Jodie Foster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jodie Foster
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Foster at the Cannes Film Festival 2025
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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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Filmography |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Buddy Foster (brother) |
| Awards | Full list |
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Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is a famous American actress and director. She began her career as a child actor and grew up to become one of Hollywood's most respected stars.
Over her long career, Foster has won many major awards. These include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. She has also been honored with special lifetime achievement awards for her contributions to film.
Foster became famous as a teenager in Disney movies like Napoleon and Samantha (1972) and Freaky Friday (1976). She earned her first Academy Award nomination for playing a troubled teenager in the film Taxi Driver (1976).
After studying at the prestigious Yale University, Foster took on more serious adult roles. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing a survivor of a violent attack in The Accused (1988). She won her second Best Actress award for her role as FBI agent Clarice Starling in the thriller The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Besides acting, Foster is also a talented director. She has directed several movies, including Little Man Tate (1991) and Money Monster (2016). She has also directed episodes for popular TV shows like Orange Is the New Black and Black Mirror.
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Early Life and Education
Alicia Christian Foster was born in Los Angeles, California. She was the youngest of four children. Her mother, Brandy, raised the children and managed Jodie's and her brother Buddy's acting careers. Her siblings started calling her "Jodie," and the name stuck.
Foster was a very bright child who learned to read when she was only three years old. She went to a special French-language school in Los Angeles. Because of this, she speaks French perfectly and has even acted in French movies.
After high school, she attended Yale University, one of the best universities in the country. She studied literature and graduated with honors in 1985. She believes that her college education helped her become a better and more thoughtful actor.
A Star from a Young Age
Jodie Foster's career started when she was just three years old. She appeared in a TV commercial for Coppertone sunscreen. This led to more commercials and small parts in TV shows like Mayberry R.F.D. and Gunsmoke. By the time she was a young girl, she had appeared in over 50 television shows.
Her first movie was Disney's Napoleon and Samantha (1972). In the film, her character becomes friends with a boy and his pet lion. She also appeared in other movies like Tom Sawyer (1973) and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), directed by the famous Martin Scorsese.
Breakthrough as a Teenager
Director Martin Scorsese cast Foster in a very serious role in his film Taxi Driver (1976). She played a runaway teenager living on the streets of New York City. This role was very challenging and showed her incredible talent. It earned her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress when she was only 14.
In the same year, she starred in Bugsy Malone, a fun musical where all the characters were played by kids. She also starred in the Disney comedy Freaky Friday, where she and her mother switch bodies. This movie was a big hit and made her even more famous.
Becoming a Hollywood Icon
After graduating from Yale, Foster found it hard to get roles for a while. Her big comeback came with the movie The Accused (1988). She played a woman who fights for justice after being the victim of a terrible attack. Her powerful performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. This role proved she was a major star.
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The Silence of the Lambs
In 1991, Foster starred in The Silence of the Lambs. She played Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee hunting a dangerous killer. To catch him, she must get help from an evil but brilliant prisoner, Hannibal Lecter.
The movie was a huge success with both audiences and critics. Foster's performance was praised, and she won her second Academy Award for Best Actress. The character of Clarice Starling is now considered one of the greatest movie heroes of all time.
Stepping Behind the Camera
In 1991, Foster directed her first movie, Little Man Tate. The film is about a gifted young boy and his mother, a role Foster played herself. She wanted to tell a story about feeling different and finding your place in the world.
She later founded her own movie company, Egg Pictures. The company produced the movie Nell (1994), in which Foster starred as a woman who grew up alone in the wilderness. Her performance earned her another Academy Award nomination. She also directed the comedy Home for the Holidays (1995).
Later Career
Throughout the 2000s, Foster starred in several successful thrillers. These included Panic Room (2002), where she protects her daughter from burglars, and Flightplan (2005), about a mother whose child disappears on an airplane. She also starred in the adventure movie Nim's Island (2008).
In the 2010s, Foster focused more on directing. She directed the movie The Beaver (2011) and the thriller Money Monster (2016), starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. She also directed episodes for hit TV shows like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards.
More recently, she returned to acting in the legal drama The Mauritanian (2021), which won her a Golden Globe Award. In 2023, she earned another Academy Award nomination for her role in the movie Nyad. In 2024, she starred in the popular TV series True Detective: Night Country.
A Difficult Experience
When Foster was a student at Yale University, she had a frightening experience. A man named John Hinckley Jr. became obsessed with her after seeing her in the movie Taxi Driver. He sent her letters and tried to call her.
In 1981, Hinckley tried to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan. He said he did it to get Foster's attention. This event had nothing to do with Foster, but it brought a lot of unwanted media attention into her life. For her safety, she had to have bodyguards with her on campus.
Foster has rarely spoken about this difficult time. She has said that she never wanted to be remembered for this event. She feels it was a strange and scarring moment in her life, but she also knows that the people who were hurt in the attack suffered much more.
Personal Life
Jodie Foster has two sons, Charles, born in 1998, and Christopher, born in 2001. She is very private about her family life and has worked hard to protect her children from the media spotlight. In 2014, she married actress and photographer Alexandra Hedison.
Awards and Recognition
Jodie Foster is one of the most awarded actors of her generation.
- She has been nominated for an Academy Award five times and has won twice for Best Actress.
- She has won three BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
- In 2013, she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award, a special Golden Globe for her lifetime of work in movies.
- In 2016, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
See also
- List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees – Youngest nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- List of LGBTQ Academy Award winners and nominees – Best Actress in a Leading Role winners and nominees
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
