Jodie Foster
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Jodie Foster (born November 19 1962) is a two-time Academy Award–winning American actress, director, and producer.
Biography
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 "Fame" fame, led a fairly normal life, considering her celebrity. 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).Career
Foster has appeared in more than 100 film and television shows since beginning her career at age three as the Coppertone Girl in a television commercial. Foster 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. 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. 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.
Unlike child stars such as Shirley Temple or Tatum O'Neal, Foster successfully transitioned 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 in The Accused (1988). She earned her second for her co-starring role opposite Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film, The Silence of the Lambs. 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).
Foster made her directoral debut in 1991 with Little Man Tate, an unsuccessful 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.
Foster has appeared in a number of Japanese commercials, mostly in the 1990s. These include advertisements for the Honda Civic, Keri cosmetics, Mt. Rainier ice coffee, and the Pasona Temporary Agency.
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.
In the 2000s, Foster continued playing her commercially successful persona of a tough, resourceful woman, this time adding on the quality of single mother in the films Panic Room (2002) and Flightplan (2005).
After taking a break from acting, Foster returned in the 2005 film, Flightplan.
Foster's latest film, Inside Man, a thriller co-starring Denzel Washington, was released on March 24, 2006 and opened at #1 at the box office. Her next film will be The Brave One, a thriller which is being filmed in New York City,both in Manhattan and Brooklyn. It is directed by Neil Jordan and co-starring 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".
Foster gave the Class of 2006 University of Pennsylvania commencement address on May 15, 2006, the university's 250th 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[link][link]. Her [address] is available in webcast and mp3 format.
Personal life
Foster is intensely private about certain aspects of her personal life. She has two sons, Charles (b. 1998) and Christopher (b. 2001), both of whom she has revealed were created by artificial insemination through sperm bank donors, but she has not revealed the father's identity or even if they have the same father, or whether the children will or do know their father(s). She has been consistently rumored to have lesbian relationships, and she has lived with (female) producer Cydney Bernard for several years. An unauthorized biography, Foster Child, written by her brother Buddy Foster, identifies her as bisexual. Many people assume that she is a lesbian, but Foster has not made any public statements regarding her sexual orientation, other than that she considers it a private matter.Trivia
- Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 "Sexiest Stars" in film history (#45). [1995]
- Was supposed to be Commencement Speaker for Smith College in Massachusetts but eventually had to decline. [2000]
- Uses her own voice in all of the French versions of any of her movies because she can speak French fluently.
- 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.
- 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 Foster.
- Is a member of MENSA.
- 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; with its Avant-discoesque music in the background, it is oddly reminiscent of the surviving Doors accompanying the late Jim Morrison's recorded poetry on An American Prayer a few months later in 1978. These three recordings were included on the soundtrack to Foster's 1977 French film Moi, fleur bleue.
- An early 1980s hardcore punk band was known as J.F.A., standing for "Jodie Foster's Army". They made at least two or three recordings which directly referenced Foster.
- There have been at least 20+ punk, hardcore, heavy metal, new wave and no wave rock 'n' roll recordings that directly or indirectly reference Foster, included works by U.K. Subs, J.F.A., 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 haiku poems 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 a highly eccentric and in-depth fanzine Cellar, which concentrates on Foster's early and/or darker cinematic work, the work of novelist/playwright/screenwriter Laird Koenig, and (in particular) the point at which their careers intersect: The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.
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". Buddy, meanwhile, claimed Foster did nothing but break his.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sugarland | Announced | |
| The Brave One | Erica | In Production | |
| 2006 | Inside Man | Madeline White | |
| 2005 | Flightplan | Kyle Pratt | |
| 2004 | A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche de fiançailles) | Elodie Gordes | |
| 2003 | Abby Singer | Herself | |
| 2002 | Panic Room | Meg Altman | |
| The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys | Sister Assumpta | Also producer | |
| 1999 | Anna and the King | Anna Leonowens | |
| 1998 | The Uttmost | Herself | Documentary |
| 1997 | Contact | Ellie Arroway | |
| 1994 | Nell | Nell Kellty | Also producer |
| Maverick | Mrs. Annabelle Bransford | ||
| 1993 | Sommersby | Laurel Sommersby | |
| 1992 | Shadows and Fog | Prostitute | |
| 1991 | Little Man Tate | Dede Tate | Also director |
| The Silence of the Lambs | Clarice Starling | ||
| 1990 | Catchfire | Anne Benton | aka Backtrack |
| 1988 | The Accused | Sarah Tobias | |
| Stealing Home | Katie Chandler | ||
| 1987 | Siesta | Nancy | |
| Five Corners | Linda | ||
| 1986 | Mesmerized | Victoria | Also co-producer |
| 1984 | The Blood of Others (Le Sang des autres) | Hélène | |
| The Hotel New Hampshire | Frannie Berry | ||
| 1983 | Svengali | Zoe Alexander | |
| 1982 | O'Hara's Wife | Barbara O'Hara | |
| 1980 | Foxes | Jeanie | |
| Carny | Donna | ||
| 1977 | Candleshoe | Casey Brown | |
| Casotto | Teresina Fedeli | aka Beach House | |
| Stop Calling Me Baby! (Moi, fleur bleue) | Isabelle Tristan (aka Fleur bleue) | ||
| 1976 | The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | Rynn | |
| Freaky Friday | Annabel Andrews | ||
| Bugsy Malone | Tallulah | ||
| Taxi Driver | Iris Steensma | ||
| Echoes of a Summer | Deirdre Striden | aka The Last Castle | |
| 1975 | The Secret Life of T.K. Dearing | T.K. Dearing | TV |
| 1974 | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Audrey | |
| Smile, Jenny, You're Dead | Liberty Cole | TV | |
| 1973 | Rookie of the Year | Sharon Lee | TV |
| Alexander, Alexander | Sue | TV | |
| The Addams Family | Pugsley (voice) | TV | |
| Kung Fu | Alethea Patricia Ingram | TV | |
| Tom Sawyer | Becky Thatcher | ||
| One Little Indian | Martha McIver | ||
| 1972 | Kansas City Bomber | Rita | |
| Napoleon and Samantha | Samantha | ||
| My Sister Hank | Henrietta "Hank" Bennett | TV | |
| 1970 | Menace on the Mountain | Suellen McIver | TV |
Award Nominations
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References
Footnotes
Web sites
- [Jodie Foster] Timeline
- [Jodie Foster] Online
- [TV and Movie Trivia Tribute: Jodie Foster]
- [Jodie Foster.nu] unofficial fansite
- [Another fansite with pictures]
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