Mini biography
Jodie
Foster started her career at the
age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series "Mayberry
R.F.D." (1968). In
1975 Jodie was offered to play the prostitute Iris in the movie Taxi Driver
(1976). This role, for which she
received an Academy Award
nomination in the "Best Supporting Actress" category, marked a
breakthrough in her career. In 1980 she graduated as the best of her class from
the College Lycée Français and began to study English Literature at Yale
University, from where she graduated magna cum laude in 1985. One tragic moment
in her life was March 30th, 1981 when John Warnock Hinkley Jr. attempted to
assassinate the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Hinkley was
obsessed with Jodie and the movie Taxi Driver
(1976) in which Travis Bickle,
played by Robert De Niro, tried to shoot presidential candidate Palantine.
Despite the fact that she never took acting lessons, she was the first actress
to receive two Oscars before the age of thirty. She received her first award for her part as Sarah Tobias in Accused, The
(1988) and the second one for her
performance as Clarice Starling in Silence of
the Lambs, The (1991).
IMDb mini-biography by
Trivia
(1995)
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history
(#45).
(2000)
Was supposed to be Commencement Speaker for Smith College in MA but eventually
had to decline.
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 a Disney movie
Majored
in literature at Yale; graduated magna cum laude in 1985
(20
July 1998) Son, Charles, born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Had
to pull out of Double Jeopardy because she became pregnant.
(October
1997) Ranked #18 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All
Time" list.
(1997)
Received honourary Doctorate from Yale University.
Mother
Brandy managed her through age 20.
Owns
and chairs Production Company EGG PICTURES in Los Angeles, founded in 1990.
John
F. Hinckley Jr. claimed that he attempted to kill President Reagan in order to
impress her.
Graduated
in 1980 as the class valedictorian from the private academy Lycée Français in
Los Angeles.
Was
reading by the time she was three years old.
Fluent
in French by age 14, she spoke her own lines in the 1977 film Moi, fleur
bleue (1977).
Sister
of Buddy Foster.
(1976)
Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John
Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28.
Born
Alicia Christian Foster in 1962, her three siblings insisted on calling her
"Jodie".
Made
her acting debut
in a Coppertone suntan lotion commercial when she was 3 years old. Has said
that her only regret is that she would love to live life without knowing what
it's like to be famous.
For
Sommersby
(1993), Foster learned how to
handle a horse-pulled buckboard.
Was
offered a role in "Rubyfruit Jungle" twice and turned it down.
Has
two convertibles.
Enjoys
kickboxing, yoga, karate, aerobics, and weightlifting and collects fancy
kitchenware and black and white photos.
Loves
organic food.
Her
favorite book is "Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger.
Received
an Honorary Degree from Smith College in Northampton, MA.
Gave
the Class Day speech at Yale in 1993 and received an honorary Doctor of Fine
Arts degree from Yale in 1997.
Got
the role of Annabel Bradsford in the comedy Maverick
(1994) after Meg Ryan turned it down.
Fought
with CBS over a $12,000 hair and makeup bill incurred in preparation for her
appearance on "60 Minutes II" (1999), Dec. 1999 to promote Anna and the
King (1999).
Youngest
host of "Saturday Night Live" (1975) until Drew Barrymore hosted in 1982.
Was
replaced by Ashley Judd for the lead in Double
Jeopardy (1999).
Starred
as Addie Pray in the short lived TV show _"Paper Moon" (1974)_ which
was originally a movie starring (I) O'Neil, Tatum.
Never
liked "All in the Family" (1971) because "It seemed to be doing the same thing
each week".
Got
the role of Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) after Michelle Pfeiffer turned it down.
(29
September 2001) Son, Kit, born in Los Angeles weighing 6 lbs 3 oz.
Father
Lucius Foster left the family when Jodie's mother was a few months pregnant
with her.
Born
at 8:14 AM PST
Was
named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.
Shut
down production company Egg Pictures in late 2001 to spend more time with her
children.
Was
first choice to play the role of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy,
but could not get out of her contract with Disney. George Lucas then decided to
make Princess Leia older.
Personal quotes
"Being
understood is not the most essential thing in life."
"I
spent four hours with a shrink trying to prove I was normal enought to play a
hooker. Does that make sense?" on her role in Taxi Driver
(1976) when she was 13.
"Normal
is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away/ from"
"Cruelty
might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable"
"It's
not my personality to be extroverted emotionally, so acting has been helpful to
me."
"I
could tell you the criticism backward and forward about Little Man
Tate (1991). But it
didn't bother me as long as they were talking about the work and not about 'she
has fat thighs' or something. But I fared really well with 'Tate,' so I
shouldn't be complaining."
(at
age 14) "Kids talk like sailors now. Adults don't want to know."
(Months
before turning 40, she described the advantages, April 2002): "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."
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