Two women wear cheongsam in this 1930s Shanghai advertisement.

The cheongsam  /tʃi.ɒŋˈsæm/^[1] is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women; the male version is the changshan. It is known in Mandarin Chinese as the qípáo (旗袍; pronounced [t͡ɕʰǐ pʰɑ̌ʊ̯]) Wade-Giles ch'i-p'ao, and is also known in English as a mandarin gown. The stylish and often tight-fitting cheongsam or qipao (chipao) that is most often associated with today was created in the 1920s in Shanghai and was made fashionable by socialites and upperclass women.^[2]

Chinese language usage[link]

The English loanword cheongsam comes from chèuhngsāam, the Cantonese pronunciation of the Shanghainese term zǎnze or zansae (長衫, 'long shirt/dress'), by which the original tight-fitting form was first known. The Shanghainese name was somewhat in contrast with usage in Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, where chángshān (the Mandarin pronunciation of 長衫) refers to an exclusively male dress (see changshan) and the female version is known as a qipao.

In Hong Kong, where many Shanghai tailors fled to after the communist revolution in China, the word chèuhngsāam may refer to either male or female garments. The word keipo (qipao) is either a more formal term for the female chèuhngsāam, or is used for the two-piece cheongsam variant that is popular in China. Traditionally, usage in Western countries mostly followed the original Shanghainese usage and applies the Cantonese-language name cheongsam to a garment worn by women.

History[link]

When the Manchu ruled China during the Qing Dynasty, certain social strata emerged. Among them were the Banners (qí), mostly Manchu, who as a group were called Banner People (旗人 pinyin: qí rén). Manchu women typically wore a one-piece dress that retrospectively came to be known as the qípáo (旗袍 or banner gown). The generic term for both the male and the female forms of Manchu dress, essentially similar garments, was chángpáo (長袍). The qipao fitted loosely and hung straight down the body, or flared slightly in an A-line. Under the dynastic laws after 1636, all Han Chinese in the banner system were forced to wear a queue and dress in Manchurian qipao instead of traditional Han Chinese clothing (剃发易服), under penalty of death (along with the July 1645 edict (the "haircutting order") that forced all adult Han Chinese men to shave the front of their heads and comb the remaining hair into a queue, on pain of death). Until 1911, the changpao was required clothing for Chinese men of a certain class, but Han Chinese women continued to wear loose jacket and trousers, with an overskirt for formal occasions. The qipao was a new fashion item for Han Chinese women when they started wearing it around 1925.

The original qipao was wide and loose. It covered most of the woman's body, revealing only the head, hands, and the tips of the toes. The baggy nature of the clothing also served to conceal the figure of the wearer regardless of age. With time, though, the qipao were tailored to become more form fitting and revealing. The modern version, which is now recognized popularly in China as the "standard" qipao, was first developed in Shanghai in the 1920s, partly under the influence of Beijing styles. People eagerly sought a more modernized style of dress and transformed the old qipao to suit their tastes. Slender and form fitting with a high cut, it had great differences from the traditional qipao. However, it was high-class courtesans and celebrities in the city that would make these redesigned tight fitting qipao popular at that time.^[3] In Shanghai it was first known as zansae or "long dress" (長衫 - Mandarin Chinese: chángshān, Shanghainese: zansae, Cantonese: chèuhngsāam), and it is this name that survives in English as the "cheongsam".

Variation of cheongsam through history[link]

• 

  Jiaqing Period
  (1796 - 1820)
  Manchu Family
• 

  Daoguang Period
  (1821 - 1850)
  Empress Xiaoshen
• 

  Daoguang Period
  (1821 - 1850)
  Empress Xiaoquan
• 

  Daoguang Period
  (1821 - 1850)
  Empress Xiaojing
• 

  Daoguang Period
  (1821 - 1850)
  Imperial Consort Tong
• 

  Daoguang Period
  (1821 - 1850)
  Princess Kurun-Shou'en
• 

  Daoguang Period
  (1821 - 1850)
  Princess Kurun-Shou'an
• 

  Xianfeng Period
  (1851 - 1861)
  Imperial Consort Mei (R)
  Imperial Consort Chun (L)
• 

