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Phil Foster (born Fivel Feldman; March 29, 1913 – July 8, 1985) was an American actor and performer, best known for his portrayal of Frank DeFazio in Laverne & Shirley.
According to Foster's appearance on To Tell the Truth (airdate April 9, 1957) he once went by the name of "Michael" Feldman.
At the height of the Great Depression, Foster started in the dramatic field, playing in halls, back rooms and wherever possible during a period when theaters weren't available. "We did all sorts of plays, including all of Clifford Odets' early works — for $28 to $35 a week, living three in a room eating — if there was any food around", he recalled.
Foster made his debut as a nightclub comic in Chicago in the late 1930s when he was pushed out on the floor suddenly to fill in for a Stand-up comedy. "I just got up and talked", he says. "I didn't know you were supposed to have an act. But I was offered the job at $125 a week." Foster had intended to return to acting, but reportedly found himself in constant demand in nightclubs across the country.
Among Foster's many television appearances were guest-starring roles in Ten-Four Productions' telefilm The Great American Traffic Jam and NBC's $weepstake$ and Games People Play. He made several return visits to The Ed Sullivan Show and Toast of the Town along with This Is Show Business, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Patty Duke Show. On The Jerry Lewis Show, he traded comic jabs with Cassius Clay shortly before the first Clay vs. Liston fight. He appeared in films, notably Bang the Drum Slowly.
It was Garry Marshall, an old friend whom he helped get started as a comedy writer for Joey Bishop and other entertainers, who lured Foster again to Hollywood, first to appear in The Odd Couple and then to co-star in Laverne & Shirley, at which time he was living in Fort Lee, New Jersey.Kraushar, Jonathan P. "Bergen: Comics' Haven", The New York Times, March 21, 1976. Accessed December 17, 2012. "In the view of Phil Foster, a star of the television comedy Laverne and Shirley, there is no such thing as New Jersey humor. If it exists, said Mr. Foster, who lives in Fort Lee, it is like Staten Island humor -- that is, simply a question of speaking slower." His later TV appearances included Fantasy Island in 1978, and on The Love Boat in 1977, where he played an aging, out-of-touch, boorish comedian.
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