Jodie Foster Biography
Summary
"Alicia Christian Foster" (born November 19 1962), better known as "Jodie Foster", is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, director, and producer. She has also won two Golden Globes, 3 BAFTA awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award, making her one of the few select actors to have won all four major motion picture acting awards (Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG, and BAFTA awards).
After appearing as a child in several commercials, Foster won her first role in the 1970 TV movie "Menace on the Mountain", followed by several Disney productions. Foster did not experience her breakout role until 1976, when she received moderate recognition but great acclaim for her role as a pre-teenage prostitute in "Taxi Driver", receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1988, for playing a rape victim in "The Accused". In 1991, she starred in "The Silence of the Lambs" as Clarice Starling, a gifted FBI Agent investigating a serial killer. For this performance she received international acclaim and another Oscar for Best Actress. Her films and roles have spanned a wide variety of genres, including thrillers, crime, romance, comedy, children's movies, and science fiction. Popular later films include the box office successes "Contact" (1997), "Panic Room" (2002), "Flightplan" (2005) and "Inside Man" (2006).
Due to her continual success as a headlining film star wielding enormous clout at the world wide box office, Jodie Foster is considered to have a much-envied Hollywood Midas touch.
Early life
Foster was born to Lucius Foster III and Evelyn 'Brandy' (née Almond) Foster in Los Angeles, California. Her father, an Air Force colonel turned real estate broker, came from a wealthy background and left Foster's family a few months before she was born. Foster's mother supported the family by working as a film producer. She sent her daughter to an exclusive French-speaking prep school, the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, from which Foster graduated valedictorian 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 would often spend time with friends at the local dive bar Anchor, and she occasionally partied in the haunts of one of the secret societies, the Manuscript Society (a scene recounting such an event is noted in Tom Perrotta's novel "Joe College").
Career
1970-1979
Foster made nearly 50 film and television appearances before she attended college. 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." In 1969 she appeared in an episode of "Gunsmoke" where she was credited as 'Jody Foster'. She made her film debut 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 film "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane". As a teenager, Foster made several appearances on the French pop music 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.' She hosted "Saturday Night Live" at age fourteen, making her the youngest person to host at that time until Drew Barrymore hosted at the age of seven. She also said, 'I think all of us when we look back on our childhood, we always think of it as somebody else. It's just a completely different place. But I was lucky to be around in the '70s and to be really making movies in the '70s with some great filmmakers - the most exciting time, for me, in American cinema. And I learned a lot from very interesting artists, and I learned a lot about the business at a young age. Because, for whatever reason, I was paying attention. So it was kind of invaluable in my career.'
Foster was originally considered for the role of Princess Leia in "Star Wars", but was unable to pull out of her contract with Disney. She 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". Foster also sang in the film "Bugsy Malone", for which she received two BAFTA awards in 1976: Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress.
At age fourteen, Foster was nominated for the Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress for her role as a pre-teen prostitute in Martin Scorsese's film "Taxi Driver" opposite Robert De Niro. De Niro's character, the psychotic Travis Bickle, intends to 'save' her from life on the streets. When that does not succeed, he tries to assassinate a presidential candidate. After this fails, he shoots Iris' pimp, played by Harvey Keitel.
John Hinckley Jr., a deranged fan, became obsessed with her after watching the film a number of times, and he stalked her while she attended Yale, sending her love letters to her campus mail box and even talking to her on the phone. On March 30, 1981, he attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan (shooting and wounding Reagan and three others) and claimed his motive was to impress Foster, then a Yale freshman. The media stormed the Yale campus in April 'like a cavalry invasion', and followed Foster relentlessly. In 1982, Foster was called to testify during his trial. After she responded to a question by saying that 'I don't have any relationship with John Hinckley,' Hinckley threw a pen at her and yelled 'I'll get you, Foster!' Another man, Edward Richardson, followed Foster around Yale and planned to shoot her, but decided against it because she 'was too pretty'. This all caused intense discomfort to Foster, who has been known to walk out of interviews if Hinckley's name is even mentioned. In 1991, Foster canceled an interview with NBC's "Today Show" when she was told Hinckley's name would be mentioned in her introduction. Foster's only public reactions to this were a press conference afterwards and an article entitled "Why Me?", which she wrote for "Esquire" in December 1982, about two years after the assassination attempt. In 1999, she discussed the experience with Charlie Rose of "60 Minutes II".
