Meg Foster Biography

Prior to her film and TV appearances, Meg Foster established herself as a theatre actress. In 1968, she appeared in a production of ‘John Brown's Body’ at Cornell Summer Theater. That year, she also acted in the off-Broadway production of ‘The Empire Builders’. Her other stage credits include ‘King Lear’, ‘Barabbas’, ‘Three Sisters’ and ‘Extremities’.

Foster had her screen debut in a season three episode of ‘NET Playhouse’ in 1969. Her first cinematic appearance came about a year later in the drama film ‘Adam at Six A.M.’. She subsequently played a series guest and recurring characters in various TV shows before landing the role of Nora in the NBC telefilm ‘Sunshine’ (1973) and its 1975 short-lived sequel series of the same name. During this period, she also appeared in films like ‘Thumb Tripping’ (1972), ‘Welcome to Arrow Beach’ (1974). and ‘A Different Story’ (1978).

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the WGBH TV miniseries ‘The Scarlet Letter’ (1979) starred Foster as Hester Prynne, a colonial-American woman spurned and castigated by her puritanical neighbours and forced to wear a large scarlet letter “A” on the front of her dress for the remainder of her life. Foster’s performance garnered her much critical praise.

In 1981, Foster shared screen space with Nick Mancuso, Saul Rubinek, and Kim Cattrall in the Canadian drama film ‘Ticket to Heaven’. Directed by Ralph L. Thomas, the movie revolves a man who gets seduced into a cult. In 1982, she joined the cast of CBS’ police crime drama series ‘Cagney & Lacey’. Originally, Loretta Swit was cast for the role of Christine Cagney and even portrayed the character on the show’s pilot, a TV movie released in 1981. However, she was still under contract with the producers of ‘M*A*S*H,’ in which she essayed Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, and they rejected her request to appear in ‘Cagney & Lacey’. When the movie was picked up as a series by CBS, Foster played the character in the six episodes which were broadcast as a midseason replacement in the spring of 1982. However, her own tenure as Cagney did not last long. The network felt that she came off as too aggressive and there was a possibility that the audience would see her as a lesbian. As a result, she was let go and Sharon Gless was brought in to portray the role after the show was greenlit for a regular season. According to entertainment columnist Dick Kleiner, her firing from the show also cost her other acting opportunities.

Despite the setback, Foster continued to act through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. She starred alongside the likes of Rutger Hauer, John Hurt, Burt Lancaster, and Dennis Hopper in the 1983 suspense thriller ‘The Osterman Weekend’. In the 1988 science fiction film ‘They Live’, she essayed the role of Holly Thompson opposite Roddy Piper’s Nada. In recent years, she has portrayed Carla Grunwald in both ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and ‘Ravenwood’. In 2015, she played the recurring role of Josephine LaRue in ‘The Originals’. She is set to star in the sci-fi film ‘S2K’, and horror thrillers ‘Investigation 13’, ‘There’s No Such Thing as Vampires’, and ‘Haunted: 333’.

She receives much attention for her striking pale-blue eyes. While she herself believes that her eyes are not “so distinctive’, she has been asked several times to wear contact lenses by filmmakers and showrunners to lessen their distracting effects during screen performances. They were hailed as “the eyes of 1979” by ‘Mademoiselle’ magazine.

Born on May 10, 1948, in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA, Meg Foster is one of the five children of David and Nancy (née Adamson) Foster. She and her three sisters, Gray, Jan, and Nina, and brother Ian were raised in Rowayton, Connecticut. Having been interested in acting since she was quite young, she learned more about the craft at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York.

Foster was in a relationship with actor Ron Starr and has a son named Christopher with him. At one point, she was married to Canadian actor Stephen McHattie. Since their split, McHattie has married actress Lisa Houle.

Meg Foster has strikingly intense blue eyes that have become her trademark in the entertainment industry.

She is known for her versatility as an actress, having played a wide range of characters in both film and television.

Meg Foster is a talented artist and has exhibited her paintings in galleries around the world.

She is known for her dedication to her craft and has received acclaim for her performances in various independent films.

Meg Foster is also a dedicated animal rights activist and has been involved in various campaigns to promote animal welfare.