Basil Samuel Foster (12 February 1882 – 28 September 1959) was an English actor and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played 34 first-class matches in the early 20th century. He was born in

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern (, locally also: ) is a spa town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is ...

, and died in Pield Heath,

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, aged 77. He was the inspiration for the Wodehouse character,

Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright Claude Cattermole "Catsmeat" Potter-Pirbright is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Drones Club stories of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a longtime school friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the D ...

, having become a stage actor so that he could also play county cricket.

Cricket career

One of the seven Foster brothers who played for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, he made his first-class debut for that county against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in August 1902, but scored only 4 and 0 as Worcestershire lost by nine wickets. He played against

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

a few days later, taking three catches, and against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

the following June, but made

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

in both his innings. Foster did not play first-class cricket again until 1906, when he made 27 and 26 for

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) ''against'' Worcestershire at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. Between then and early May 1912, he played mostly for MCC, making 15 appearances for them in all while turning out only four more times for Worcestershire. It was for MCC that he made his two half-centuries: 86 (from number eight) against the

South Africans South Africans are the citizens of South Africa (officially the Republic of South Africa ''RSA. These individuals include those residing within the borders of South Africa, as well as the South African diaspora. History The first modern inh ...

in 1907, and 74 against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

in 1910. After his last match for MCC, Foster returned exclusively to

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

, but now with

. For his new county he made 12 first-class appearances, but in 15 innings never scored more than 35. His final game came against Kent in late August, but only one day's play was possible in the match and Foster made just 8 in his only innings before being

caught and bowled Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the catch i ...

by Woolley.

Actor

Foster made his stage debut in 1906, as Norman Popple in ''Mr Popple of Ippleton'' by Paul Rubens, at the Marlborough Theatre, Holloway, London. In ''

The Dollar Princess ''The Dollar Princess'' is a musical in three acts, with music by Leo Fall, adapted into English by Basil Hood with lyrics by Adrian Ross (from the 1907 ''Die Dollarprinzessin'' with a German-language libretto by A. M. Willner and Fritz Grünbau ...

'' of 1909, the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' critic wrote that Foster (Earl of Quorn) and

Gabrielle Ray Gabrielle Ray (born Gabrielle Elizabeth Clifford Cook, 28 April 1883 – 21 May 1973) was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies. Ray was considered one of the most beautiful actress ...

(Daisy) "make a fine pair, and play to each other splendidly." In 1907, Foster played cricket against

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

in the Actors against Authors game at Lord's. Foster later collaborated with Wodehouse, portraying the lead role, in the 1928 New Theatre production of '' A Damsel in Distress'', as well as the role of

Psmith Rupert Psmith (or Ronald Eustace Psmith, as he is called in the last of the four books in which he appears) is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British author P. G. Wodehouse, being one of Wodehouse's best-loved characters. ...

in the 1930 Shaftesbury Theatre production of '' Leave It to Psmith''; both productions were adapted by Wodehouse and

Ian Hay Major (Honorary Major General) John Hay Beith, Order of the British Empire, CBE Military Cross, MC (17 April 1876 – 22 September 1952), was a British schoolmaster and soldier, but is best remembered as a novelist, playwright, essayist, an ...

from novels written by Wodehouse. Foster became manager of the Richmond Theatre in 1939.

Personal life

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Foster was machine-gun instructor to the 2/8th Hampshire Territorials. Foster was married to actress

Gwendoline Brogden Gwendoline Brogden (28 September 1891 – 1973) was a British stage actress and singer. Career Gwendoline Brogden was born on 28 September 1891 in Hull, the daughter of Thomas Brogden and Gertrude Walsh. She first appeared on stage as a chi ...

and Lillian F. Norton.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Basil 1882 births 1959 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Cricketers from Worcestershire English cricketers

Basil Basil (, ; , ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' (, )), also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a hardiness (plants), tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" r ...

Hampshire Yeomanry soldiers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Middlesex cricketers People educated at Malvern College Sportspeople from Malvern, Worcestershire Worcestershire cricketers