Jodie was born Alicia Christian Foster to Evelyn (Brandy) Foster and Lucius Foster III and her first work was as the billboard and commercials baby for Coppertone in the early 60's. Jodie then appeared in a variety of TV programs such as My Three Sons, Mayberry RFD, and Gunsmoke along with work in commercials such as those for Crest toothpaste.
Jodie's popularity and regular work soon made her the family's main bread-winner and the family lived comfortably in southern California. Jodie has three older siblings consisting of two sisters and a brother.
At a very early age, Jodie demonstrated an acumen for the acting profession exhibited by her uncanny ability to memorize scripts easily. Before long the Disney studio noticed her talent and signed her for movie roles. Her first film for Disney was "Napoleon and Samantha."
Her career began to take off as she starred in several additional Disney projects and as she began to approach adolescence the director Martin Scorsese chose her for the rather adult role in his dramatic film "Taxi Driver". In this film, her role was that of a teen prostitute named Iris. For her performance in this film she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
The film has become a classic and made Jodie a worldwide celebrity and film superstar.
She then headed off to college at Yale.
After finishing her degrees with several academic credits, she has not only successfully resumed her acting career, but has become a respected director and producer of films. She had success in films like Silence of the Lambs and Anna and the king in the 1990's.
