Real name: Alicia Christian Foster
Occupation: Actress, Director, Producer
Date of Birth: November 19, 1962
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Sign: Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Virgo
Relations: Father: Lucian (real-estate agent); mother: Evelyn "Brandy" (publicist); brother: Buddy (child actor, construction worker, author); sisters: Lucinda, Constance; son: Charles Foster
Education: Yale University; graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in literature

Academy Award-winning actress, director and producer whose career in show business began when she appeared at the age of three in a Coppertone ad. Her films as an actress include Taxi Driver (1976), The Accused (1988), Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Anna and the King (1999). She directed Little Man Tate (1991) and Home for the Holidays (1995). Her latest project as producer, director, and actor is Flora Plum (2000).

Facts about Jodie Foster:

(1995) She was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#45).

(2000) She was supposed to be Commencement Speaker for Smith College in MA but eventually had to decline.

She uses her own voice in all of the French versions of any of her movies, because she can speak French fluently.

As a youngster, she was mauled by a lion and carried briefly in its mouth during outdoor shooting of a commercial.

She majored in literature at Yale; graduated magna cum laude in 1985

(October 1997) She was ranked #18 in Empire (UK) magazine's The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list.

(1997) She received honourary Doctorate from Yale University.

Mother Brandy managed her through age 20.

She owns and chairs Production Company EGG PICTURES in Los Angeles, founded in 1990.

John F. Hinckley Jr. claimed that he attempted to kill President Reagan in order to impress her.

She graduated in 1980 as the class valedictorian from the private academy Lycée Français in Los Angeles.

She 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).

She was the second choice to play Princess Leia Organa in STAR WARS (1977).

She was born Alicia Christian Foster in 1962, her three siblings insisted on calling her Jodie.

She made her acting debut in a Coppertone suntan lotion commercial when she was 3 years old. Has said that her only regret is that she would love to live life without knowing what it's like to be famous.

For SOMMERSBY (1993), Foster learned how to handle a horse-pulled buckboard.

She enjoys kickboxing, yoga, karate, aerobics, and weightlifting and collects fancy kitchenware and black and white photos.

She loves organic food.

She gave the Class Day speech at Yale in 1993 and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Yale in 1997.

She got the role of Annabel Bradsford in the comedy MAVERICK (1994) after Meg Ryan turned it down.

She fought with CBS over a $12,000 hair and makeup bill incurred in preparation for her appearance on 60 Minutes II (1999), Dec. 1999 to promote ANNA AND THE KING (1999).

She was the youngest host of Saturday Night Live (1975) until Drew Barrymore hosted in 1982.

She never liked ALL IN THE FAMILY (1971) because It seemed to be doing the same thing each week.

She got the role of Clarice Starling in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) after Michelle Pfeiffer turned it down.

She turned down the Sharon Stone role in BASIC INSTINCT (1992).

Father Lucius Foster left the family when Jodie's mother was a few months pregnant with her.

Jodie Foster has vowed to sacrifice her Hollywood career - for the sake of her kids.

Jodie Foster has declared that anybody who wants to know the identity of her sons' father, or fathers, should ask her kids - once they reach adulthood.

Due to her age she could not do some of the more explicit scenes in TAXI DRIVER (1976). Instead her sister Connie, who is 8 years older, was used as a double.

She became director of LITTLE MAN TATE (1991) after Joe Dante left due to creative differences.

In SOMMERSBY (1993), the cow is named Clarice, which was the name of her character in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991).

She was due to be the president of the Cannes Film Festival jury but had to withdraw when she accepted the role in PANIC ROOM. She had only nine days to prepare for the role.

She was pregnant with her second child during filming PANIC ROOM (2002). Because of this, reshoots had to be made in the autumn of 2001 after she had given birth, as principal photography took longer than planned.

The girl with whom she studied in order to prepare for her role as Iris also appears in the film, as Iris' friend on the street (TAXI DRIVER).

Was interested in CONTACT (1997) as early as 1995. After initially deciding to drop out, her interest was resparked by a new revision of the script.

Foster contracted by Polygram Entertainment to star in THE GAME, but Michael Douglas didn't agree with her idea of changing the script. She passed the role, though it's unconfirmed, it was a rumour that she was paid $10 millions to be not in the movie.

After Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson passed the role to star in ANNA AND THE KING, Jodie was selected and paid for $12 millions.

Personal quotes:

"Being understood is not the most essential thing in life."

"I spent four hours with a shrink trying to prove I was normal enought to play a hooker. Does that make sense?" On her role in Taxi Driver (1976) when she was 13.

"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable."

"It's not my personality to be extroverted emotionally, so acting has been helpful to me."

(at age 14) "Kids talk like sailors now. Adults don't want to know."