  Xianfeng Period
  (1851 - 1861)
  Imperial Consort Xin
• 

  Tongzhi Period
  (1862 - 1874)
  Empress Dowager Ci'an
• 

  Tongzhi Period
  (1862 - 1874)
  Empress Dowager Cixi
• 

  Guangxu Period
  (1875 - 1908)
  Empress Dowager Cixi (R)
  Empress Longyu (M)
  Imperial Consort Jin (L)
• 

  Guangxu Period
  (1875 - 1908)
  Lady Heseri
• 

  Guangxu Period
  (1875 - 1908)
  Lady Aixingioro Hengfu
• 

  Guangxu Period
  (1875 - 1908)
  Lady Aixingioro Hengxiang
• 

  Republican Period
  (1913 - 1949)
  Empress Xiaoke
  (a.k.a. Wanrong)
• 

  Republican Period
  (1913 - 1949)
  Imperial Consort Xiang

The modernized version is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such was popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions changed, the basic cheongsam design changed too, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem of a ball gown. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.

The 1949 Communist Revolution curtailed the popularity of the cheongsam and other fashions in Shanghai, but the Shanghainese emigrants and refugees brought the fashion to Hong Kong where it has remained popular. Recently there has been a revival of the Shanghainese cheongsam in Shanghai and elsewhere in Mainland China; the Shanghainese style functions now mostly as a stylish party dress.

Modern use[link]

In the 1950s, women in the workforce in Hong Kong started to wear more functional cheongsam made of wool, twill, and other materials. Most were tailor fitted and often came with a matching jacket. The dresses were a fusion of Chinese tradition with modern styles. Cheongsam were commonly replaced by more comfortable clothing such as sweaters, jeans, business suits and skirts. Due to its restrictive nature, it is now mainly worn as formal wear for important occasions. They are sometimes worn by politicians and film artists in Taiwan and Hong Kong. They are shown in some Chinese movies such as in the 1960s film, The World of Suzie Wong, where actress Nancy Kwan made the cheongsam briefly fashionable in western culture. However, they are sometimes used as Halloween costumes in some western countries. They are also commonly seen in beauty contests, along with swim suits. Today, cheongsam are only commonly worn day-to-day for some people—restaurant hostesses and serving staff at luxury hotels, for instance—as uniform.

Some airlines in Mainland China and Taiwan have cheongsam uniforms for their women flight attendants and ground workers such as China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines. They are in a plain color, hemmed to just above the knee, with a close fitting wool suit jacket of the same color as the cheongsam. The workers wear stockings and low heeled shoes. Their working places are often air-conditioned so they remain cool.

A few primary schools and some secondary schools in Hong Kong, especially older schools established by Christian missionaries, use a plain rimmed sky blue cotton and/or dark blue velvet (for winter) cheongsam with the metal school badge right under the stand-up collar to be closed with a metal hook and eye as the official uniform for their female students. The schools which use this standard include True Light Girls' College, St. Paul's Co-educational College, Heep Yunn School, St. Stephen's Girls' College, Ying Wa Girls' School, etc. These cheongsam are usually straight, with no waist shaping, and the cheongsam hem must reach mid-thigh. The cheongsam fit closely to the neck, and the stiff collar is hooked closed, despite the tropical humid and hot weather. Although the skirts have short slits, they are too narrow to allow students to walk in long strides. The seams above the slits often split when walking and are repeatedly sewed. Many schools also require underskirts to be worn with the cheongsam. The underskirt is a white cotton full slip, hemmed slightly shorter than the cheongsam, and are slit at the sides like the cheongsam, although the slits are deeper. A white cotton undershirt is often worn underneath the cheongsam. The cheongsam's length, styling, color and sleeve length varies between schools. Many students feel it an ordeal, yet it is a visible manifestation of the strict discipline that is the hallmark of prestigious secondary schools in Hong Kong and many students and their parents like that. In summer wearing this for a school day would be sweaty and un-hygienic. Some rebellious students express their dissatisfaction with this tradition by wearing their uniform with the stand-up collar intentionally left unhooked or hemmed above their knees. The Ying Wa and True Light Schools have set questionnaires to their students about uniform reforms but not passed.^[4] But Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery ended their cheongsam uniform in 1990 after receiving student unions suggestions.^[5]

