Meg Foster

Margaret "Meg" Foster (born May 10, 1948) is an American film and television actress. Some of her many roles were in the 1979 TV miniseries version of '' The Scarlet Letter'', and the films '' Ticket to Heaven'', ''The Osterman Weekend'' and '' They Live''. She also starred as Christine Cagney in the first season of '' Cagney & Lacey''.

Early years

Foster was born in Reading, Pennsylvania to David and Nancy (née Adamson) Foster on May 10, 1948,Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 14-20
(May 9, 2017). APNews. Accessed 2023-01-27. and grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut with four siblings: sisters Gray, Jan and Nina, and brother Ian. She studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York.

Career

In 1968, Foster acted in a Cornell Summer Theatre production of ''John Brown's Body''. Later in the same year, she was in the off-Broadway production of ''The Empire Builders''.

When Loretta Swit was unable to reprise her television-film role of Detective Christine Cagney when the film was adapted into the '' Cagney & Lacey'' TV series, Foster took on the role for the short first season of only six episodes. Foster was replaced by Sharon Gless for the remainder of the series. Entertainment columnist Dick Kleiner wrote in August 1982 about Foster's being dropped from the show: "It isn't a pretty story, no matter who you talk to. Meg was so hurt and distraught that she still isn't talking. But she told friends that she felt as though she had been hit by a truck." Kleiner's story implied that Foster's dismissal from the show had cost her other opportunities. "Until that news spread," he wrote, "she was an in-demand actress."

Foster worked throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. She guest-starred in numerous TV shows including two episodes of '' Hawaii Five-O'' (1973 and 1976), '' The Six Million Dollar Man'' season two episode "Straight on 'til Morning" (1974), '' Three for the Road'' (1975), and the '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' season four episode " The Muse" (1996).

Other TV shows include: ''Bonanza'', '' The Twilight Zone'', '' The F.B.I.'', '' Here Come the Brides'', '' Storefront Lawyers'', '' Barnaby Jones'', ''Murder, She Wrote'', '' Miami Vice'', '' Mannix'', '' The Cosby Show'', '' Quantum Leap'', '' ER''. She also portrayed Hera in '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and '' Xena: Warrior Princess''.

She also appeared in films throughout the 1980s, beginning with a role as a woman who worked in the games in a travelling carnival in '' Carny'', starring Jodie Foster, Gary Busey and Robbie Robertson; the villainous Evil-Lyn in the big-screen version of ''Masters of the Universe''; the callous Martin in ''Leviathan'', starring Peter Weller and Richard Crenna, and Holly in the John Carpenter film '' They Live'', with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

Personal life

Foster was married to Canadian actor Stephen McHattie, but they divorced sometime before 2013.Stephen McHattie profile
nytimes.com; accessed October 13, 2014. Foster has a son with actor Ron Starr.

As to Foster's striking pale-blue eyes being dubbed "the eyes of 1979" by ''Mademoiselle'' magazine, Foster stated she didn’t think her eyes were that distinctive. However, some film and television producers had Foster wear contact lenses to change her eye color as they considered her natural eyes distracting.

Filmography

Films

Television films

Television series

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Meg
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
1948 births
Actors from Reading, Pennsylvania
Actresses from Pennsylvania
American film actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni