Jodie Foster was honored at the 2013 Golden Globe® Awards, which were held in Beverly Hills, Calif., and broadcast live on NBC Television Network on Jan. 13, 2013. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association presented Foster with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her outstanding contribution to the entertainment field. Onstage, actor and friend Robert Downey Jr. presented the award to Foster.
With the presentation of the award, Jodie Foster was given an honor that put her in the company of film legends. Chosen by the HFPA Board of Directors, the Cecil B. DeMille Award is given annually to the talented individuals who have made an incredible impact on the world of entertainment. Morgan Freeman was bestowed with the honor last year. Previous honorees include Lucille Ball, Bette Davis, Walt Disney, Harrison Ford, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, Frank Sinatra, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, among many others.
Foster's acceptance speech was baffling because she declared that it was not a coming out speech, that she valued privacy and went on to hint that she was retiring. If she wanted to keep her privacy, she could have simply thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and kept it classy.
During the course of her speech, Foster gave shout outs to to her friends, actors Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr., her former partner Cydney Bernard and her sons Charlie and Kit.
Foster took the award and exclaimed "I'm 50!" In a youth oriented culture, 50 may seem to be ancient, but older people may see it as the prime of life.
For some unknown reason, Foster seemed to think that she was expected to use the Golden Globes as a platform to make a coming out speech...or a retirement speech. She built up to the subject by saying that she was nervous about making a declaration, and then exclaimed "I am, uh, single!
Foster continued, "Seriously, I hope that you're not disappointed that there won't be a big coming-out speech tonight, because, uh, I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago, back in the Stone Age, in those, uh, those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers and then gradually, proudly, to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met. But now, apparently, I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a primetime reality show."
Foster joked that her private life was boring,then added, "But seriously, if you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler, if you'd had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe then you, too, might value privacy above all else. Privacy. Some day, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was."
Jodie Foster started in the entertainment industry at the age of three, as the "Coppertone Girl." She went on to become a regular on a number of television series, including "Mayberry RFD," "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," "My Three Sons" and "Paper Moon." She made her feature debut in "Napoleon and Samantha" when she was eight years old.
Her role in "Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore" (1975) brought her to the audience’s attention. Her powerful portrayal of a streetwise teenager in Martin Scorsese’s 'Taxi Driver" (1976) won widespread critical praise and international attention to the young actress. Foster appeared in a total of four films in 1976, "Bugsy Malone," "Echoes of Summer," "Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" and "Taxi Driver," which were all presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Alan Parker’s "Bugsy Malone," earned her an Italian Comedy Award.
According to press information from NBC Television Network, Foster received Academy Awards for Best Actress for her performances as a rape survivor in "The Accused" and as Special Agent Clarice Starling in the hit thriller "The Silence of the Lambs." For "Silence of the Lambs," Foster also received a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Award, a New York Film Critics Award and a Chicago Film Critics Award. Foster received her first Oscar® nomination and awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics for her role in Taxi Driver.
She also became the only American actress to win two separate awards in the same year from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – Best Supporting Actress and Best Newcomer honoring her performances in both Taxi Driver and Bugsy Malone.
In total, Foster has appeared in more than 40 films, including "Carnage" for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination; "Nim’s Island" with Gerard Butler; "The Brave One" for director Neil Jordan which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination; "Inside Man"with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen; the box-office hit "Flightplan"; Jean Pierre Jeunet’s French language film, "A Very Long Engagement"; David Fincher’s box-office success, "Panic Room"; "Anna and the King" for director Andy Tenant, Contact for director Robert Zemeckis; "Nell" opposite Liam Neeson; the comedy "Maverick" opposite Mel Gibson and James Garner and the romantic drama "Sommersby" opposite Richard Gere.
Most recently Foster completed filming "Elysium" opposite Matt Damon for director Neil Blomkamp.
In addition to her acting, Foster has always had a keen interest in the art of filmmaking. Foster made her motion picture directorial debut in 1991 with the highly acclaimed "Little Man Tate," in which she also starred. In 1995, Foster directed her second film, "Home for the Holidays," which she also produced. The film starred Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft and Robert Downey Jr. Her most recent film, The Beaver, which stars Mel Gibson, was released in 2011.
So what is next for Jodie Foster? There may or may not be clues in her closing statement: "“Well, I may never be up on this stage again, on any stage for that matter. Change, you gotta love it. I will continue to tell stories, to move people by being moved, the greatest job in the world. It’s just that from now on, I may be holding a different talking stick. And maybe it won’t be as sparkly, maybe it won’t open on 3,000 screens, maybe it will be so quiet and delicate that only dogs can hear it whistle. But it will be my writing on the wall. Jodie Foster was here, I still am, and I want to be seen, to be understood deeply and to be not so very lonely. Thank you, all of you, for the company. Here’s to the next 50 years.”
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