Foster Child: A Biography of Jodie Foster [Hardcover]

Buddy Foster (Author), Leon Wagener (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

A biography by Jodie Foster's brother reveals their joint travails as children of divorce and Hollywood, and her subsequent rise to the pinnacle of Hollywood success and his own decline into drugs.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Buddy is Jodie Foster's older brother; both were child stars. He is no longer a star. The hook: the effects of being raised by a controlling mother and her lesbian companion. Bonnie Smothers

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First edition. edition (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525941436
• ISBN-13: 978-0525941439
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A dual biography, April 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Foster Child: A Biography of Jodie Foster (Hardcover)

The advantage of having a biography written by a close relative is that the author doesn't have to rely on interviews with strangers and be at the mercy of other people's agendas or outright lies. The disadvantage is that the author is usually much less famous and successful than the subject and the book tends to try to increase the author's importance. This is the case with "Foster Child". Along with all the childhood stories, the first half of the book is a comparison of Buddy's childhood career with Jodie's and no one is buying this book to read about Buddy Foster. The second half of the book is more on track. Its main advantage is that only someone who grew up with Jodie could go into the details of her more than unusual childhood, including the shocking explanation of how someone named Alicia Christian Foster came to be known as Jodie. I was under the impression from what I had read previously that Jodie's father was an evil cad who ran away from home never to be heard from again. Well, he may have been an evil cad, but the real story is much more complicated than that. The book is hardest of all, by far, on their mother Brandy. From how she used her children to live off of (she spent every penny of Buddy's several hundred thousand dollar acting nest egg before he was 21), to how she tried to shape the children's thinking and poison them against their father, she is the underlying villain of the book. The mother's attention follows the money. When it is clear that Jodie is the star of the family, and the main breadwinner, she gets her mother's attention to the detriment of the rest of the family. Other than subject of their mother, this is not a particularly gossip filled book, so those that are looking for that may want to look elsewhere. The one "controversial" element of Jodie's life: "Is she or isn't she?" is given short shrift. Has their man-hating lesbian mother turned Jodie into a man-hating lesbian? Even her brother isn't sure. What he is sure of is that Jodie has become a supremely successful person with no one to share her life with (this book was written before Jodie had a baby) and he worries she will stay that way. What is also clear is that Jodie is a charter member of the "I took the part because I wanted to play a strong woman" club. Generically, she will say "I look for good stories" when choosing a movie, but when commenting individually on roles there is always a feminist agenda behind it. The real-life victim that "The Accused" is based on may have committed suicide or been a basket case for the rest of her life but in the movie the men are prosecuted and convicted so that puts it in "The woman fights back and wins" category and makes it a "good story". Although Buddy chronicles the family's interrelationships throughout the years, there is no description of his current relationship with Jodie nor her reaction to his writing of this book. When questioned about this, a publicist for the book said, "It's not accurate to characterize their relationship as estranged." It sounds like doubletalk to me. Buddy describes Jodie as someone who wants to make movies her way and then be left alone. If she's recognized on the street she will deny she is Jodie Foster vociferously under all circumstances short of a DNA test. This is due partly, of course, to the John Hinckley episode, which is explained more completely here than anywhere else I've seen, along with Hinckley's copycat loonies. All in all, it is a description of an extremely intelligent, secure and insecure, driven person who sacrifices her personal life for other people and what she considers a greater cause. Is it worth it? Only Jodie Foster knows and she's not telling.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing life story., June 26, 2001

By 

"gabbo36" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foster Child: A Biography of Jodie Foster (Paperback)

I was shocked to read such negative reviews of this book. The historical background and her family experiences were not only extremely interesting, and accurate (since her brother, who wrote the book, saw all of this first-hand), but also has made me respect and admire this wonderful actress even more. There is nothing slanderous in the book, and nothing that Jodie seemingly would be ashamed to tell herself. The book merely retells the life that she grew up in. Fascinating.

My whole family read the book, one after the other. Our edition is falling apart after so much use. I highly recommend this book. Perhaps the best biography I have ever read.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far better than what the first two reviews say, March 7, 2002

By 

Thomas Niksa (Logan, WV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foster Child: A Biography of Jodie Foster (Paperback)

I read this book, and I read "The Royals" by Kitty Kelly. There is all the difference in the world between the two books. The first is an unpleasant book written by an unpleasant woman, which uses second and third hand gossip who has nothing but contempt for its subject matter. "Foster Child," on the other hand, has a great deal of respect for the woman at its core, which does not stop it from dwelling on her weaknesses, as any good biography should.

Those familiar with what is known about Jodie Foster will find few real surprises. It is generally known, for instance, that she is frightenly intelligent; and that she has, with one or two exceptions, never acted in or directed a movie she didn't really want to do, but once committed devotes herself wholeheartedly. It also been surmised that in terms of a love life, she looks at the person and not the gender; a common trait with highly educated, irreligious people. That she is understandably guarded with her privacy, that she does not suffer fools gladly, or that she has something of a cold streak personally, do not come as a surprise either. All of these are elaborated on in this book.

What is particularly germaine in the book is Buddy's revelations of the Foster family, a high strung, tumultuous family if there ever was one. Speaking first hand, we have his account of the wars between the ambitious mother of the Foster brood, Brandy, and their USAF officer father Lucius. They divorced while Brandy was pregnant with Jodie, but they had several break-and-smash reunions afterward.

Buddy's respect for his sister particularly shines in the analysis he gives her movies, notably her directorial efforts "Little Man Tate" and "Home for the Holidays." He comes out understanding the latter film better than most of the critics did.

While reading this, I could feel the disapproving eyes of Ms. Foster over my shoulder, and I'm sure Buddy is to this day subject to his sister's shunning. I'm sure, as well, that the onetime Mayberry actor wrote the book for some needed money. (Buddy fesses up well to his own professional and personal failings.) But the resultant book is by no means a tabloid effort, and due to it I have come to a better appreciation of this unique lady and talent his sister is.