Jodie Foster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jodie Foster
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Jodie Foster in 2024
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| Born |
Alicia Christian Foster
November 19, 1962 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Yale University (BA) |
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| Years active | 1965–present |
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Works
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Filmography |
| Spouse(s) |
Alexandra Hedison
(m. 2014) |
| Partner(s) | Cydney Bernard (1993–2008) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Buddy Foster (brother) |
| Awards | Full list |
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Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She has won many important awards for her work. These include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She also received special honors like the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2013 and the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2021.
Jodie Foster started her career very young as a child model. She became well-known as a teen idol in Disney movies. Some of these films were Napoleon and Samantha (1972), Freaky Friday (1976), and Candleshoe (1977). She also appeared in movies like Taxi Driver (1976) and Bugsy Malone (1976).
After going to Yale University, Foster took on more grown-up roles. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). She was also nominated for her acting in Nell (1994). Other famous movies she has been in include Contact (1997), Panic Room (2002), Flightplan (2005), and Nyad (2023). In 2024, she starred in the TV series True Detective: Night Country. For this role, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe award.
Jodie Foster also directs movies. Her first film as a director was Little Man Tate (1991). She has also directed Home for the Holidays (1995), The Beaver (2011), and Money Monster (2016). She even started her own movie production company called Egg Pictures in 1992.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Alicia Christian Foster was born on November 19, 1962, in Los Angeles, California. She was the youngest child of Evelyn Ella "Brandy" Foster. Her parents separated before she was born. She was raised by her mother in Los Angeles. Her mother managed the acting careers of Jodie and her older brother, Buddy. Even though her official name was Alicia, her siblings called her "Jodie," and the name stuck.
Jodie was a very smart child and learned to read when she was three years old. She went to the Lycée Français de Los Angeles. This was a French-language school. Because of this, she speaks French very well and has acted in French movies. She also records her own voice for the French versions of her English films. She graduated from the school in 1980.
After high school, she went to Yale University. She studied African-American literature. She graduated in 1985. Yale University later gave her an honorary degree in 1997. In 2018, she received a special award from Yale for her lifetime achievements.
Career Highlights
Starting as a Child Actor
Jodie Foster's acting career began when she was just three years old. She appeared in a TV commercial for Coppertone sunscreen in 1965. Her older brother, Buddy, was supposed to audition, but the casting agents noticed Jodie too. This led to more commercials and TV shows. In 1968, she had a small role in the sitcom Mayberry R.F.D..
Over the next few years, Jodie appeared in more than 50 TV shows. These included Gunsmoke, The Doris Day Show, and Bonanza. She and her brother became the main earners for their family during this time. She also voiced Pugsley Addams in The Addams Family cartoon series.
Jodie also started acting in movies, mostly for Disney. Her first feature film was Napoleon and Samantha (1972). In this movie, she played a girl who becomes friends with a boy and his pet lion. She was accidentally scratched by the lion during filming. Other early films included Kansas City Bomber (1972) and Tom Sawyer (1973).
Jodie has said she loved acting as a child. She believes her early work gave her valuable experience.
Becoming a Teenage Star
Jodie's mother wanted her to act in movies for grown-up audiences as well. In 1976, Jodie starred in Bugsy Malone. This was a British musical movie that made fun of gangster films. All the roles were played by children. The director, Alan Parker, was very impressed with Jodie. He said she was so smart about filmmaking that she could have taken over as director if he couldn't. Critics praised her performance.
In 1976, Jodie also starred in the thriller The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. She played a mysterious young girl living alone. This role won her a Saturn Award.
Later that year, Jodie hosted Saturday Night Live. She was the youngest person to host the show at that time. Her last film of 1976 was the Disney comedy Freaky Friday. In this movie, she played a tomboy teenager who switches bodies with her mother. The film was a big success and earned Jodie a Golden Globe nomination.
After a very busy year, Jodie lived in France for nine months. She acted in a French film and recorded songs for its soundtrack. She also appeared in the Disney film Candleshoe (1977).
Moving to Adult Roles
In 1980, Jodie received good reviews for her roles in the independent films Foxes and Carny. She then started college at Yale University in 1981. Going to college changed her mind about acting. She realized that acting was a smart and important job.
Even though she focused on college, Jodie continued to make films during her summer breaks. These included O'Hara's Wife (1982) and The Hotel New Hampshire (1984). These films did not become very popular.
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After graduating from Yale in 1985, Jodie found it a bit challenging to find new acting jobs. Her first film after college, Siesta (1987), was not very successful. However, her next film, Five Corners (1987), was better received. It earned her an Independent Spirit Award.
In 1988, Jodie tried directing for the first time. She directed an episode for the TV series Tales from the Darkside. She also starred in the movie Stealing Home (1988).
Big Successes and Directing Debut
In the thriller The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Jodie Foster played FBI trainee Clarice Starling. She starred alongside Anthony Hopkins. Jodie loved this role. She had even tried to buy the rights to the book it was based on.
The Silence of the Lambs was released in February 1991 and became a huge hit. It earned a lot of money and received great reviews. Jodie won Academy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA awards for her role. The movie won five Academy Awards in total.
