Jodie Foster Best Actress Biography

Née Alicia Christian Foster, Jodie was born November 19, 1962, in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Lucius, left the family before her birth, leaving Alicia and her three siblings to be raised by their Hollywood publicist mother, Evelyn Foster. Given her occupation, Evelyn had little problem finding acting work for those of her children that expressed interest in taking it on, and Alicia made her first on-screen appearance at the age of three, in a Coppertone sunscreen commercial.

becoming jodie

Further commercial work followed, as did small roles on television series such as Mayberry R.F.D. and The Partridge Family, and Foster made her debut film appearance in 1972, in Disney's Napoleon and Samantha. Even as she was becoming immersed in the medium that the public would come to know her through, Foster acquired the name she would be known by, as her family took to addressing her by a shortened version of the name of a family friend. Josephine D., a longtime acquaintance of Evelyn Foster's had come to be known as Jo D., and Alicia Foster subsequently became Jodie Foster.

Foster's interest in acting did not wane as she entered her teenage years, and she continued her film work, albeit for the most part restricted to quirky roles in children's movies. Foster enjoyed an advantage over other child actors in that her performances were not restricted to a single language: a student at Los Angeles' Lycée Francais, Jodie's French was sufficiently fluent by age 14 for her to win a role in 1977's Moi, Fleur Bleue, as well as a number of other French films.

Yet Foster's childhood success should not be solely attributed to her linguistic abilities. Even before her appearance in Moi, Fleur Bleue, Foster had demonstrated an acting talent impressive enough to earn a casting call to 1976's Taxi Driver. The film proved to be a contemporary classic, and Foster's role in it, as a teenage prostitute, won her critical acclaim as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. By age 14, Foster had made the big break that most seasoned actors envy.

top of the class

Throughout the remainder of her high school years, Foster persisted in expanding her professional experience with film and television appearances, although none would quite rival the impact that Taxi Driver had on the public (although she was considered for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars).

While tending to her burgeoning career, Foster continued to attend courses at the Lycée Francais, and in 1980 accomplished the feat of not merely graduating on schedule, but as class valedictorian. Her academic accolades were acknowledged, and Foster was accepted at Yale University, where she began attending lectures in English Literature that fall.
professional turmoil

In a 1982 article she wrote for Esquire magazine, Foster recalled her primary challenge in attending Yale was simply blending into the student body, in spite of the fame her profession had brought her. This endeavor was severely compromised in the spring of 1981, when a certain John Hinckley launched her into the public eye. Obsessed with Foster's character in Taxi Driver, Hinckley had written her a number of letters before embarking on an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan as a means of catching her attention.

The attempt was a failure, and led to the discovery of photographs of Foster and her college address in his motel room, and days of grilling by the press and federal agencies. Matters were further complicated with the capture of a second stalker, Edward Richardson, and the experience was more than enough to prompt Foster to retreat from the public spotlight. She became, and remains to this day, one of Hollywood's most private celebrities.
critics silence-d

Foster's decision to shield her personal life did not impinge on her professional career, and she continued to do film and television appearances until her 1985 graduation, with honors, from Yale. By this point Foster was a seasoned veteran in the entertainment industry and had little trouble finding consistent work, although a follow-up to Taxi Driver continued to elude her.

Her patience was rewarded in 1988, when she was cast as rape victim Sarah Tobias in The Accused. The movie was well received, and Foster's performance in it earned her a Golden Globe, a National Board of Review Award as well as an Oscar for Best Actress. Her reputation consolidated, Foster went on to her next Oscar-winning performance, as FBI rookie agent Clarice Starling in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs. This particular Best Actress Academy Award marked her third nomination and her second trophy before the age of 30, a first among Hollywood women.

Having established herself as a high-caliber actor, Foster expanded her professional experience in 1991, founded a production company -- Egg Productions -- and made her directorial debut with Little Man Tate, which she also starred in. She again assumed the role of a prostitute in 1992 in Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog, and directed her second film, Nell, in 1994, the same year she starred in the comedy Maverick alongside Mel Gibson.


private prowess

By the late '90s, with a wealth of experience and acclaim behind her, Foster was in a position to pick and choose roles. In doing so, she exhibited a sense of integrity rare in celebrity circles, reserving her performances to those instances where it was the character, rather than the monetary compensation, that stimulated her. After a role in 1997's Contact, Foster rejected an offer to reprise her role as Clarice Starling in the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs -- Hannibal -- initially citing issues with the character's development but then claiming scheduling conflicts as her reason for doing so.
Although the former was her official reason, many took the latter as the true one, praising it as testament to her unique approach to her craft. Foster's next appearance was in 1999, in Anna and the King. Already acknowledged as one of the most powerful women in the industry, this role made her one of the most highly paid, earning her $15 million.

After a brief reprieve from film work, Jodie made her return to the big screen in 2002, subbing in for an injured Nicole Kidman in David Fincher's box-office hit, Panic Room. A number of other projects are currently in the works: Foster will be providing her voice for DreamWorks' animated feature Tusker, to be released in 2003, and is currently directing Claire Danes in the movie, Flora Plum. She also recently acquired the film rights to the Margaret Atwood novel Alias Grace, and has long fostered plans to direct, produce and star in a biography of controversial filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

Since her Yale days, Jodie has continued to foster a private personal life. She has given birth to two sons since 1998 and raised them both as a single mother, keeping the identity of the father(s) secret. To this day she refuses to comment on the John Hinckley incident, and, for the most part, restricts her interviews to questions regarding her professional accomplishments, of which there is an abundance to discuss.