Born on Nov. 19, 1962 in Los Angeles, CA, Foster began life in a broken household. Her father, Lucius, left the family when her mother, Evelyn (a.k.a. Brandy), was roughly three months pregnant. With the fervent support of her mother, Foster began her acting career at three years old with commercials; most notably baring her buns in a classic ad for Coppertone. In 1969, she made her television debut on an episode of “Mayberry R.F.D.” (CBS, 1968-1971), then had her first feature-length role in the made-for-TV movie, “Menace on the Mountain” (1970). Several inauspicious – though regular – appearances in guest spots on series TV and in several features for Disney, including “One Little Indian” (1973), were followed by a small role in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974), her first – and lesser-known – collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. Two years later, she left an indelible impression with her controversial performance in "Taxi Driver” as the teenage prostitute who inspires Robert De Niro's deranged personal crusade. She was nominated for her first Academy Award at age 14.

Foster followed “Taxi Driver” with appearances in several features, including the uneven gangster musical spoof "Bugsy Malone" (1976) playing Miss Tallulah, a bawdy speakeasy queen; "The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane" (1977), in the title role of a young murderer; and "Carny" (1980) as a teen runaway who joins up with a couple of carnival hustlers. All throughout her still-ripe career, however, Foster remained an excellent student, graduating as class valedictorian from Los Angeles’ lofty Lycée Français in 1980 and going on to study literature at Yale University. She managed to survive unwanted publicity when certifiable nutcase John Hinckley Jr. failed in his attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, something he did to somehow impress the young actress. Hinckley was obsessed with Foster after repeated viewings of “Taxi Driver” and moved to New Haven, CT in order to be closer to her while she attended Yale. After slipping notes and poems under her door, and harassing her with phone calls, Hinckley searched for more dramatic ways to attract Foster’s attention – including committing suicide in front of her – before finally settling on shooting the president. Despite the unwanted media attention, Foster remained typically private about the incident, even decades later.

While studying at Yale, she squeezed in appearances in films and TV, most notably as a member of an unconventional family in the film "The Hotel New Hampshire" (1984) that provided a bridge to impressive adult acting in films like the moody and potent "Five Corners" (1987). Foster finally consolidated her reputation with Oscar-winning portrayals of a rape victim in "The Accused" (1988), a role she fought hard to get after botching her initial audition. She followed up with another sterling performance in “The Silence of the Lambs,” playing a rookie FBI agent trying to track down a serial killer (Ted Levine) by forging an uncomfortably close bond with the famed Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lector (Anthony Hopkins). Also that year, she made her directorial debut with "Little Man Tate" (1991), an endearing drama about a child prodigy (Adam Hann-Byrd) who is caught in a tug-of-war between his working-class mother (Foster) and his teacher (Dianne Wiest). Based on her proven drawing power the previous year with “Lambs,” in 1992, Foster forged a three-year deal with Polygram Filmed Entertainment, which committed to financing three films under her Egg Pictures banner in the $25 million range and three in the $10-$15 million range. Foster was now able to choose whether or not to act, direct or simply produce the films, gaining rare control and flexibility for a Hollywood actress.

Foster's acting work during this time was generally lighter fare – a turn as a prostitute in Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" (1992), starring roles in the costume drama "Sommersby" (1992) opposite Richard Gere, and in the Western spoof "Maverick" (1994), op