Quick Facts
Biography
Disambiguation: This is also the full name of Frankie Foster, a fictional character based on Lauren Faust.
Frances Helen Foster (née Brown; June 11, 1924 – June 17, 1997) was an American film, television and stage actress. In addition to being an actress, Brown was also an award–winning stage director.
Life and career
Foster was born Frances Helen Brown in Yonkers, New York, the daughter of George H., a postal worker, and Helen E. Brown. She studied acting at American Theater Wing in Manhattan from 1949 to 1952. In 1955, she made her stage debut as Dolly May in The Wisteria Trees at the City Center Theater in more than 25 of its productions. Foster won an Obie Award in 1985 for sustained excellence of performance. She was also a recipient of two AUDELCO Awards, one as an actress and the other as a director for work at the New Federal Theatre in Manhattan. In 1978, she received the best actress award for Do Lord Remember Me, and the best director award in 1983 for Hospice. She also appeared in several films, including Malcolm X, Crooklyn, and Clockers, as well as the recurring role of Vera on the soap opera Guiding Light from 1985-94. She died in Fairfax, Virginia, from cerebral hemorrhage, June 17, 1997, aged 73.
Selected credits
Theatre
| Year | Production | Role | Theatre(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Having Our Say | Miss Sadie Delany (standby) | Booth Theatre | |
| The Young Man from Atlanta | Clara | Signature Theatre | ||
| 1992 | Malcolm X | Woman Outside Audubon Ballroom | ||
| 1990 | Ground People | Viola | America Place Theatre | |
| 1986 | House of Shadows | Cassie | America Place Theatre | |
| 1982 | Do Lord Remember Me | American Place Theatre | ||
| 1980 | Zooman and the Sign | Ash Boswell | Theatre Four | |
| 1978 | Nevis Mountain Dew | Everelda Philibert Griffin | St. Mark's Playhouse | 1979 Drama Desk Award nomination, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play |
| 1975 | The First Breeze of Summer | Gremmer | Palace Theatre | |
| 1972 | The River Niger | Grandma Wilhelmina Brown | St. Mark's Playhouse Brooks Atkinson Theatre | Originally an Off-Broadway production that was transferred to Broadway. |
| 1971 | Rosalee Pritchett | Rosalee (Rose) Pritchett | St. Mark's Playhouse | |
| 1970 | The Good Woman of Setzuan | Mrs. Mi Tzu | Vivian Beaumont Theater | |
| 1968 | Kongi's Harvest | Ogbo Aweri Segi | St. Mark's Playhouse | |
| 1965 | Day of Absence | Supervisor Aide | St. Mark's Playhouse | Program of two one-act plays by Douglas Turner Ward. |
| Happy Ending | Vi | St. Mark's Playhouse | Program of two one-act plays by Douglas Turner Ward. | |
| 1963 | The Last Minstrel | Mrs. Ash | Pocket Theatre | |
| 1959 | A Raisin in the Sun | Ruth Younger (understudy) Beneatha Younger (understudy) | Ethel Barrymore Theatre Belasco Theatre | |
| 1956 | Take a Giant Step | Violet | Jan Hus Playhouse | |
| 1955 | The Wisteria Trees | Dolly May | City Center Theater |