Hollywood has special affection for kid actors. The best of them are survivors, and craftspeople for whom the presence of a a movie camera is nearly an extension of their own selves. And that well describes the natural way that Jodie Foster, grabbed attention at age ten in her first movie, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), with her unforgettable delivery of the great line, “Weird, Weird.”
In Taxi Driver (1976), age at 13, she played a preternaturally mature, husky-voiced young prostitute who falls into the harrowing circle of Travis Bickle, in the titular role played by Robert De Niro.
In the movie, Foster’s character is identified a runaway from Pittsburgh (as am I, more or less), and, seeing the film at the time of its release in a movie theater in downtown Pittsburgh, the place erupted in laughter. That was such an unexpected factoid, and gave a very stressed-out audience a nice release.
And now to Nyad (2022), Foster’s credible outing as the reluctant coach who gets distance swimmer Diana Nyad across the finish line of her unlikely, later-life jaunt from Cuba to Florida, a highly interactive co-starring role with Annette Benning for which both women received Oscar nominations.
Foster has won two Academy awards out of five nominations and holds the distinction of being one of only two people to win multiple Oscars before the age of 30. She has eighty film and television credits to her IMDB roster.
The Chinese Theater hand-and-footprint ceremony begun by film impresario Sid Grauman is one of our last remaining points of continuity to the days of High Hollywood, and it has been revived as part of Turner Classic Movies’ annual Film Festival takeover of the Boulevard (now in its 15th year). We commend TCM for carrying forth with making a festive occasion of the kooky Hollywood tradition of putting paws in wet cement. It is an honor so well deserved and we offer a big artsmeme congratulations to Jodie Foster.
Jodie Foster Handprint/Footprint Ceremony | TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX® | 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival