Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster, born in 1962, American motion-picture actor, director, and Academy Award winner, who began her career as a child actor. Born Alicia Christian Foster in Los Angeles, California, she was educated at Yale University, graduating in 1985. After appearing in a number of television commercials, Foster was cast in an episode of the television series Mayberry, R.F.D. (1969) and over the next five years appeared in numerous television series. Her early films included Napoleon and Samantha (1972), Tom Sawyer (1973), and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974). Her portrayal of a 12-year-old prostitute in Taxi Driver (1976) earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

After a number of other movies, Foster emerged in an adult role in The Accused (1988), based on the true story of a woman raped in a barroom. For the role, Foster won an Academy Award for best actress. In 1992 she won a second Academy Award for best actress for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Foster made her directorial debut with Little Man Tate (1991), in which she also starred as a single mother whose son is a child prodigy. She also appeared in Sommersby (1993) and in Nell (1994), the first motion picture produced by Foster and her production company, Egg Pictures. In 1995 Foster produced and directed her second film, Home for the Holidays, starring Holly Hunter.

In 1997 Foster returned to acting in the alien-encounter film Contact, an adaptation of a 1985 science-fiction novel by astronomer Carl Sagan. In 1999 she played the lead role in Anna and the King (1999), a new version of the Anna Leonowens story, previously filmed as Anna and the King of Siam (1946) and The King and I (1956). As she moved into her 40s, Foster starred in the thrillers Panic Room (2002), Flightplan (2005), Inside Man (2006, directed by Spike Lee), and The Brave One (2007).