Many waitresses in Chinese restaurants over the world wear suits and skirts but some wear cheongsam. These cheongsam (referred to as qipao in China) are long, often foot-length or floor-length. They have slits high to the waist or hip, and are usually sleeveless or have only cap sleeves. They are often made of brightly colored silk or satin with rich Chinese embroidery. Some nightclub waitresses, ritual girls in ceremonies, and competitors in Chinese beauty competitions wear similar cheongsam uniforms. They may wear pantyhose but not an underskirt so walking shows their legs. These uniforms are considered too sexy for ordinary wear so they are worn and kept at work. The waitresses change into casual clothes before going home.

In the 2008 Summer Olympics, cheongsams were the uniforms for the medal bearers. They were also worn by female members of the Swedish team and of the Spanish team in the opening ceremony, with the national colors.

Similar garments[link]

The Vietnamese áo dài bears similarity to the cheongsam, as does the Tibetan national dress.

See also[link]

	China portal
	Fashion portal

• Han Chinese clothing
• Mao suit
• Changshan

References[link]

• Bai Yun, Zhongguo lao qipao- lao zhaopian lao guanggo jianzheng qipao de yanbian (The traditional qiapo of China: evidence of its [stylistic] changes in old photographs and old advertisements), Beijing: Guangming ribao chubanshe, 2006.
• Bao Mingxin and Ma Li, eds., Zhongguo qipao (China’s qipao), Shanghai: Shanghai wenhua chubanshe, 1998.
• Chang, Eileen (Zhang Ailing), “A Chronicle of Changing Clothes”, Andrew F. Jones. trans., positions: east Asia culture critique 11, 2 (Fall, 2003): 427–441.
• Clark, Hazel, The Cheongsam, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Finnane, Antonia, Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation, Columbia University Press, New York; Hurst, London, 2007. Chapter 6, "Qipao China".
• Roberts, Claire, ed., Evolution and Revolution: Chinese Dress 1700s–1900s, Sydney: Powerhouse Museum, 1997.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Qipao

• About.com entry on the qipao
• Documentary on the qipao on CCTV website
• Slideshow of a few items from the Fashion Institute of Technology's China Millennium exhibit
• Shanghai Ladies: Portrait of the "Modern Chinese Woman" Listen to two excerpts from Christina Wong's documentary and view some vintage advertising posters. (Flash/Audio, 2001)
• Tips for your Qipao (Cheong-Sam)
• Cheongsam (Qipao)

Jodie Foster
Foster in Paris at the César Awards 2011
Born	Alicia Christian Foster (1962-11-19) November 19, 1962 (age 49) Los Angeles, California, United States
Education	Bachelor's degree (magna cum laude)
Alma mater	Yale University
Occupation	Actress, Producer, Director
Years active	1966–present

Jodie Foster (born Alicia Christian Foster; November 19, 1962) is an American actress, film director, and producer.

Foster began acting in commercials at three years of age,^[1] and her first significant role came at age 13 in the 1976 film Taxi Driver as the preteen prostitute Iris, for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Also that year, she starred in the cult film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1989, for playing a rape victim in The Accused. In 1991, she starred in The Silence of the Lambs as Clarice Starling, a gifted FBI trainee, assisting in a hunt for a serial killer. This performance received international acclaim and her second Academy Award for Best Actress. She received her fourth Academy Award nomination for playing a hermit in Nell (1994). Other popular films include Bugsy Malone (1976); Freaky Friday (1976); Candleshoe (1977) Maverick (1994); Contact (1997); Panic Room (2002); Flightplan (2005); Inside Man (2006); The Brave One (2007); Nim's Island (2008) and Carnage (2011), for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

Foster's films have spanned a wide variety of genres, from family films to horror. In addition to her two Academy Awards, she has won three BAFTA Awards for two films, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a People's Choice Award, and has received two Emmy nominations.

Early life[link]

Foster was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the youngest of four children born to Evelyn Ella "Brandy" (née Almond) and Lucius Fisher Foster II. Her father, a decorated U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel turned real estate broker, came from a wealthy background and left his wife before Jodie was born.^[2] Evelyn supported Jodie by working as a film producer.^[3] Jodie has an older brother, Buddy, and two older sisters, Lucinda and Constance.^[4] After appearing as a child in several commercials, Foster made her first credited TV appearance on The Doris Day Show. Her first film role was in the 1970 television movie Menace on the Mountain, which was followed by several Disney productions.

Foster attended a French-language prep school, the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, and graduated in 1980, as the valedictorian.^[5] She frequently stayed and worked in France as a teenager, and still speaks the language fluently.^[6] She attended Yale University, and was a member of Calhoun College and Manuscript Society.^[7] She graduated magna cum laude,^[8] earning a bachelor's degree in literature in 1985. She was scheduled to graduate in 1984, but the shooting of then-President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr., in which Hinckley's fascination with Foster created unwanted adverse publicity for her,^[9] caused her to take a semester's leave of absence from Yale.^[10][11] She later gave the Class Day speech at her alma mater in 1993, and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the university in 1997.^[8]

Fluent in French, Foster has dubbed herself in French-language versions of most of her films.^[12][13] In 2004, she took a minor role in the French WWI film, A Very Long Engagement. She also understands German,^[14][15] Spanish and can converse in Italian.^[16]

^[17]

Career[link]

Child star[link]

Jodie Foster with Christopher Connelly in Paper Moon, 1974.

Foster made nearly 50 film and television appearances before she attended college. She began her career at age three as a Coppertone Girl in a television commercial and debuted as a television actress in a 1968 episode of Mayberry R.F.D.^[18] She was managed by her mother.^[19] In 1969, she appeared in an episode of Gunsmoke, where she was credited as "Jody Foster". She is also credited as "Jodi Foster" for her 1970 Daniel Boone role and credited as "Jodie Foster" for her 1970 Adam-12 role. Although not a regular on The Courtship of Eddie's Father, she appeared from time to time as Eddie's friend Joey Kelly.^[20] She made her film debut in the 1970 TV movie Menace on the Mountain and was featured as Tallulah in Bugsy Malone in 1976. As a child, Foster made a number of Disney movies, including Napoleon and Samantha (1972) and One Little Indian (1973), and she continued to star in Disney films into her early teens. On television, she appeared in an episode of The Partridge Family titled "The Eleven-Year Itch", co-starred with Christopher Connelly in the 1974 TV series Paper Moon and alongside Martin Sheen in the 1976 cult film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. As a teenager, Foster made several appearances on the French pop music circuit as a singer. Commenting on her years as a child actress, which she describes as an "actor's career", Foster has said that "it was very clear to me at a young age that I had to fight for my life and that if I didn't, my life would get gobbled up and taken away from me."^[21] She hosted Saturday Night Live at age 14, making her the youngest person to host at that time until Drew Barrymore hosted at the age of seven.^{[citation needed]} She also said,

I think all of us when we look back on our childhood, we always think of it as somebody else. It's just a completely different place. But I was lucky to be around in the '70s and to really be making movies in the '70s with some great filmmakers – the most exciting time, for me, in American Cinema. I learned a lot from some very interesting artists – and I learned a lot about the business at a young age, because, for whatever reason, I was paying attention; so it was kind of invaluable in my career.^[22]

Foster made her debut (and only official) musical recordings in France in 1977: two seven-inch singles, "Je T'attends Depuis la Nuit des Temps" b/w "La Vie C'est Chouette"^[23] and "When I Looked at Your Face" backed with "La Vie C'est Chouette". The A-side of the former is sung in French, the A-side of the latter in English. The B-side of both is mostly spoken word and is performed in both French and English. These three recordings were included on the soundtrack to Foster's 1977 French film Moi, fleur bleue.

Foster starred in three films in 1976: Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone, and Freaky Friday. She was nominated for the Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Taxi Driver. She won two British Academy Film Awards in 1977: the BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performances in Bugsy Malone opposite Scott Baio and Taxi Driver opposite Robert De Niro. She received a nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Freaky Friday. As a teenager, she also starred in the Disney adventure Candleshoe (1977) and the coming-of-age drama Foxes (1980).

Target of fan obsession[link]

John Hinckley, Jr., became obsessed with Foster after watching Taxi Driver a number of times,^[24][25] and stalked her while she attended Yale, sending her love letters to her campus mail box and even talking to her on the phone. On March 30, 1981, he attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan (shooting and wounding Reagan and three others) and claimed his motive was to impress Foster, then a Yale freshman. The media stormed the Yale campus in April "like a cavalry invasion," and followed Foster relentlessly.^[26][27]

Another man, Edward Richardson, followed Foster around Yale and planned to shoot her, but decided against it because she "was too pretty."^[28] This all caused intense discomfort to Foster and reporters have constantly been warned in advance not to bring up the subject in front of her, as she has been known to walk out of interviews if Hinckley's name is even mentioned.^[28] In 1991, Foster canceled an interview with NBC's Today Show when she discovered Hinckley would be mentioned in the introduction.^[28] Foster's only public reactions to this were a press conference afterwards and an article titled "Why Me?" that she wrote for Esquire in December 1982. In that article she wrote that returning to work on the film Svengali with Peter O'Toole "made me fall in love with acting again"^[29] after the assassination attempt had shaken her confidence. In 1999, she discussed the experience with Charlie Rose of 60 Minutes II.^[30]

Adult career[link]

At the 61st Academy Awards Governor's Ball, March 29, 1989.

Unlike other child stars such as Shirley Temple or Tatum O'Neal, Foster successfully made the transition to adult roles, but it was not without initial difficulty, as several of the films in her early adult career were financially unsuccessful. These included The Hotel New Hampshire,^[31] Five Corners,^[32] and Stealing Home.^[33] She had to audition for her role in The Accused. She won the part and the first of her two Golden Globes and Academy Awards and a nomination for a BAFTA Award as Best Actress for her role as a rape survivor. She starred as FBI trainee Clarice Starling in the 1991 thriller The Silence of the Lambs, for which she won her second Academy Award and Golden Globe, and won her first BAFTA Award for Best Actress. This is the film for which Foster has won the most awards. This "sleeper" film marked a breakthrough in her career, grossing nearly $273 million in theaters^[34] and becoming her first blockbuster.^[35]

Foster made her directorial debut in 1991, with Little Man Tate, a critically acclaimed^[36] drama about a child prodigy, in which she also co-starred as the child's mother. She also directed Home for the Holidays (1995), a black comedy starring Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr.^[22] In 1992, Foster founded a production company called Egg Pictures in Los Angeles. It primarily produced independent films for distribution by other companies until it was closed in 2001. Foster said that she did not have the ambition to produce "big mainstream popcorn" movies and, as a child, independent films had made her more interested in the movie business than mainstream ones.^[22] She played Laurel Sommersby in Sommersby opposite Richard Gere, who would comment that "She's very much a close-up actress, because her thoughts are clear."^[37]

Foster starred in two films in 1994, first in the hugely successful western spoof Maverick^[38] and later in Nell, in which she starred as an isolated woman who speaks an invented language and must return to civilization. Her performance earned her nominations for her fourth Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and an MTV Movie Award, and won her a Screen Actors Guild Award and a People's Choice Award. In 1996, Women in Film awarded her the Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.^[39] In the same year, Foster was awarded with the Berlinale Camera award at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.^[40]

In 1997, she starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the science-fiction movie Contact, based on the novel by scientist Carl Sagan. She portrayed a scientist searching for extraterrestrial life in the SETI project. She commented on the script that "I have to have some acute personal connection with the material. And that's pretty hard for me to find."^{[citation needed]} Contact was her first sci-fi film, and her first experience with a bluescreen. She commented, "Blue walls, blue roof. It was just blue, blue, blue. And I was rotated on a lazy Susan with the camera moving on a computerized arm. It was really tough."^[41]

The film was another commercial success^[42] and earned Foster nominations for numerous awards, including a Golden Globe. In 1998, an asteroid, 17744 Jodiefoster, was named in her honor.^[43] In 1999, she starred in the non-musical remake of The King and I titled Anna and the King, which became an international commercial success.^[44]

Foster at the 62nd Academy Awards ceremonies in 1990.

