orig. Alicia Christian Foster
born Nov. 19, 1962, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.
U.S. film actress and director.
A professional actress by age three, she continued to play child roles in family films while earning praise as a teenage prostitute in Taxi Driver (1976) and a seductive speakeasy queen in an all-child cast in Bugsy Malone (1976). As an adult she won acclaim for her nuanced performances in films such as The Accused (1988, Academy Award), The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Academy Award), Nell (1994), and Panic Room (2002). She turned to directing with Little Man Tate (1991) and Home for the Holidays (1995).