(OT)Bill Foster dies at age 68...
Charles Atkin§
"THE MAN SHOW'S" BILL "THE FOX" FOSTER
A HERO AMONG BEER DRINKERS
DIES AT AGE 68
Few entertainers have spanned as many generations as Bill "The
Fox" Foster. For more than four decades, Foster was somewhat of a local
legend in barrooms across Los Angeles. He was the self-
proclaimed "World's Fastest Beer Drinker" - able to guzzle a pint of
brew quicker than most of us could spill it on the floor - and a master
performer of what he called "songs your mother wouldn't sing."
Sadly, Foster passed away Wednesday, May 10 at his home in Santa
Monica after a long battle with prostate cancer, at the age of 68.
Foster was best known as proprietor of the Fox Inn, a popular
west-side tavern, from 1961 to 1989. He performed there nightly,
leading his patrons in song and often challenging unsuspecting beer
drinkers to chugging races. But the highlight of each night was to see
Foster chug a pint of beer while standing on his head.
"There's not that many people who can go around and just make
other people happy all the time, but that's what he did," recalls
former patron Pat Wood, who now operates The Shack Restaurant in Santa
Monica, just blocks away from the former site of The Fox Inn. "Every
time you went in there it was just a great time. You really felt like
you knew him by the time you left."
It wasn't long before Foster's combination of naughty lyrics and
stupid human tricks began turning heads in Hollywood. Although his act
was sometimes considered too outrageous for primetime, he became a
frequent guest star on local and national television programs,
including "The Jefferson's," "Taxi," "The Mike Douglas Show"
and "Thicke of the Night."
Foster briefly faded from the public eye in the late '90's, but
recently discovered a whole new audience on cable television. Last
summer, he combined the duties of emcee, house band and sidekick to
stars Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla on Comedy Central's smash hit, "The
Man Show."
"The Fox really embodied 'The Man Show,'' says Kimmel. "He was a
guy who made his living by having fun, singing songs and drinking beer.
I can't imagine a better way to make a living."
"'The Man Show,'" as a whole, is just a wonderful group of people
to work for," Foster said shortly before his death. "It doesn't even
seem like a TV show."
Billed by producers as "30-minutes of beer commercial fun," "The
Man Show" is actually a raucous half-hour variety program featuring
sketch comedy, celebrity guest, household hints from adult film stars,
man-on-the-street interviews and scantily clad women on trampolines.
It's a combination of testosterone and tongue-in-cheek humor, which
seem to fit Foster like a glove. "The Man Show" currently airs
Wednesday nights at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Comedy Central.
But to watch "The Man Show" is only to see half of the picture.
During a live taping of the program, the euphoria inside the sound
stage resembles a bachelor party at its best. Audience members are
greeted with 20 ounce glasses of beer and engage in wild activities to
win prizes. In a final taping of last season, one exuberant fan dropped
his trousers in an effort to win an autographed picture of The Fox.
Indeed, in his later years, Foster had become somewhat of an icon
to his new, younger fans. But this phenomenon did not occur overnight,
according to his best friend, manager and companion of 24 years, Nancy
Grade. "For all the years I've known him, to me he was always a
celebrity," she recalled. "Were ever we went in the entire world,
people would seem to know him."
Many of Foster's friends and admirers were once patrons of The
Fox Inn, which despite its size (barely 1000 square feet) developed a
worldwide reputation for its unique brand of fun. "When the 1984
Olympics were in Los Angeles, ABC television came in and covered The
Fox Inn," Foster recalled. "I was the only non-Olympian event covered
by the network."
The Fox Inn also created an opportunity for Foster to market his
talents to the most obvious of audiences, college students. Through the
late 1980's, his act was a staple on college campuses across the
country, including University of Michigan, University of Illinois,
Stanford University and San Diego State University. But the story
of "The Fox" actually began on the Westwood campus of UCLA, where
Foster was a border at a fraternity house. He got his first job
performing at The Nickelodeon, a small pub at the corner of McClellan
and Wilshire Boulevard. From there, Foster was hired to work at the
Mammoth Mountain Inn.
He quickly tired of working for others, however and decided to
strike out on his own. "I found when working for others, that if I came
up with ideas for their business, they weren't always receptive,"
Foster said. "Working for myself, I didn't have that kind of battle."
When The Fox Inn closed in 1989, Foster moved his act to other
nearby taverns in and around the Los Angeles area. He spent much of the
1990's performing at Mom's Saloon in Brentwood, CA, The Pitcher House
in Hermosa Beach, CA and American Pie in Santa Monica, CA.
"He was always such a fun man to be around," said David Nouri,
proprietor of the Bicycle Shop Café in West Los Angeles, one of many
local establishments where Foster was known to spontaneously burst into
his act. "He would come in for a drink and end up performing," Nouri
recalls. "There would be all these college students all singing and
dancing with him. He was an older man, but that didn't matter. He could
still make the crowd go."
For the past few years, however, Foster kept a relatively low
profile, partially due to what he considers a "change in attitudes and
drinking habits." "The college campuses have pretty much dried up for
beer events," he said, "and that includes The Fox. Plus, bars have
changed enough to where I had to become more selective as to where I
performed. Lately, most of my energy has been involved with 'The Man
Show.'"
Foster said he got the call for "The Man Show" thanks to a
performance he gave more than 13 years ago at the University of Nevada
at Las Vegas, which was attended by "Man Show" host Jimmy Kimmel. It
was Kimmel's recommendation that got Foster the job on "The Man Show,"
when the show producers were looking for an emcee for the program.
"'The Man Show'" had a lot of bricks," said Foster. "Jimmy
(Kimmel) thought The Fox could be the mortar."
A lifetime member of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, Foster
is survived by his two children, Shari Foster of Santa Monica and
Robert Foster of Marina del Ray; a brother, John Foster of Burr Ridge,
IL; his companion of 24 years, Nancy Grade; her three children,
Kathleen Angell of Windsor, CA, Casey Eldridge of Ukiah, CA and
Mitchell Pochna of Westwood, CA; and Foster's former wife, Joyce
Foster, of Brentwood, CA.
A memorial service and a public celebration of his life are
planned for June. Both will be open to the public. For more
information, please call (310) 828-2117.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that a donation be
made in his name to the University of California Regents, UCLA Division
of Hematology/Oncology c/o Dr. S. Kabbinavar, 10945 LaConte Avenue,
Suite 2345C, Los Angeles, CA 90095-16678.
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Before you buy.
elise...@aol.com
Cheers,
Elise MacGregor Ferrell
Charmas
