Foster Child

by Buddy Foster, Leon Wagener

This biography from Jodie Foster's brother Buddy, promises to set the record straight on the life of one of Hollywood's most powerful women. From her childhood and early acting career, to her multiple academy awards, this book attempts to show the actress behind the myths.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film, Biography Memoir

295 pages

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Autobiographies/Biographies of Hollywood celebrities, especially about those who were child stars when I was growing up, are my vices. I am not a TMZ, PEOPLE magazine enthusiast; however, I find reading about the lives of these actors very interesting. The Jodi Foster movie that is the most notable as far as I’m concerned is Little Man Tate. I loved this movie when I first saw it. And after reading this biography, I understand how powerful it was for Jodi. Foster is extremely intelligent to the point of isolation. Her family life growing up was tumultuous and has left her with a lot of baggage. Her brother, who tells the story of her life, does a phenomenal job telling the reader about Jodi, her family and the episodes in her life that have had significant impact, i.e John Hinckley Jr. I have read where Jodi has condemned Buddy for writing this book, however, there is nothing but high praise and compassion for Jodi to the point where it’s almost too much. Buddy, time and time again, reiterates how smart and talented Jodi is. I think the thing that probably upsets Jodi the most is the lesbian references of Aunt Jo. Interesting that several years after this book was written, Foster does have a lesbian relationship and shares 2 kids with her. I thought Buddy did right by Jodi in writing this book, mainly because she does not share any part of her personal life with the public, and we are interested. There is no name dropping in here. Buddy is very open and honest about his own problems as well as the dysfunctional relationship of his parents. He puts Jodi in the most favorable light while writing this book, I don’t understand the response she had. I enjoyed it.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went in to this book sort of warily, because from the dust jacket it seemed like a trashy tell-all, and I've also heard that Jodie Foster herself doesn't approve of this book. But I was surprised to find that it was actually a very balanced sensitive story about Jodie Foster and about families in general.

[Lumumba Mthembu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 1st book this year that I chose to read ahead of streaming series. I finished it quickly because the font is kind and the subject captivating. I’m unsettled, though, by the ease with which Buddy Foster makes unqualified remarks about his sister. I wouldn’t presume to know my sister’s heart or head but I’m not writing a book about her. I can understand why Jodie is miffed.

[Ilena Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ate it up with a spoon! A big one! I am sure Jody hated this, but her brother dished the dirt on the entire family. Weird, weird, and more weird. He also tells his child of being a child actor for a short period in his life. His main goal was to buy a dirt bike (I believe) like his teen neighbor. Jody will probably never write her own story, so you had better read this one. Great and gossipy.

[LeAnn L Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1997 bio is written by Jodie's brother Buddy. It definitely reveals what their life was like growing up in Hollywood by a domineering mother bent on her children's success...and reaping the benefits of their earnings. Still, Jodie was smart enough to overcome the dysfunction...and I hope the harrowing experience of John Hinckley.

[Bobette Giorgi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend to like bios written by family members. (I Slept with Joey Ramone is one of the best.) Buddy discusses the unstable childhood he and Jodie endured, as well as some of the dirt people want to know, such as the mother's lesbian relationship with "Aunt Jo." Buddy and Jodie definitely have different views on their upbringing; while Buddy tells the unpleasant truths about their mother (wasting their money on foolish, extravagant purchases, thereby making the family continually broke), Jodie always seems to come to her mother's defense. Is that because Jodie blocked most of it out (she endured in pedophile-run Hollywood, a task which requires the blocking out of very unpleasant events) or was she just able to come to terms better than Buddy? Not sure, but all siblings seem to live with this struggle.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected this to be terrible. It wasn't. It was quite well-written and interesting. However, I think it might have been even more interesting if there had been more information about Buddy, who had a totally messed-up life for some time. It also should have ended about two thirds of the way through. While the first two thirds was about their family and life growing up together, the last third was just a lot of quotes from interviews of Jodie and summaries of her movies.

Reportedly, Jodie was very upset with Buddy about this book, but it was tamer than I had expected, and Buddy's admiration and respect for his sister is more than evident.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always harbored a weird fascination for Jodie Foster...remembering vividly when the madman Hinkley shot President Reagan and his aide Bradley in order to get her attention, etc. etc. Mainly I've wondered just what the truth is about her sexual orientation. This book, by her older brother, doesn't clarify that point...but it does describe their odd, dysfunctional childhood in interesting detail. Buddy tends to hold back though, as it's obvious he doesn't want to alienate any of the power players in his nuclear family. Not a page turner...but satisfying enough...

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jodie Foster's brother wrote this book. He let it all hang out, dishing out all her secrets and outing her. If my brother wrote a tell-all about me, I would disown him in a flash. I have always thought Jodie was a fabulous actress and I am impressed that she speaks perfect French, something I can only aspire to.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that this isn't the best biography I have ever read. Too often it went off into the Buddy Foster story rather than focusing on Jodie, but it was an interesting read. I never knew about her stalker or the problems she had early on in her life, so all of that was new. So all in all, entertaining, but not a book I would return to.

[Othón A. León · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always liked Jodie, maybe because "we grew up together"... Well, I mean, same age, same planet... AND because she always was so beautiful... Not an excellent book though, but good enough to give it a try and learn about her life.

[Shawnnnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so much more than an inspiration for me while I was about 15 years old. The biography about her written by her brother includes besides childhoodmemories and other backgroundmaterial of Jodie a lot more about a girl finding her own voice in this world.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting biography of the reclusive Jodie Foster by her brother Buddy, this gave a fascinating insight into her early life. Unfortunately it finishes in 1996, so is quite a lot out of date. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.

[Apeksha · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are already a Jodie Foster fan this book will make you a bigger fan!