In October 1991, Jodie released her first movie as a director, Little Man Tate. This was a drama about a very smart child who feels different. Jodie also acted in the movie as the child's mother. The film was a moderate success at the box office.
Jodie then starred in Sommersby (1993). She played a woman who thinks her husband, returning from the Civil War, might be an impostor. She then replaced another actress in the Western comedy Maverick (1994). Both Sommersby and Maverick were successful.
In 1992, Jodie started her own production company, Egg Pictures. Its first movie was Nell, released in December 1994. Jodie starred as a woman who grew up isolated and spoke her own language. The film was a commercial success. Jodie won a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her acting.
The second film Jodie directed for Egg Pictures was Home for the Holidays (1995). It was a comedy about a difficult Thanksgiving family gathering. The film received mixed reviews and did not earn much money. In 1996, Jodie received two special awards for women in the entertainment industry. She also lent her voice to episodes of Frasier and The X-Files.
After Nell, Jodie did not appear in any new films until Contact (1997). This was a science fiction film about a scientist searching for alien life. The movie was a success and earned Jodie a Saturn Award and a Golden Globe nomination. Jodie also produced a TV film called The Baby Dance (1998). In 1998, an asteroid was named 17744 Jodiefoster in her honor.
Jodie's last film of the 1990s was Anna and the King (1999). She played a British teacher who taught the children of a king in Siam. Jodie was paid a lot of money for this role, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. The film was somewhat successful but received mixed reviews.
Thrillers and Directing Focus
Jodie Foster produced the film Waking the Dead (2000). She decided not to play her role as Clarice Starling again in the movie Hannibal (2001). Instead, she focused on a new directing project called Flora Plum, but it was canceled. In 2001, she closed her production company, Egg Pictures.
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After Flora Plum was canceled, Jodie took on the main role in David Fincher's thriller Panic Room (2002). She played a woman who hides in a panic room with her daughter when burglars break into their home. The film was a big success at the box office and received good reviews.
After a small role in a French film, Jodie starred in three more thrillers. The first was Flightplan (2005), where she played a woman whose daughter disappears on a plane. It was a global success. Next was Spike Lee's Inside Man (2006), about a bank heist. It starred Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. The third thriller was The Brave One (2007). Her last film role of the decade was in the children's adventure film Nim's Island (2008). She played a writer who was afraid of open spaces. It was a commercial success.
Directing and Recent Acting Roles
In the 2010s, Jodie Foster directed more and acted less. In 2011, she released her third feature film as a director, The Beaver. It was about a man who deals with depression by using a beaver hand puppet. Jodie also acted in the film. The movie received mixed reviews and did not do well at the box office. In 2011, Jodie also appeared in the comedy Carnage. She was part of a group of actors including John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, and Christoph Waltz. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role.
In 2013, Jodie received the special Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 70th Golden Globe Awards. Her next acting role was in the science fiction film Elysium (2013), which was a box office success. She also returned to directing for television. She directed episodes for popular shows like Orange Is the New Black (2013, 2014) and House of Cards (2014). She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for directing an episode of Orange Is the New Black.
Jodie's fourth film as a director was Money Monster, released in 2016. It starred George Clooney and Julia Roberts. The film was a moderate success. The next year, Jodie directed an episode called "Arkangel" for the British sci-fi series Black Mirror.
As the decade ended, Jodie continued to act and direct. She starred in the film Hotel Artemis (2018). Her performance as Nurse Jean Thomas, who runs a hospital for criminals, received good reviews. In the same year, Jodie helped produce and narrate Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018). This was a documentary about one of the first female film directors.
Recent Acting Roles
Jodie Foster directed the final episode of the science fiction drama Tales from the Loop in 2020. Her next acting project was the legal drama The Mauritanian (2021). In this film, she played the lawyer for a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Jodie won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. At the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Jodie received the Honorary Palme d'Or for her lifetime achievements in film.
In 2023, Jodie appeared in the Netflix movie Nyad. Her performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She then starred in the fourth season of True Detective, called Night Country. This role won her a Primetime Emmy Award.
Personal Life
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Jodie Foster has two sons, born in 1998 and 2001. In 2014, Jodie married actress and photographer Alexandra Hedison.
Awards and Recognition
Jodie Foster has received many important awards. These include two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, the Cannes Film Festival's Honorary Palme d'Or, four Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She also received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2013.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has recognized Jodie Foster for these films:
- Taxi Driver (1976): Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
- The Accused (1988): Won Best Actress in a Leading Role.
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991): Won Best Actress in a Leading Role.
- Nell (1994): Nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
- Nyad (2023): Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
People magazine named her the most beautiful woman in the world in 1992. In 2016, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard.
Images for kids
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Jodie Foster in 2024
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Jodie Foster's signature
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Jodie Foster with Christopher Connelly in a publicity photo for Paper Moon (1974)
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Jodie Foster at the Governor's Ball after winning an Academy Award for The Accused (1988)
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Jodie Foster working on Home for the Holidays, 1995
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Jodie Foster in an advertisement for The Brave One (2007)
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Jodie Foster with co-star Mel Gibson at the premiere of The Beaver at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
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Jodie Foster in 2010
See also
In Spanish: Jodie Foster para niños
- Youngest nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees – Best Actress in a Leading Role
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
