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Jodie Foster
Born	Alicia Christian Foster
Height	5 ft 3 in

Jodie Foster (born November 19 1962) is a two-time Academy Award–winning American actress, director, and producer.

Early life

Alicia Christian Foster was born to Lucius Foster and Brandy Almond in Los Angeles, California. She attended an exclusive prep school, the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, before going to Yale University where she earned a B.A. in literature and graduated magna cum laude in 1985. While at Yale, Foster, like fellow 1985 Yale graduate Jennifer Beals of Flashdance fame, led a fairly normal life, considering her celebrity status. She often would spend time with friends at the local dive bar Anchor, and she occasionally partied in the haunts of one of the secret societies, Manuscript Society (a scene recounting such an event is noted in Tom Perrotta's novel Joe College).

Early career

But she had made nearly fifty film and television appearances before she attended college, which makes her relatively placid sojourn there remarkable. She began her career at age three as the Coppertone Girl in a television commercial and debuted as a television actress in a 1968 episode of Mayberry R.F.D. Her first film appearance came in the 1970 TV movie Menace on the Mountain. Foster made a number of Disney movies, including Napoleon and Samantha (1972), One Little Indian (1973), Freaky Friday (1976) and Candleshoe (1977). She also co-starred with Christopher Connelly in the 1974 TV series version of Paper Moon and alongside Martin Sheen in the 1976 cult classic The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. As a teenager, Foster made several appearances on the French pop circuit as a singer. Commenting on her years as a child actress, which she describes as an "actor’s career", Foster has said that "it was very clear to me at a young age that I had to fight for my life and that if I didn’t, my life would get gobbled up and taken away from me".

At age 14, Jodie received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a preteen prostitute in Martin Scorsese's film, Taxi Driver opposite Robert De Niro. De Niro's character in Taxi Driver intended to assassinate a presidential candidate. Parenthetically, in 1981, John Hinckley, Jr. shot U.S. President Ronald Reagan and three other people. He claimed his motive was to impress Foster. His obsession with Foster came after repeated viewings of the film, and he stalked her while she attended Yale University. This has been an incident of intense discomfort for Foster, who has been known to walk out of interviews if Hinckley's name is even mentioned. The punk band Jodie Foster's Army is named in reference to Hinckley's actions.

Transition to adult roles

Unlike child stars such as Shirley Temple or Tatum O'Neal, Foster successfully made the transition to adult roles, but not without initial difficulty. She gained significant weight while at Yale and, after several unsuccessful films post-Taxi Driver, was forced to audition for her role in The Accused. She won the part and the first of her two Golden Globes and Academy Awards as Best Actress for her role as a gang-rape survivor. She earned her second what is arguably her most famous role, Clarice Starling, opposite Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, in the 1991 film, The Silence of the Lambs.

In 1997 she starred alongside Matthew Mcconaughey in the sci-fi movie Contact, based on the novel by scientist Carl Sagan. She portrayed a scientist searching for extra-terrestrial life in the SETI project. In 1998, an asteroid, 17744 Jodiefoster, was named in her honor.

Branching out or Selling Out

By the 1990's, Foster began to branch out into other aspects of film besides acting. She made her directoral debut in 1991 with Little Man Tate, a critically acclaimed drama about a child prodigy, in which she also costarred. She also directed Home for the Holidays (1995), a black comedy starring Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr.. In 1992, Foster founded a production company called Egg Pictures in Los Angeles, and she began working as a producer in 1994 with the acclaimed Nell, the story of young woman raised in an isolated place who has to return to civilization.

Like many American actors who are rarely seen promoting products in their own country, Foster has appeared in a number of Japanese commercials, mostly in the 1990s. These have included advertisements for the Honda Civic, Keri cosmetics, Mt. Rainier ice coffee, and the Pasona Temporary Agency.

Recent roles

After taking time away from the spotlight, Foster returned in the 2005 blockbuster Flightplan. Foster portrayed a woman whose daughter disappears on an airplane that Foster's character, an engineer, had helped design.

Foster's most recent film, Inside Man, a thriller co-starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, was released on March 24, 2006, and opened at #1 at the box office. Her next film will be The Brave One, a thriller that is being filmed in New York City, both in Manhattan and Brooklyn. It is directed by Neil Jordan and co-stars Terrence Howard. Commenting on her latest roles, Foster has said that she enjoys appearing in mainstream genre films that have a "real heart to them".

