Alicia Christian Foster was born on November 19, 1962, in Los Angeles to Evelyn “Brandy” Foster. Her father, Lucius Foster III, abandoned the family before his youngest daughter was born. Sisters Constance and Lucinda, and brother Lucius “Buddy” Foster IV rounded out the family. They are the ones who gave Alicia her nickname of “Jodie.” Read this article and learn some more little known facts about award-winning actress Jodie Foster that may surprise you!
Early Career
Since Brandy Foster worked as a Hollywood publicist, she had valuable business connections. These affiliations helped her daughter Jodie get on TV when she was just three years old. Her first acting gig was appearing in a Coppertone Sunscreen commercial. Before Foster became a teenager, her acting credits had already boomed to include more than three dozen TV commercials, bit roles on shows such as Mayberry R.F.D., Adam-12, The Partridge Family and
The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father. Her first movie was Walt Disney’s “Napoleon and Samantha” in 1972.
Teenage Years
Brandy Foster made sure Jodie’s education didn’t take a back seat to her acting career. Besides keeping up with school, the youngster received some secondary education as well. A little known fact about award-winning actress Jodie Foster, is that she studied the French language. This allowed Jodie to expand into several French films such as “Moi, Fleur Bleue” in 1977.
One of Foster’s most lauded roles as a teen is playing “Iris”, the thirteen-year-old prostitute in the 1976 drama “Taxi Driver.” The part won her an Oscar nomination for “Best Supporting Actress.” Another little known fact about award-winning actress Jodie Foster is she was too young to act in the explicit scenes. So, her older sister Connie filled in during those shots.
Foster’s career during her teenage years included many more movies. Finally, after graduating as the valedictorian of her class in 1980, she was done with high school. That left Jodie free to continue her successful career. Never at a loss for work, she starred in “Foxes” and in “Carny” during the same year.
College Education
A little known fact about award-winning actress Jodie Foster is that she’s nobody’s fool. She is a member of MENSA. Her mother taught her the value of a good education. And Foster made sure to receive the best when she started attending Yale University. The five-foot-four-inch celebrity studied English Lit tried to blend in with the other students. But that didn’t work well. John Hinckley, Jr., a crazed fan from Evergreen, Colorado, traveled to New Haven, Connecticut and began stalking Foster on campus. When Hinckley couldn’t “impress” her and gain her attention, he shot President Ronald Reagan as he was leaving a hotel in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981. The assassination attempt was yet another try to gain attention and love from Jodie Foster.
A little known fact about award-winning actress Jodie Foster is that graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1985. After college, Foster went onto act, direct and even produce several movies.
Today
Jodie Foster’s latest acting project is the movie “The Brave One” (2007). As a result of the Hinckley nightmare, she keeps her life private. She is busy raising two sons, Charles, born in 1998, and Kit, born in 2001. Foster won’t reveal the father’s name, but says she’ll tell her kids when they are old enough.
People Magazine named Foster one of their “100 Most Beautiful People in the World” in 2007.
