer Black - *Going My Way* (1962), series, Actor - *Target: The Corruptors!* (1961), series, Actor - *Gunslinger* (1961), series, as Captain Zachary Scott - *Outlaws* (1960), series, Actor - *77 Sunset Strip* (1958), series, Actor - *Harbor Command* (1957), series, Actor - *Destination 60,000* (1957), as Col. Ed Buckley - *O. Henry Playhouse* (1957), series, as John McCaskey - *Waterfront* (1954), series, as Cap'n John Herrick - *Letter to Loretta* (1953), series, Actor - *I, the Jury* (1953), as Capt. Pat Chambers - *The Marshal's Daughter* (1953), as Preston Foster - Poker-Game Player - *Law and Order* (1953), as Kurt Durling - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, Actor - *Kansas City Confidential* (1952), as Tim Foster - *Montana Territory* (1952), as Sheriff Henry Plummer - *The Big Night* (1951), as Andy La Main - *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as Bob Hood - *The Bogus Green* (1951), as Brass McGannon - *The Big Gusher* (1951), as Henry 'Hank' Mason - *Tomahawk* (1951), as Col. Carrington - *Three Desperate Men* (1951), as Tom Denton - *The Tougher They Come* (1950), as Joe MacKinley - *The Big Cat* (1949), as Tom Eggers - *I Shot Jesse James* (1949), as John Kelley - *Thunderhoof* (1948), as Scotty Mason - *The Hunted* (1948), as Johnny Saxon - *Ramrod* (1947), as Frank Ivey - *King of the Wild Horses* (1947), as Dave Taggert - *It's Your America* (1946), as Army Surgeon (uncredited) - *Inside Job* (1946), as Bart Madden - *Tangier* (1946), as Col. Jose Artiego - *Strange Triangle* (1946), as Sam Crane - *The Harvey Girls* (1946), as Judge Sam Purvis - *Twice Blessed* (1945), as Jeff Turner - *The Valley of Decision* (1945), as Jim Brennan - *Thunderhead: Son of Flicka* (1945), as Rob McLaughlin - *Roger Touhy, Gangster* (1944), as Roger Touhy - *Bermuda Mystery* (1944), as Steve Carramond - *Guadalcanal Diary* (1943), as Father Donnelly - *My Friend Flicka* (1943), as Rob McLaughlin - *American Empire* (1942), as Paxton Bryce - *Thunder Birds* (1942), as Steve Britt - *Classification of Enlisted Men* (1942), as Narrator - *Little Tokyo, U.S.A.* (1942), as Michael Steele - *Night in New Orleans* (1942), as Police Lt. Steve Abbott - *A Gentleman After Dark* (1942), as Tom Gaynor - *Secret Agent of Japan* (1942), as Roy Bonnell - *Unfinished Business* (1941), as Steve Duncan - *The Roundup* (1941), as Greg Lane - *North West Mounted Police* (1940), as Sergeant Jim Brett - *Moon Over Burma* (1940), as Bill Gordon - *Cafe Hostess* (1940), as Dan Walters - *Missing Evidence* (1939), as Bill Collins - *Geronimo* (1939), as Capt. Bill Starrett - *20,000 Men a Year* (1939), as Jim Howell - *News Is Made at Night* (1939), as Steve Drum - *Chasing Danger* (1939), as Steve Mitchell - *Society Smugglers* (1939), as Sully - *Up the River* (1938), as 'Chipper' Morgan - *The Last Warning* (1938), as Bill Crane - *Submarine Patrol* (1938), as Lt. (j.g.) John C. Drake - *The Storm* (1938), as Jack Stacey - *Army Girl* (1938), as Capt. Dike Conger - *The Lady in the Morgue* (1938), as Det. Bill Crane - *Double Danger* (1938), as Robert Crane - *Everybody's Doing It* (1938), as Bruce Keene - *First Lady* (1937), as Stephen Wayne - *The Westland Case* (1937), as Bill Crane - Private Detective - *You Can't Beat Love* (1937), as James Ellsworth 'Jimmy' Hughes - *The Outcasts of Poker Flat* (1937), as John Oakhurst - *Sea Devils* (1937), as Michael 'Mike' O'Shea - *We Who Are About to Die* (1937), as Steven Mathews - *The Plough and the Stars* (1936), as Jack Clitheroe - *Love Before Breakfast* (1936), as Scott Miller - *Muss 'em Up* (1936), as Tip O'Neil - *We're Only Human* (1935), as Det. Sgt. Pete 'Mac' McCaffrey - *Annie Oakley* (1935), as Toby Walker - *The Last Days of Pompeii* (1935), as Marcus - *The Arizonian* (1935), as Tex Randolph - *A Night at the Biltmore Bowl* (1935), as Preston Foster - *The Informer* (1935), as Dan Gallagher — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/the-informer.md) - *The People's Enemy* (1935), as Vince M. Falcone - *Strangers All* (1935), as Murray Carter - *The Band Plays On* (1934), as Howdy Hardy - *Wharf Angel* (1934), as Como Murphy - *Heat Lightning* (1934), as George - *Sleepers East* (1934), as Jason Everett - *Hoopla* (1933), as Nifty Miller - *Sensation Hunters* (1933), as Tom baylor - *The Devil's Mate* (1933), as Insp. O'Brien - *The Man Who Dared* (1933), as Jan Novak - *Corruption* (1933), as Tim Butler - *Dangerous Crossroads* (1933), as Hinton - *Elmer, the Great* (1933), as Walker - *Ladies They Talk About* (1933), as David Slade - *Just Around the Corner* (1933), as Tim - Office Worker (uncredited) - *You Said a Mouthful* (1932), as Ed Dover - *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), as Pete — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/i-am-a-fugitive-from-a-chain-gang.md) - *The All-American* (1932), as Steve Kelly - *Life Begins* (1932), as Dr. Brett - *The Last Mile* (1932), as John 'Killer' Mears, Cell 4 - *Doctor X* (1932), as Dr. Wells - *Two Seconds* (1932), as Bud Clark - *His Woman* (1931), as Crewman - *Follow the Leader* (1930), as Two-Gun Terry - *Heads Up* (1930), as Blake (uncredited) - *Nothing but the Truth* (1929), as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) ## Gallery - ![Preston Foster, 1941](https://film.one/media/person/1226188/gallery-947f9133a042.jpg) Preston Foster, 1941 — Photographer not credited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Preston_Foster%2C_1941.jpg/1280px-Preston_Foster%2C_1941.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Preston Foster](https://film.one/media/person/1226188/gallery-2a214e5fb374.jpg) Preston Foster — Trailer screenshot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Preston_Foster_in_Twice_Blessed_trailer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Preston Foster and Wynne Gibson in Sleepers East - publicity still (original image damaged, modified and cropped: see source) (1934)](https://film.one/media/person/1226188/gallery-850466ecb070.jpg) Preston Foster and Wynne Gibson in Sleepers East - publicity still (original image damaged, modified and cropped: see source) (1934) — unknown (Fox Films), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Preston_Foster-Wynne_Gibson_in_Sleepers_East_still.jpg/1280px-Preston_Foster-Wynne_Gibson_in_Sleepers_East_still.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Preston Foster](https://film.one/media/person/1226188/gallery-459ae10436c9.jpg) Preston Foster — Image via TMDB - ![Preston Foster](https://film.one/media/person/1226188/gallery-bec3343c52b1.jpg) Preston Foster — Image via TMDB - ![Preston Foster](https://film.one/media/person/1226188/gallery-41b8201a4907.jpg) Preston Foster — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/preston-foster