Lucius Fisher "Buddy" Foster IV (born July 12, 1957) is an American former child actor. He is the older brother of actress and director Jodie Foster. Beginning his career at the age of eight, he had television roles from the late 1960s through the early 1970s, most notably Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971).
Lucius Foster IV was born on July 12, 1957,[1] the son of Evelyn (née Almond) and Lucius Fisher Foster III.[2] He has two older sisters and one younger sister, the latter being actress Jodie Foster. His parents divorced in the early 1960s, and his mother obtained a job in the entertainment industry to support her children.[3]
In the early 1960s, Evelyn Almond Foster[4][5] began managing the career of her son Buddy Foster.[6][7][8]
"Buddy, the first to start acting, lost a Coppertone commercial when 4-year-old Jodie charmed the casting director and got the job."[9]
As a child actor, Foster appeared in a regular role on the 1967 TV western Hondo and Mayberry, R.F.D. (1968–1971), as well as appearing guest roles on numerous other television series throughout the 1970s including The Six Million Dollar Man. He appeared on the Dragnet TV series in the 1969 episode "Burglary Auto: Juvenile Genius" as James "Watermelon" Chambers.
In 1967, Foster appeared on Petticoat Junction in the episode "Temperance, Temperance", as Clint Priddy. He voiced the little boy in the famous 1969 Tootsie Pop commercial Mr. Owl "How Many Licks Does It Take?", often miscredited to fellow child actor Peter Robbins.[a] He made his final screen appearance with a small role in the film Foxes (1980) starring his sister Jodie Foster.
In 1997, Foster released the book Foster Child, in which he chronicled his childhood.[10][11] The book saw Foster allege that Jodie was a lesbianorbisexual, many years before she came out, and claim that their mother had once had a same-sex relationship.[12] Jodie called the book a "cheap cry for attention and money, filled with hazy recollections, fantasies, and borrowed press releases [...] Buddy has done nothing but break our mother's heart his whole life".[13]
In October 1997, Foster owned a construction company in Duluth, Minnesota, where he lived with his second wife.[14][15]
