Jodie Foster

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Once in a lifetime comes along an actor who society takes for granted as a part of their global consciousness. Once in a while an actor will come along who every civilized person on Earth has heard of, across all generations, and recognizes their greatness. Once in a lifetime emerges an artist whose presence makes the art of filmmaking and images a better world to live in and to view. Once in a lifetime, there is Jodie Foster. One of the finest actors of cinema, the beautiful, intelligent, and talented Jodie Foster was a born star. She broke out on to the Hollywood set at the mere age of three, appearing as ‘The Coppertone Girl’ in the hugely popular television commercial.

Encouraged to appreciate the artistic side of filmmaking, she had her mother to thank for helping to influence her uncompromising style, artistry, and class. Ms. Foster states, ‘I certainly was exposed to and learned to appreciate the work of great directors early on. As a kid, my mother used to take me to see really interesting arty films in Los Angeles.’ That actable support from her mother, carried with her as she went on to become a regular on a number of television series, including ‘Mayberry RFD,’ ‘The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,’ ‘My Three Sons’ and ‘Paper Moon.’ She made her feature film debut in ‘Napoleon and Samantha’ when she was a mere eight years old.

But it was her role in ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ (1975), which brought her to the audience’s eyes and her powerful portrayal as a streetwise teenager in Martin Scorsese’s cult classic hit ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) that won her widespread critical praise and international attention. Foster appeared in a total of four films in 1976, ‘Bugsy Malone’ ‘Echoes of Summer,’ ‘Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane’ and ‘ Taxi Driver,’ which were all presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Alan Parker’s ‘Bugsy Malone,’ earned her an Italian Comedy Award. She was now fourteen.

Other select motion picture credits include Woody Allen’s stylized black and white comedy ‘Shadows and Fog,’ Mary Lambert’s ‘Siesta’ opposite Ellen Barking; ‘Stealing Home;’ and ‘Five Corners;’ as well as earlier films such as ‘Tom Sawyer’ Disney’s ‘Freaky Friday;’ Adrian Lynne’s ‘Foxes’ Tony Richardson’s ‘The Hotel New Hampshire;’ and Claude Carol’s ‘The Blood of Others,’ for which the multi-lingual Foster looped all of her own dialogue in French.

In total, Foster has appeared in nearly 40 films, including recent films ‘Inside Man’ with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen; the box-office hit ‘Flightplan’; Jean Pierre Jeunet’s French language film, ‘A Very Long Engagement;’ David Fincher’s box-office success, ‘Panic Room;’ ‘Anna and the King’ for director Andy Tenant, ‘Contact’ for director Robert Zemeckis; ‘Nell’ opposite Liam Neeson; the comedy ‘Maverick’ opposite Mel Gibson and James Garner and the romantic drama ‘Sommersby’ opposite Richard Gere.

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© 2009, The Hollywood Sentinel ®