Foote was born in Greenville, Mississippi, the son of Shelby Dade Foote and his wife Lillian Rosenstock. Foote's paternal grandfather, a planter, had gambled away most of his fortune and assets.Foote died at Baptist Hospital in Memphis on June 27, 2005, aged 88. He was interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. His grave is beside the family plot of General Forrest.