Early Life
Barry Foster was born John Barry Foster on 21 August 1927 in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. His father was a toolsetter.
The family moved to Hayes, Middlesex, and he went to Southall County School. His first career was in applied chemistry.
He trained as a plastics organic chemist at EMI's Central Research Laboratories. National Service followed, and he served in the Royal Air Force.
He was twenty when a scholarship took him to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. There he met a fellow student, Harold Pinter. They stayed friends for life.
Early Career & First Roles
His first professional role was Lorenzo in 'The Merchant of Venice' in 1952. He made his London debut in 'The Night of the Ball' at the New Theatre in 1955.
The 1950s were spent in regional rep, including the Nottingham Playhouse, where he played King John and Macbeth. His early film parts were small, often in naval war films.
On stage he moved from light French comedy to Brecht, and performed 'Brecht on Brecht' with Lotte Lenya at the Royal Court.
Major Roles
Two roles from 1972 are what he is known for.
Commissaris Piet van der Valk in Van der Valk
The ITV series began in 1972 and ran, with gaps, into 1992. He played Commissaris Piet van der Valk in all five series.
His van der Valk was not a hard-boiled action hero. He worked cases by watching people and talking to them.
Foster played him quietly, with dry humour. A look often did the work of a speech.
Amsterdam itself was part of the show, canals and cafes included.
Its theme, the instrumental 'Eye Level', was a UK No 1 for four weeks in September and October 1973, credited to the Simon Park Orchestra.
He came back to the part for two more series, in 1991 and 1992.
He played it in 32 episodes across five series.
Bob Rusk in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy
The same year, Hitchcock cast him in Frenzy as Bob Rusk, the so-called Necktie Murderer.
Rusk was a Covent Garden fruit merchant, friendly and full of chatter, which is what makes him frightening.
Foster played him as an ordinary man rather than a monster, and let the ordinary charm do the work.
The scene in the back of the potato truck is played without a word.
It is the screen role he is remembered for.
One was a detective, the other a killer, and he played both in 1972.
Other Notable Work
He played Major-General Orde Wingate in 'Orde Wingate', a three-part BBC Two serial shown from 16 July 1976. He played Wingate again in the 1982 US TV movie 'A Woman Called Golda'.
He played the bureaucratic Saul Enderby in the BBC's Smiley's People in 1982.
He played Sherlock Holmes in a 1978 BBC radio serial. In 1985 he played Howard Bailey in 'The Last Interview', the opener of the fourth Bergerac series, broadcast on BBC1 on 11 October 1985.
He also worked with Harold Pinter on stage, in 'The Basement' and 'Tea Party' at the Duchess in 1970.
Acting Style
Foster worked with stillness and small expressions rather than big gestures.
That made him a natural fit for detectives and for Pinter's characters, who leave a lot unsaid.
His humour was dry and understated.
He moved between the heightened language of the classical stage and the quieter naturalism of screen acting without trouble.
Over fifty years he played kings, killers and detectives.
Personal Life
He married Judith Shergold in 1955 and kept his private life out of the papers.
They raised three children.
Colleagues described him as generous and patient with younger actors.
Obituaries noted that he played the piano and loved jazz. His friendship with Harold Pinter, made at drama school, lasted the rest of his life.
He died on 11 February 2002 in Guildford, of a heart attack, aged 74. The Barry Foster Memorial Appeal was set up in his name and raised money to help disabled children get to the theatre; the first award in his name came in 2003.
In closing...
Foster worked for fifty years, on the stage, in radio, in film and on television.
He was still taking parts in the 1990s.
For a generation of viewers he is still Commissaris Piet van der Valk.