Jodie Foster is an American actress and filmmaker. Foster began her professional career as a child model at age three appearing in a Coppertone commercial. Following appearances in numerous advertisements, she made her acting debut at age five, in a 1968 episode of the television sitcom Mayberry R.F.D., following which she guest starred in numerous television shows including Gunsmoke, The Doris Day Show, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Three Sons, Bonanza, and Kung Fu. Foster made her feature film debut came with Disney's adventure film Napoleon and Samantha (1972). Following notable appearances as Becky Thatcher in the musical film Tom Sawyer (1973), and in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Foster rose to international prominence in 1976 at age 13 with four prominent releases; Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone, Freaky Friday, and The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, with the first of these earning Foster her first nomination for an Academy Award. She continued to garner praise and became a teen idol with starring roles in a array of films including; Candleshoe (1977), and Foxes (1980).
A child prodigy, Foster decided to take a sabbatical from acting at the height of her teenage stardom for four years to attend Yale University. Following her graduation, she made a series of smaller films before having her breakthrough with the legal drama The Accused (1988), for which she won her first Academy Award for Best Actress. Her second Academy Award came for her portrayal of Clarice Starling in the psychological horror The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Other successful films in the 1990s were Sommersby (1993), Maverick (1994), Nell (1994), Contact (1997), and Anna and the King (1999). During this decade, she also made her directorial debut with the family dramas Little Man Tate (1991), and Home for the Holidays (1995).
During the 2000s, Foster starred in Panic Room (2002), The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002), A Very Long Engagement (2004), Flightplan (2005), Inside Man (2006), The Brave One (2007), and Nim's Island (2008). During the 2010s, Foster focused more on directing and made her acting appearances intermittent, starring in just three films; Carnage (2011), Elysium (2013), and Hotel Artemis (2018). Her directorial work during this decade includes the films; The Beaver (2011), Money Monster (2016), and episodes of the television shows Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Black Mirror, and Tales from the Loop.
During 2020s, Foster returned to more frequent acting work receiving additional Academy Award nominations for her portrayal of criminal defense attorney Nancy Hollander in the British legal drama The Mauritanian (2021), and as swimming coach Bonnie Stoll in the Netflix biopic Nyad (2023). Foster appeared in her first starring role on television and her first acting appearance in the medium in five decades as Chief Liz Danvers in HBO Max's crime anthology series True Detective: Night Country (2024), receiving two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Napoleon and Samantha | Samantha | ||
| Kansas City Bomber | Rita | |||
| 1973 | Tom Sawyer | Becky Thatcher | ||
| One Little Indian | Martha McIver | |||
| 1974 | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Audrey | ||
| 1976 | Taxi Driver | Iris Steensma | ||
| Echoes of a Summer | Deirdre Striden | a.k.a. The Last Castle | ||
| Bugsy Malone | Tallulah | |||
| The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | Rynn Jacobs | |||
| Freaky Friday | Annabel Andrews / Ellen Andrews | |||
| 1977 | Moi, fleur bleue | Isabelle Tristan / Fleur Bleue | a.k.a. Stop Calling Me Baby! | |
| Casotto | Teresina Fedeli | a.k.a. Beach House | ||
| Candleshoe | Casey Brown | |||
| 1980 | Foxes | Jeanie | ||
| Carny | Donna | |||
| 1982 | O'Hara's Wife | Barbara O'Hara | ||
| 1983 | Svengali | Zoe Alexander | ||
| 1984 | The Hotel New Hampshire | Frannie Berry | ||
| The Blood of Others | Hélène Bertrand | a.k.a. Le Sang des autres | ||
| 1986 | Mesmerized | Victoria Thompson | a.k.a. My Letter to George | |
| 1987 | Siesta | Nancy | ||
| 1988 | Five Corners | Linda | ||
| Stealing Home | Katie Chandler | |||
| The Accused | Sarah Tobias | |||
| 1990 | Catchfire | Anne Benton | a.k.a. Backtrack | |
| 1991 | The Silence of the Lambs | Clarice Starling | ||
| Little Man Tate | Dede Tate | Also director | ||
| Shadows and Fog | Dorrie (Prostitute) | |||
| 1993 | Sommersby | Laurel Sommersby | ||
| It Was a Wonderful Life | Narrator | Documentary | ||
| 1994 | Maverick | Mrs. Annabelle Bransford | ||
| Nell | Nell Kellty | |||
| 1997 | Contact | Dr. Eleanor Arroway | ||
| 1999 | Anna and the King | Anna Leonowens | ||
| 2002 | The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys | Sister Assumpta | ||
| Panic Room | Meg Altman | |||
| 2003 | Abby Singer | Herself | ||
