[Deathwatch] Barry Foster, actor, 70

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Thanks to a reader for sending this in -Ed

Monday, 11 February, 2002, 17:42 GMT 

Actor Barry Foster dies
 
Barry Foster starred in Hitchcock's Frenzy

Actor Barry Foster, best known for his role as the 1970s TV detective
Van der Valk, has died after a suspected heart attack.	The 70-year-old
actor had been appearing in the current cast of the long-running West
End play Art but was taken ill on Friday. 
 
He is thought to have had a heart attack while being cared for at the
Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford. 

Foster's agent Sandy Rees, who worked with him for more than 20 years,
said: "He was a great wit and had the clearest intelligence and
enthusiasm." 

Foster was most recently appearing alongside Nigel Havers and Roger
Lloyd Pack in Art, at the Whitehall Theatre, London. 

They think I'm Inspector Morse, or else it's Jon Pertwee in Dr Who or
Keith Barron from Duty Free
 
Foster, and the other two actors, have appeared as a trio in the
popular play several times. 

The theatre has said that the touring cast of Art will perform on
Monday night. 

Foster's wife or more than 40 years, Judith, had said she wanted the
performance of Art to take place as planned. 

Foster became one of TV's best known stars when he appeared as Dutch
cop Piet Van Der Valk in the series set in Amsterdam. 

Other highlights from his long career include a major role in Alfred
Hitchcock thriller Frenzy, the epic Ryan's Daughter, a TV dramatisation
of the life of Orde Wingate and hit mercenary movie The Wild Geese. 

Born in Nottingham, he had been in good health and his sudden heart
attack is understood to have taken his family by surprise. 

His agent said a recent stage role as Prospero had been "absolutely
breathtaking". 

Despite his well-loved appearances, he thought the public sometimes
struggled to put a name to his face. 

He once remarked: "The trouble is that people often mistake me for
someone else. They think I'm Inspector Morse, John Thaw, or else it's
Jon Pertwee in Dr Who or Keith Barron from Duty Free. 

"In fact I attribute a good deal of my success to being confused with
these people." 

Two of his three children - Miranda and Joanna - followed him into the
acting profession and he also had two grandchildren. 

His guest appearances in TV shows have included Inspector Morse,
Bergerac and Roger, Roger and his most recent movie appearance was in
the low-key British film Rancid Aluminium.