1980-present
Unlike other child stars such as Shirley Temple or Tatum O'Neal, Foster successfully made the transition to adult roles, but not without initial difficulty. Several of her post-"Taxi Driver" works were financially unsuccessful, such as "Foxes", "The Hotel New Hampshire", "Five Corners", and "Stealing Home". She had 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 as FBI agent Clarice Starling, opposite Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, in the 1991 film, "The Silence of the Lambs".
She made her directorial debut in 1991 with "Little Man Tate", a critically acclaimed drama about a child prodigy, in which she also co-starred as the child's mother. 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. It primarily produced independent films until it was closed in 2001. Foster said that she did not have the ambition to produce 'big mainstream popcorn' movies, and as a child, independent films made her more interested in the movie business than mainstream ones. She began working as a producer in 1994 with the acclaimed "Nell", the story of a young woman raised in an isolated place who has to return to civilization. She later commented that it was difficult being an actress and a producer for "Nell".
Foster played Laural Sommersby in "Sommersby" and Annabelle Bransford in the 1994 film "Maverick". "Sommersby" co-star Richard Gere would comment that 'She's very much a close-up actress, because her thoughts are clear.' 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. She commented on the script that 'I have to have some acute personal connection with the material. And that's pretty hard for me to find'. "Contact" was also her first science fiction film, and her first experience with a bluescreen. She commented, 'Blue walls, blue roof. It was just blue, blue, blue. And I was rotated on a lazy Susan with the camera moving on a computerized arm. It was really tough'. In 1998, an asteroid, 17744 Jodiefoster, was named in her honor.
In 2002 Foster took over the lead role in David Fincher's "Panic Room" after Nicole Kidman was injured during initial filming, the film grossed over 30 million dollars in its opening weekend in the United States, Foster's biggest box office opening success of her career so far. She then performed in the French-language film, "Un long dimanche de fiançailles" (2004), speaking French fluently throughout. As a fluent French speaker, Foster dubs her own voice in all her movies for release in French-speaking countries. After taking time away from the spotlight, Foster returned in the 2005 film "Flightplan" which opened once again #1 at the US box office and was a world wide hit. Foster portrayed a woman whose daughter disappears on an airplane that Foster's character, an engineer, had helped to design.
In 2006, she appeared in "Inside Man", a thriller directed by Spike Lee and co-starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, which true to form opened #1 at the US box office. Her latest film is "The Brave One", a thriller which opened once again at #1 at the US box office was 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.' Indeed, many of her most successful films since the millennium have been thrillers.
At the 2007 Academy Awards, she referred to the death of Randy Stone two weeks prior and called him her best friend. She enjoys physical activity while making movies. She commented that doing nude scenes is 'a little scary.'
Current projects
Foster was set to direct, as well as reunite with actor Robert De Niro, for the film "Sugarland". Ultimately the film was shelved indefinitely in 2007. Foster's upcoming films include "Nim's Island", where she portrays a reclusive writer who is contacted by a young girl, played by Abigail Breslin, and the bio-flick, "Leni Riefenstahl".
Personal life and recognition
She has two sisters and a brother, Lucinda 'Cindy' Foster (born 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", Connie was her stand-in.
Foster is intensely private about certain aspects of her personal life, notably her sexual orientation, which has been the subject of speculation. She is currently in a relationship with Cydney Bernard, her partner for over a decade, but has been reluctant to openly discuss any aspect of their relationship with the media. Foster pulled out of the film "Double Jeopardy" when she became pregnant, and filmed "Panic Room" during the first months of her second pregnancy. She has two sons, Charles (b. 1998) and Kit (b. 2001); Foster has never identified or discussed their father. Foster does not follow any 'traditional religion,' but has 'great respect for all religions' and enjoys reading religious texts. In an interview, she said she is an atheist. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly she stated that she and her children celebrate both Christmas and Channukah.
She gave the Class of 2006 University of Pennsylvania commencement address on May 15, 2006, the university's 250th commencement. The university also conferred on her the Doctor of Arts (honoris causa) degree for her lifelong achievement and contribution to film in both acting and directing. Her (commencement address) is available in Webcast (jump to 1:44:08) and MP3 format.
Filmography
"Actress"
"Producer"
"Director"
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Jodie Foster.