Personal life and recognition

Foster is intensely private about certain aspects of her personal life. She has two sons, Charles (b. 1998) and Kit (b. 2001), both of whom she has revealed were conceived by artificial insemination through a sperm bank donor .

Though not openly acknowledged on her part, Foster is widely believed to be a lesbian and in a committed relationship. An unauthorized biography, Foster Child: A Biography of Jodie Foster, written by sibling Buddy, has identified her as such.

She gave the Class of 2006 University of Pennsylvania commencement address on May 15, 2006, the university's 250 Commencement. The university also conferred to her the Doctor of Arts (honoris causa) degree for her lifelong achievement and contribution to film in both acting and directing. Her address is available in webcast (jump to 1:44:08) and mp3 format.

Trivia

• Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 "Sexiest Stars" in film history (#45).
• Was supposed to be Commencement Speaker for Smith College in Massachusetts but eventually had to decline.
• As a youngster, was mauled by a lion and carried briefly in its mouth after a day of filming Napoleon and Samantha, a Disney movie
• Hosted Saturday Night Live at age 14, making her the youngest person to host (until a seven-year-old Drew Barrymore hosted in the 1980's). The episode she hosted was also the last episode featuring Chevy Chase as a castmember.
• Had to pull out of Double Jeopardy (1999) because she became pregnant.
• Ranked #18 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time.
• She has two sisters and a brother, Lucinda "Cindy" Foster (b. 1954), Constance "Connie" Foster (b. 1955), and Lucius "Buddy" Foster (b. 1957).
• During the filming of both Taxi Driver and The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane her stand-in was her older sister, Connie.
• Is a member of MENSA.
• As a result of attending an exclusive French-speaking private school in Los Angeles, Foster is fluent in French, which she speaks with almost no accent, and has performed in French-language films, such as Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004).
• Made her debut (and only official) musical recordings in France in 1977: two 7" singles, "Je T'attends Depuis la Nuit des Temps" b/w "La Vie C'est Chouette" and "When I Looked at Your Face" b/w "La Vie C'est Chouette". The A-side of the former is sung in French, the A-side of the latter in English. The B-side of both is mostly spoken word and is performed in both French and English These three recordings were included on the soundtrack to Foster's 1977 French film Moi, fleur bleue.
• The skater punk band JFA (Jodie Foster's Army) was named in her honor.
• There have been at least 20+ punk, hardcore, heavy metal, New Wave and No Wave recordings that directly or indirectly reference Foster, included works by UK Subs, PH2, Half Japanese, Sonic Youth, Darlington and Caustic Christ. Foster's voice has been sampled from interviews and film performances and included on some tracks.
• Canadian poet R. W. Watkins dedicated a 2002 broadside of haikus to "Foster on her 40th". The haiku are based on her 1976 film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (and the 1974 novel of the same name by Laird Koenig), and were expanded to 24-page chapbook-size for a 2005 republication by Nocturnal Iris Publications. The new edition features at least one avant-garde drawing of Foster by Watkins dating from 1988. Watkins also publishes the fanzine Cellar, which concentrates on Foster's early and/or darker cinematic work, as well as that of Koenig, and (in particular) the point at which their careers intersect: The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.
• She is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Loves organic food.

Quotes

• "Kids talk like sailors now. Adults don't want to know." -- at age 14.

• On the advantages of being an actress who is months from turning 40: "They've lived longer, they're more confident about their choices and they don't have to be hip and cool anymore, which I think is a godsend - you make really bad choices when you are trying to be hip." -- April 2004

• "If I fail, at least I will have failed my way."

• On Foster Child, her brother, Buddy Foster's unauthorized biography about her: "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."

Filmography

Award Nominations

References

Footnotes

1. "The StarPhoenix". A class act: Jodie Foster riding high with Flightplan and Inside Man. Retrieved March 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
2. "Rotten Tomatoes".
3. "UPI". Foster, Howard to star in Neil Jordan film. Retrieved March 27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

• Japanese commercials

Web sites

• Jodie Foster at IMDb
• Template:Nndb name
• Template:Tvtome person

• 1962 births
• Best Actress Academy Award winners
• Best Actress Academy Award nominees
• Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominees
• American child actors
• American film actors
• American film directors
• Female film directors
• Living people
• Members of Mensa
• People from Los Angeles
• Yale University alumni
• English-language film directors
• Film actors