Meg Foster

Foster's first TV credit of note was "Sunshine" (CBS, 1973), a popular sentimental TV-movie about the family and friends of a cancer victim, which generated a short-lived sitcom (NBC, 1975) and a sequel, "Sunshine Christmas" (NBC, 1977). In all three, Foster played Nora, a helpful friend and neighbor of the widower protagonist. (Several episodes of the TV series were strung together and released theatrically overseas as "Sunshine Part II" in 1976.) Foster won attention for her portrayal of adulteress Hester Prynne in the PBS miniseries "The Scarlet Letter" (1979) and was Det. Chris Cagney to Tyne Daly's Det. Mary Beth Lacey in the first season of "Cagney and Lacey" (CBS, 1982). Deemed too hard-edged in the role, she was subsequently replaced by Sharon Gless. Her removal from the series slightly knocked the sails out of her TV career, with only sporadic employment for several seasons. She then was relegated to supporting parts, often cast as overly-aggressive females of authority, as in the 1996 Showtime TV-movie "Space Marines." Ironically, it was Sharon Gless and Barney Rosenzweig, the former "Cagney & Lacey" executive producer, who kicked in a good role: the recurring one of a district attorney alongside Gless in "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" (CBS, 1990-91). Foster has also made guest appearances on such hits as "Murder, She Wrote," "Miami Vice" and "ER." In 1997, she co-starred in "Deep Family Secrets" (CBS) and she has remained active on the L.A. stage.