Robert Foster, a television writer, director and producer whose credits included the NBC action series Knight Rider, died May 30, 2011, at his home in Sherman Oaks, California. He was 72.

According to news reports, the cause was brain cancer.

A native of Los Angeles, Foster got his start in the entertainment industry in the mailroom at Universal Studios, where his father, Wylie Foster, was an accountant.

He earned his first writing credits in the late 1960s with episodes of such television series as Run for Your Life, The Bold Ones, Kojak, The New Maverick, Kate McShane and Chicago Story.

In 1988, he wrote the made-for-television movie Clinton and Nadine, which starred Andy Garcia and Ellen Barkin.

The following year brought the release of a feature film that he wrote, Dead Bang, directed by John Frankenheimer film and starring Don Johnson.

Survivors include two daughters and two grandchildren.