Jodie Foster Takes Home Pudding Pot

Dodging a barrage of crowd-pleasing insults to her alma mater Yale University, actor Jodie Foster accepted a gold "Pudding Pot" during the Hasty Pudding Theatrical's Woman of the Year celebration yesterday.

"I have a place of honor where my Oscar sits that I think the pot would look good...in my bathroom, right next to the tub," said Foster in a press conference after the ceremony.

The student theatrical group has honored female celebrities with its Woman of the Year parade and award since 1939.

Foster joins recent honorees Diane Keaton (1991), Glenn Close (1990) and Kathleen Turner (1989). The troup will present its Man of the Year award to Michael Douglas next week.

Hasty Pudding officials said they chose Foster in part because of her relative youth. Foster is 29years old.

"She's an incredibly interesting person for college kids to meet since she is so close to our age," said Hasty Pudding Theatrical Vice-President Bart St. Clair '93 before the parade.

During the award presentation, Foster bantered onstage with St. Clair and a tuxedoed Pudding President Richard M. Claflin '92 before an enthusiastic audience.

They began with a trip down memory lane, tracing her path from a sunbaked toddler in Coppertonecommercials to her current status as a "diverse"actress.

"Yale helped her learn how to play a diverseset of roles," said Claflin.

"Take that tough slutty prostitute in TaxiDriver," said St. Clair.

"Or that sort of tough slutty character inHotel New Hampshire," interrupted Claflin.

"Or that tough slutty character in BugsyMalone," said St. Clair.

Foster received a bachelors degree inliterature from Yale.

St. Clair and Claflin described her educationin less than flattering tones, jokingly callingthe New Haven institution a "finishing school."

But they congratulated Foster for overcomingher past. "Despite her sketchy post-high schoolacademic career, she made the leap to actress fromchild star," Claflin said.

Wearing a light tweed suit and clutching afluorescent bouquet of flowers, Foster admittedher academic sins.

"Thank you for allowing a Yalie thisprivilege," she said, laughing.

Since graduating from Yale Foster has won andOscar for Best Actress for her 1988 portrayal ofthe raped cocktail waitress in The Accused.In 1976, she was nominated for an Oscar for herdepiction of a child prostitute in TaxiDriver.

She is currently being considered for an Oscarfor Silence of the Lambs, in which sheplayed a federal investigator who enlists the aidof Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter to track down aserial murderer.

St. Clair and Claflin refrained from culinaryjokes but could not stop themselves from givingfashion tips. Staging a "this is Your Life"segment, Claflin and St. Clair ushered in a figurefrom Foster's past.

'Waiting Offstage'

"The one person in the world you'd like toshare your woman of the Year experience with iswaiting offstage," said Claflin.

Foster looked perplexed and squinted into thewings. "She's your height, has your hair color,and your eyes," St. Clair hinted.

"It's not Michelle Pfieffer, is it?" askedFoster.

"No!" said St. Clair triumphantly, as Claflinwheeled in a dressmaker's dummy sporting apink-purple polyester suit and a floppy white hatof Taxi Driver vintage. "From 1975, it'sMiss Jodie Foster," he said.

Foster, an amateur kickboxer, obliginglypummeled her past self after requests from St.Clair and Calflin.

During a press conference held after the awardceremony, Foster spoke more seriously about heridentity as a young female actor.

"I think if there's one thing I'm role modelishabout it's that I'm human," she said. "I makemistakes, I'm kind of like everyone else."

Strong Women's Roles

Speaking crisply and assertively Foster saidthat she is trying to use her current standing inthe movie industry to promote "honest" screenplaysand strong roles for women.

"Feminism," she said, "is the best form ofhumanism that I know of."

The award ceremony followed a parade featuringthe Harvard Band, the Harvard Cheerleaders and acaravan of waving students.

Hasty Pudding actors, garbed in fetchingdresses, escorted Foster in an aged LincolnContinental convertible past the watching crowd

"Yale helped her learn how to play a diverseset of roles," said Claflin.

"Take that tough slutty prostitute in TaxiDriver," said St. Clair.

"Or that sort of tough slutty character inHotel New Hampshire," interrupted Claflin.

"Or that tough slutty character in BugsyMalone," said St. Clair.

Foster received a bachelors degree inliterature from Yale.

St. Clair and Claflin described her educationin less than flattering tones, jokingly callingthe New Haven institution a "finishing school."

But they congratulated Foster for overcomingher past. "Despite her sketchy post-high schoolacademic career, she made the leap to actress fromchild star," Claflin said.

Wearing a light tweed suit and clutching afluorescent bouquet of flowers, Foster admittedher academic sins.

"Thank you for allowing a Yalie thisprivilege," she said, laughing.

Since graduating from Yale Foster has won andOscar for Best Actress for her 1988 portrayal ofthe raped cocktail waitress in The Accused.In 1976, she was nominated for an Oscar for herdepiction of a child prostitute in TaxiDriver.

She is currently being considered for an Oscarfor Silence of the Lambs, in which sheplayed a federal investigator who enlists the aidof Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter to track down aserial murderer.

St. Clair and Claflin refrained from culinaryjokes but could not stop themselves from givingfashion tips. Staging a "this is Your Life"segment, Claflin and St. Clair ushered in a figurefrom Foster's past.

'Waiting Offstage'

"The one person in the world you'd like toshare your woman of the Year experience with iswaiting offstage," said Claflin.

Foster looked perplexed and squinted into thewings. "She's your height, has your hair color,and your eyes," St. Clair hinted.

"It's not Michelle Pfieffer, is it?" askedFoster.

"No!" said St. Clair triumphantly, as Claflinwheeled in a dressmaker's dummy sporting apink-purple polyester suit and a floppy white hatof Taxi Driver vintage. "From 1975, it'sMiss Jodie Foster," he said.

Foster, an amateur kickboxer, obliginglypummeled her past self after requests from St.Clair and Calflin.

During a press conference held after the awardceremony, Foster spoke more seriously about heridentity as a young female actor.

"I think if there's one thing I'm role modelishabout it's that I'm human," she said. "I makemistakes, I'm kind of like everyone else."

Strong Women's Roles

Speaking crisply and assertively Foster saidthat she is trying to use her current standing inthe movie industry to promote "honest" screenplaysand strong roles for women.

"Feminism," she said, "is the best form ofhumanism that I know of."

The award ceremony followed a parade featuringthe Harvard Band, the Harvard Cheerleaders and acaravan of waving students.

Hasty Pudding actors, garbed in fetchingdresses, escorted Foster in an aged LincolnContinental convertible past the watching crowd