Foster began acting in commercials at three years of age, and her first significant role came in the 1976 film Taxi Driver as the preteen prostitute Iris for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Also that year, she starred in the cult film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1989, for playing a rape survivor in The Accused. In 1991, she starred in The Silence of the Lambs as Clarice Starling, a gifted FBI trainee, assisting in a hunt for a serial killer. This performance received international acclaim and her second Academy Award for Best Actress. She received her fourth Academy Award nomination for playing a hermit in Nell (1994). Other popular films include Bugsy Malone (1976), Freaky Friday (1976), Maverick (1994), Contact (1997), Panic Room (2002), Flightplan (2005), Inside Man (2006), The Brave One (2007), and Nim’s Island (2008).

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).
As a child, was attacked by a lion and carried briefly in its mouth while filming Disney’s Napoleon and Samantha (1972).
Earned a B.A. in literature and graduated from Yale University (1985).
Gave birth to Charles Bernard Foster on 20 July 1998 and Kit Bernard Foster on 29 September 2001.
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” list (October 2007).
Born to Lucius Fisher Foster III, an Air Force colonel turned real estate agent, and Evelyn ‘Brandy’ Ella Almond, a film producer. Her father left the family after few months before her birth.
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) and the 2004 film Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004).
Younger sister of Buddy Foster, Cindy Foster Jones and Connie Foster.
Listed as one of twelve “Promising New Actors of 1976″ in John’Willis’ Screen World, Vol. 28 (1976).
Born Alicia Christian Foster, her three siblings insisted on calling her “Jodie.”.
Made her acting debut in a Coppertone Suntan Lotion commercial when she was 3 years old.
For Sommersby (1993), Foster learned how to handle a horse-pulled buckboard.
Was offered a role in Me and Rubyfruit (1989) twice and turned it down.
Has two convertibles.
Enjoys kickboxing, yoga, karate, aerobics, and weightlifting and collects fancy kitchenware and B&W photos.
Loves organic food.
Her favorite book is “Franny and Zooey” by J.D. Salinger.
Received an Honorary Degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Gave the Class Day speech at Yale in 1993 and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Yale in 1997.
CBS was billed $12,000 for her hair and makeup for her appearance on “60 Minutes II” (1999), December 1999 to promote Anna and the King (1999). This total was later determined to be incorrect and inflated.
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 Tatum O’Neal.
Never liked “All in the Family” (1968) because “it seemed to be doing the same thing each week.”
Got the role of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) after Michelle Pfeiffer turned it down.
Was stalked by John Hinckley during her college years, who attempted to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan to impress her (30 March 1981).
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.
Replaced Nicole Kidman in the role of “Meg Altman” in Panic Room (2002) at the last minute when Kidman injured herself.
Recorded a number of songs for her film Moi, fleur bleue (1977), including “Je T’Attends Depuis La Nuit Des Temps,” “When I Looked at Your Face” and “La Vie C’est Chouette.”
Measurements: 34B-24-33 1/2 (Souce: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).
Was in a serious relationship with Cydney Bernard since they met on the set of the movie Sommersby (1993) until they broke up in 2008.
Her Oscar-winning role as Clarice Starling from her 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was ranked #6 in the American Film Institute’s “Heroes” list in AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Heroes & Villains (2003) (TV).
Her sister, Connie Foster, was her stand-in during the more explicit scenes in Taxi Driver (1976).
In 2001, decided not to reprise the role of Clarice Starling in Hannibal (2001). The role eventually went to Julianne Moore.
Is doubled by stuntwoman Jill Stokesberry in most of her films, starting with Sommersby (1993).
She was voted the 57th “Greatest Movie Star” of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Considers her role in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) to be a counterpart to her role in Taxi Driver (1976). In Taxi Driver (1976), she is a young girl in bondage who has to be rescued. In The Silence of the Lambs (1991), she rescues the captive woman. In an interesting twist, her pimp in Taxi Driver (1976) was played by Harvey Keitel, who went on to play her future mentor, Jack Crawford, in Red Dragon (2002).
Ranked #4 in VH1′s list of the “100 Greatest Kid Stars”
Her production company, Egg Pictures, is named after the character played by Seth Green in The Hotel New Hampshire (1984) in which Jodie starred.
Never revealed who was the father of her two children. It is said that an anonymous donor is the biological father of Charles and Kit.
She was fluent in Italian by the age of 18.
Producer of Freaky Friday (2003) Andrew Gunn had initially hoped she would be game to play the mother, as Foster had played the daughter in the original film Freaky Friday (1976). Foster declined, in part because of concerns that the casting stunt would overshadow the movie’s overall merit.
