Foster, Jodie (1962– )

US film actor and director. She began acting as a child and starred in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) when only 14. She became known for her intelligent, sensitive portrayals of strong yet vulnerable women, often social outcasts or misfits, facing great challenges, for example in the critically acclaimed drama Nell (1994). She won Academy Awards for her performances in The Accused (1988) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

Other films include the John Irving adaptation The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), the historical dramas Sommersby (1993) and Anna and the King (1999), the Western comedy Maverick (1994), the science fiction drama Contact (1997), the thrillers Panic Room (2002) and Flightplan (2005), and the crime drama The Brave One (2007). She directed Little Man Tate (1991) and Home for the Holidays (1995).