In 2002, Foster took over the lead role in the thriller Panic Room after Nicole Kidman dropped out due to a previous injury.^[45] The film costarred Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam and Kristen Stewart and was directed by David Fincher. It grossed over $30 million in its opening weekend in the United States, Foster's biggest box office opening success of her career so far.^[22] She then performed in the French-language film Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement) (2004), speaking French fluently throughout. She returned to English-language films with the 2005 thriller Flightplan, which opened once again in the top position at the U.S. box office and was a worldwide hit.^[46] She portrayed a woman whose daughter disappears on an airplane that her character, an engineer, helped to design.^[47]

In 2006, Foster co-starred in Inside Man, a thriller directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, which again opened at the top of the U.S. box office and became another international hit.^[48] In 2007, she starred in The Brave One directed by Neil Jordan and co-starring Terrence Howard, another urban thriller that opened at No.1 at the U.S. box office.^[49] Her performance in the film earned her a sixth Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination and another People's Choice nomination, for Favorite Female Action Star. Commenting on her latest roles, she has said she enjoys appearing in mainstream genre films that have a "real heart to them."^[50]

In 2008, Foster starred in Nim's Island alongside Gerard Butler and Abigail Breslin, portraying a reclusive writer who is contacted by a young girl after her father goes missing at sea. The film was the first comedy that Foster has starred in since Maverick in 1994, and was also a commercial success.^[51]

Foster was set to direct, as well as reunite with actor Robert De Niro, for the film Sugarland; however, the film was shelved indefinitely in 2007. Foster is developing a biographical film of Leni Riefenstahl. She directs and stars opposite her Maverick co-star Mel Gibson in a black comedy titled The Beaver, out in April 2011.^[52]

Foster provided her voice for Maggie in a tetralogy episode of The Simpsons titled "Four Great Women and a Manicure."^[53]

In March 2011, Foster said she planned to direct a family-oriented science-fiction thriller. At that point, she said, the project remained in the scripting stage.^[54]

Personal life[link]

Foster has two older sisters, Lucinda "Cindy" Foster (b. 1954) and Constance "Connie" Foster (b. 1955), and an older brother, Lucius Fisher "Buddy" Foster^[55] (b. 1957). During the filming of both Taxi Driver and The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Connie was her stand-in. Buddy Foster had his own career for several years appearing in regular spots on television shows such as Hondo and Mayberry, R.F.D. Foster and her brother have been estranged for many years. In 1997, he wrote a book titled Foster Child in which he stated, "I have always assumed Jodie was gay or bisexual."^[55] In the book, he writes that she was conceived in her father's office three years after their parents divorced, when their mother went to him for child support. He also claims that her name was changed from "Alicia" to "Jodie" because it was a code "Jo D" for their mother's partner, Josephina Dominguez. Jodie Foster called the book "[a] cheap cry for attention and money filled with hazy recollections, fantasies and borrowed press releases. Buddy has done nothing but break our mother's heart his whole life."^[56]

Foster has two sons: Charles "Charlie" Foster (b. July 20, 1998) and Christopher "Kit" Foster (b. September 29, 2001).^[57] Foster gave birth to both children, but has not revealed the identity of the children's father(s) or the method(s) by which they were conceived.^[58]

Foster is intensely private about certain aspects of her personal life, notably her sexual orientation, which has been the subject of speculation.^[59] In December 2007, she made headlines when, during an acceptance speech at Hollywood Reporter's "Women in Entertainment" event, she paid tribute to film producer Cydney Bernard,^[60] referring to her as "my beautiful Cydney, who sticks with me through the rotten and the bliss." Some media interpreted this as Foster coming out, as Bernard was believed to be her girlfriend since the two had met in 1992, during the filming of Sommersby.^[60][61][62] Foster and Bernard never attended premieres or award ceremonies together, nor did they ever appear to be affectionate with each other, though Bernard has been seen in public with Foster's children on many occasions. On May 15, 2008, several news outlets reported that Foster and Bernard had "called it quits."^[63][64]

Foster is an atheist ^[65] and does not follow any "traditional religion." She has discussed the god of the gaps.^[66][67] Foster has "great respect for all religions" and spends "a lot of time studying divine texts, whether it's Eastern religion or Western religion."^[37][68] She and her children celebrate both Christmas and Hannukah.^[69] Some sources claim that Foster is a member of Mensa,^[70][71] but Foster stated that she is not a member during an interview on Italian TV network RAI.^[72]

Filmography[link]

References[link]