She was all set to star in the TV film The Best Little Girl in the World (1981) (TV). Unfortunately an actors’ strike prevented the film from being made. By the time the production was ready to go, Jodie was already studying at Yale. The leading role went to Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Her performance as Sarah Tobias in The Accused (1988) is ranked #56 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
She was the Commencement Speaker at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in May 2006 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the school.
Ranked #4 on VH-1′s 100 Greatest Kid Stars of All Time.
In an article published on 5 September 2006, Foster told The New York Times that she is such a “‘serious N.P.R. [National Public Radio]-head’ – the sort of person who will sit in her garage listening to the car radio until a show is over” that she changed her character in The Brave One (2007) from a newspaper reporter to the host of a public radio show.
Starred in two failed TV shows based on successful movies: “Paper Moon” (1974) and “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” (1973).
Revealed during a 2005 interview on the French talk show “Le Grand Journal” that she knows the words to the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise”, but does not know “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
Was member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1989.
Her favorite actress is Meryl Streep.
Her favorite actor is Robert De Niro.
Ranked #30 on EW’s The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood (2007).
An asteroid, 17744 Jodiefoster, was named after her (1998).
Attended Yale University at the same time as Jennifer Beals.
Considered Randy Stone her best friend until his death.
Her family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.
Made an acceptance speech at a breakfast for Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment, where she paid tribute to her longtime companion Cydney Bernard, ending all speculations about her sexual orientation (December 2007).
Has a fear of snakes.
Rock group Asia wrote the song ‘Alibis’ about her.
Has said that her only regret is that she would love to live life without knowing what it’s like to be famous.
Turned down the role of “Violet” for Pretty Baby (1978), that ultimately went to Brooke Shields. She refused to play the role, since she didn’t want to be typecast as the child prostitute she played in Taxi Driver (1976).
Turned down the role of “Catherine Tramell” for Basic Instinct (1992), that ultimately went to Sharon Stone.
Rated No. 36 in the 2008 Power 50 issue of Out magazine.
The Game (1997) was originally written as a star vehicle for her, but the project changed direction and the female lead became male.
Turned down the lead role for Adventures in Babysitting (1987) that went to Elisabeth Shue.
Was considered by Sergio Leone for the role of Deborah Gelly in his final movie Once Upon a Time in America (1984), but the role went to Elizabeth McGovern.
Was considered for the role of Viola in Shakespeare in Love (1998). Gwyneth Paltrow got the part.
Turned down the role of Angel in Little Darlings (1980). Kristy McNichol played the part.
Was considered for the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman (1990), but the part went to Julia Roberts.
Turned down the role of Suzanne Stone in To Die For (1995). The part went to Nicole Kidman.
Turned down the role of Amanda in The Bad News Bears (1976). The part went to Tatum O’Neal.
Turned down the role of Annie Reed in Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Meg Ryan got the part.
Was considered for the role of Claire Standish that was played by Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club (1985).
Turned down the role that was played by Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink (1986).
Friends with Mel Gibson.
Foster was pursued by an obsessed fan named John Hinckley. Hinckley came up with a plan to impress her by assassinating President Ronald Reagan. Shortly before 2:30 PM EST, as Reagan walked out of the hotel’s T Street NW exit toward his waiting car, Hinckley emerged from the crowd of admirers and fired a .22-cal. blue steel revolver six times in three seconds, missing the President with all six shots. The first bullet hit White House Press Secretary James Brady in the head. The second hit District of Columbia police officer Thomas K. Delahanty in the back. The third overshot Reagan and hit the window of a building across the street. The fourth hit Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy in the abdomen. The fifth hit the bullet-resistant glass of the window on the open side door of the president’s limousine. The sixth and final bullet ricocheted off the side of the limousine and hit the president in his left underarm, grazing a rib and lodging in his lung, stopping nearly an inch from his heart. Hinckley has been in a psychiatric hospital ever since.
Considers her performance in Nell (1994) as her best one.
Member of the same Los Angeles gym as Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Jason Sarayba, Michelle Monaghan, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Ashley Tisdale.
Lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Returned to work four months after giving birth to her son Kit in order to begin filming The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002).
Returned to work four months after giving birth to her son Charles in order to begin filming Anna and the King (1999).
As she is fluent in the language, she often dubs over her own character’s voice for the French version of her films.
In the both times Foster won the Best Actress Oscar she was under the direction of directors named Jonathan: ‘Jonathan Kaplan’ directed her in The Accused (1988) and ‘Jonathan Demme’ directed her in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).