The Plight of Jodie Foster

Being stalked by deranged fans is nothing new for Hollywood celebrities. Many of Tinsletown’s most famous have had to deal with this problem at some point in their careers. But perhaps, none are more interesting or have gotten more attention than Academy Award winning actress, Jodie Foster.

Recently the feds arrested a Boston man, who is obsessed with Foster, for allegedly mailing a bomb threat to a Los Angeles airport. The hand-written letter, which the eerie fan, Michael Smegal, sent to Van Nuys Airport, last December, included the spooky words, “Jodie Foster S” and there is “going to be a gas bomb at this building”. According to the feds, the weirdo also sent some 100 identical letters, some mentioning Foster, to other celebrities, businesses and airports. The DNA on the airport letters matched those on anonymous letters and packages, Foster received in 2004 from Massachusetts.

Of course, everyone remembers Foster’s most famous stalker, John Hinckley Jr., who on March 30, 1981, attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. He claimed his motive was to impress Foster, who at the time was a freshman at Yale University. The media frenzy surrounding Hinckley’s obsession inspired a punk group to name their band, Jodie Foster’s Army. A second man, Edward Richardson, also stalked foster while she was at Yale. He followed her around with a loaded gun with intentions of shooting her, but retracted because she “was too beautiful”. Richardson was later arrested.

Perhaps these demented fans indirectly evolved from some of the roles she has played. In the 1976 film, Taxi Driver, Foster played a 12 year old prostitute, Iris, who becomes the obsession of a depressed and deranged NYC taxi driver, played by Robert DeNiro. Many believe the film should have won the Academy Award for Best Picture (lost to Rocky) and today it’s still considered one of the greatest films of all time. However, her most famous role is of a promising FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, in the 1991 film, The Silence of the Lambs. In the film she wins the heart of (guess who?) a cannibalistic serial murderer named Hannibal Lecter, while trying to convince him to help her capture another serial killer who’s on the loose. The film was a box office success and a juggernaut at the Academy Awards, winning the five most prestigious Oscars.

So you have two critically acclaimed roles where both characters attract a maniac. Is it a coincidence? Perhaps not.