Bill Foster, Primetime Emmy-Winning Director
A prolific comedy director, Foster worked in such series as Sanford and Son, Benson, Full House and many others. He also directed two Primetime Emmys telecasts.
Bill Foster, a director whose half-century career included numerous popular television comedies, including Sanford and Son, Benson and Full House, died on February 2, 2011, in Los Angeles. He was 78.
According to news reports, the cause was cancer.
Early in his career Foster directed several Emmy-winning programs, including The Danny Kaye Show and The Bell Telephone Hour. In 1967, he helmed the pilot of Laugh-In, for which he was nominated for an Emmy.
In 1975 he won a DGA Award for directorial achievement in documentary/news for AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to James Cagney.
He directed the 1971 and 1972 editions of the Primetime Emmys telecast, 12 episodes of Sanford and Son, 43 episodes of Benson, 36 episodes of Amen and 23 episodes of Full House.
He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.