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography of Jodie by her brother does a good job of chronicling her early career.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to know more about Jodie, a child star who's continued to be successful. I love "Little Man Tate", which she both directed and starred in. $1 at Rasputin.

Written by her brother who "fled Hollywood", whose real name is Lucius IV after his father. He's the 3rd of 4 and only boy; Jodie's the youngest.

p. ix "I have grown uncomfortable over the years with the distortions and out -and-out lies that have been written about my sister and feel it is time to set the record straight. Jodie and my family have been extremely reticent...I understand and generally agree with them. But...After years of frustration I was given the opportunity to write this book and I decided the time was right...I hope all will agree I have been fair and have been harder on myself than on anyone else."

So, not exactly written with Jodie's blessing, in 1997.

Per HuffPost on 1/14/13, "Her brother Buddy said that mum Brandy was a controlling woman, but Jodie clearly does not agree -- she was so appalled by the book he wrote on the subject of their[*] childhood that she hasn't spoken to him in 12 years."

I wish I had known this in 2012 before I invested time in this book.

Per a Literary Hub interview, Jodie says she's the youngest of four, raised by a single mom, close to Hollywood Blvd., where they'd point out the prostitutes. Her favorite book is Franny and Zoey.

p. 4 "...the flip side of her perfectionism has always been her incredible confidence in herself."

She was "seriously considering enrolling in the master's-Ph.D. program at Yale and getting a doctorate in European literature...acting started out as a hobby..."

Seems he's using this book to apologize to his sister for his failings. This is HIS view of her life. And there are LOTS of photos of him, his childhood, his family. He sure remembers a lot of details - what Jodie read, what their mom said, etc. And apparently, he wants to be a movie critic.

The text and photo dates contradict one another - Brandy and Jo's falling out, Buddy's 1st marriage. He writes about the wedding and THEN his son being born in 1976. Per the photos, he married in '78, but '76 per pgs. 99-100. Can he get his OWN facts straight?

And who is "Chris" in the family photos? Sisters are Cindy (Lucinda) and Connie.

Contradictory timeline - pages 123, 127, 162.

p. 114 Hinckley played the role of a phantom in Jodie's movie Carny. (It was co-written with three others and produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band, who had a lead role along with Gary Busey!)

p. 146, 163 College was good for her, she could be herself & gain perspective

p. 173 "The aim is for brutal - if need be - honesty. And her work has to teach a moral lesson: show that a strong, brave woman who refuses to capitulate will triumph in the end."

pp. 199-200 Jodie owns a house she never lives in & ultimately sells. Next page, details of the house and how she works in the garden. What?

p. 212 - Jumps around. Was additional info added at the last minute? There's no end to the lawsuits.

pp. 218-219 - Sommersby is based on the French film The Return of Martin Guerre, and was Richard Gere's project.


**** It's very sad that a sibling would benefit off of their famous sister without her blessing.



Vocab.
p. vii - pilloried - A pillory is a wooden frame with holes for the head and hands, used as a form of public humiliation and punishment.

110 - gimlet-eyed - having penetrating and piercing eyes, and seeming to notice everything

120 - execrable - extremely bad or unpleasant

175 - sturm und drang - a literary and artistic movement in Germany in the late 18th century, influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and characterized by the expression of emotional unrest and a rejection of neoclassical literary norms. Turbulent stress.

[Liese Boeyé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soms heb ik nogal rare leesgrillen en wil uit het niks iets lezen over een bepaald onderwerp. In dit geval wilde ik iets lezen over het Hollywood van vroeger. Meestal bedenk ik mij na een aantal pagina's maar niet bij dit boek. Het boek zou een biografie zijn van Jodie Foster geschreven door haar broer maar het gaat eigenlijk over heel het gezin dat om het zacht uit te drukken nogal dysfunctioneel was. Ik snap helemaal waar Jodie Foster wou dat dit niet gepubliceerd werd. Er staan veel pijnlijke details in en eerlijk ik zou ook niet willen dat duizenden mensen kunnen lezen wat ik deed met mijn pampers als peuter. Toch vond ik dit boek meer dan geslaagd. Buddy beschrijft op een zeer lucide manier wat beroemdheid met een jong kind doet (hij en zijn zus waren bekende kindsterren) en hoe zij daar elk afzonderlijk mee zijn omgegaan . Hij beschrijft ook de complexe relatie met zijn mama en hoe zij de soms tegenstrijdige rollen van manager en mama vervulde. Al bij al blijft het veel gossip natuurlijk maar toch gossip met veel psychologisch inzicht geschreven

[Rusty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I spent $1 for this trash at a used book store and still felt I paid too much. The salesman selling it said, "God, what kind of jerk would write a tell-all about his own sister? Yikes!" Exactly.

While this was written by Buddy Foster, brother of the talented actress Jodie Foster, and is in theory "his" story, who would want to read about him? And so, the book is a tell-all about growing up with Jodie Foster.

It sure sounds like he still bears a grudge for her winning the Coppertone commercial over him which he seems to think ruined his "career." Um...WHAT career?

There are lots of sour grapes in this badly written book by a brother who by all accounts has not been a part of his sister's life for decades. His speculation about what her life might be like now (well, up until 1996) is pretty pathetic. Not worth reading.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually gave this title 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5. Read the full review at: www.cloquetriverpress.com.
Peace
Mark

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

#115 of 120 books pledged to read during 2019

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quit reading this book about 2/3 through. It was interesting in places, but then bogged down in repetitive observations. I really felt this book was much more about her brother (the author) than about Jodi Foster. I sort of felt somewhat sorry for him, and the way he described being on the sidelines of her life. I hope he feels better by the end, but not enough to finish it to find out.

[Laura Ostermeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and insightful read.