| 2004 | A Very Long Engagement | Elodie Gordes | a.k.a. Un long dimanche de fiançailles | |
| 2005 | Flightplan | Kyle Pratt | ||
| 2006 | Inside Man | Madeline White | ||
| 2007 | The Brave One | Erica Bain | ||
| 2008 | Nim's Island | Alexandra Rover | ||
| 2011 | The Beaver | Meredith Black | Also director | |
| Carnage | Penelope Longstreet | |||
| 2013 | Elysium | Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt | ||
| 2018 | Narrator | Documentary | ||
| Hotel Artemis | Jean Thomas / The Nurse | |||
| 2021 | The Mauritanian | Nancy Hollander | ||
| 2023 | Nyad | Bonnie Stoll |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–1970 | Mayberry R.F.D. | Fairy / Little Girl | TV series Season 1, episode 8: "The Church Play" Season 3, episode 5: "All for Charity" | |
| 1969 | The Doris Day Show | Jenny Benson | TV series Season 1: "The Baby Sitter" | |
| 1969–1971 | The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Joey Kelly | TV series Season 1, episode 8: "Bully for You" Season 2, episode 2: "A Loaf of Bread, a Bar of Soap and a Jar of Peanut Butter" Season 2, episode 13: "Gifts Are For Giving" Season 2, episode 20: "The Lonely Weekend" Season 2, episode 21: "The Magic Mrs. Rickles" | |
| 1969 | Julia | Cindy Blanchard | TV series Season 2, episode 9: "Romeo and Julia" | |
| 1969–1972 | Gunsmoke | Susan Sadler / Patricia / Marieanne | TV series Season 15, episode 13: "The Roots of Fear" Season 17, episode 15: "P.S. Murry Christmas" Season 17, episode 20: "The Predators" | |
| 1970 | Menace on the Mountain | Suellen McIver | TV movie in two parts (The Wonderful World of Disney) | |
| 1970 | Daniel Boone | Rachel | TV series Season 6, episode 24: "Bringing Up Josh" | |
| 1970 | Adam-12 | Mary Bennett | TV series Season 3, episode 6: "Log 55 Missing Girl" | |
| 1970 | Nanny and the Professor | Angela | TV series Season 1, episode 4: "The Scientific Approach" | |
| 1971 | My Three Sons | Priscilla Hobson | TV series Season 11 | |
| 1972 | Bonanza | 'Bluebird' | TV series Season 13, episode 24: "A Place to Hide" | |
| 1972 | Ghost Story (Circle of Fear) | Judy | TV series Season 1, episode 8: "House of Evil" | |
| 1972 | The Paul Lynde Show | Maggie | TV series Season 1, episode 5: "To Commune or Not to Commune" | |
| 1972 | The New Scooby-Doo Movies | Pugsley Addams (voice) | TV series Season 1, episode 3: "Wednesday Is Missing" | |
| 1972 | My Sister Hank | Henrietta 'Hank' Bennett | TV movie | |
| 1972 | The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan | Anne Chan (voice) | TV series, 16 episodes | |
| 1972 | Ironside | Pip Morrison | TV series Season 5, episode 20: "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Murder" | |
| 1973 | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | Elizabeth Henderson | TV series | |
| 1973 | Rookie of the Year | Sharon Lee | TV movie | |
| 1973 | Alexander | Sue | TV movie | |
| 1973 | The Partridge Family | Julie | TV series Season 3, episode 18: "The Eleven Year Itch" | |
| 1973 | Love Story | Ellie Madison | TV series Season 1, episode 10: "The Youngest Lovers" | |
| 1973 | Kung Fu | Alethea Patricia Ingram | TV series Season 1, episode 10: "Alethea" | |
| 1973 | The New Perry Mason | Hildy Haynes | TV series Season 1, episode 6: "The Case of the Deadly Deeds" | |
| 1973 | The Addams Family | Pugsley Addams (voice) | TV series, 16 episodes | |
| 1974 | Smile, Jenny, You're Dead (the pilot film for Harry O) | Liberty Cole | TV movie | |
| 1974 | Paper Moon | Addie Loggins | TV series | |
| 1975 | Medical Center | Ivy | TV series Season 6, episode 17: "The Captives" | |
| 1975 | The Secret Life of T. K. Dearing | T.K. Dearing | TV movie | |
| 1996 | Frasier | Marlene (voice) | TV series Episode: "Moon Dance" | |
| 1997 | The X-Files | Betty (voice) | TV series Episode: "Never Again" | |
| 2005 | Herself | Guest appearance in episode 8 | ||
| 2009 | The Simpsons | Maggie Simpson (voice) | TV series Episode: "Four Great Women and a Manicure" | |
| 2014 | Narrator | TV series Episode: "Women in Space" | ||
| 2024 | True Detective | Liz Danvers | Season 4 Also executive producer |
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Mesmerized | Co-producer | |
| 1994 | Nell | ||
| 1995 | Home for the Holidays | ||
| 1998 | The Baby Dance | Television film Executive producer | |
| 2000 | Waking the Dead | Executive producer | |
| 2002 | The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys | ||
| 2007 | The Brave One | Executive producer | |
| 2020 | Documentary Executive producer |
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Tales from the Darkside | Episode: "Do Not Open This Box" | |
| 1991 | Little Man Tate | ||
| 1995 | Home for the Holidays | ||
| 2011 | The Beaver | ||
| 2013–2014 | Orange Is the New Black | Two episodes ("Lesbian Request Denied", "Thirsty Bird") | |
| 2014 | House of Cards | Episode: "Chapter 22" | |
| 2016 | Money Monster | ||
| 2017 | Black Mirror | Episode: "Arkangel" | |
| 2020 | Tales from the Loop | Episode: "Home" |