Foster, Jodie

Related Category: Film and Television: Biographies

(Alicia Christian Foster), 1962–, American actress, b. Los Angeles. A child model, she began acting in TV commercials at three, appeared on various TV shows, and made her screen debut in Disney's Napoleon and Samantha (1972). Her first important role was as the barely adolescent prostitute of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). She achieved undisputed Hollywood stardom and best actress Oscars for her portrayals of a working-class rape victim in The Accused (1988) and an FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Foster's other films include Bugsy Malone (1976), Carny (1980), Sommersby (1993), Nell (1994), and Anna and the King (1999). She began directing features with Little Man Tate (1991), in which she also starred, and has since directed Home for the Holidays (1995).