Which actress won the Academy Award twice before she was thirty years old?

Winning a single Academy Award for Best Actress is a monumental achievement, but to do so twice before the age of thirty is a truly rare distinction. The actress who accomplished this feat is Jodie Foster. She first won the coveted Oscar in 1989 for her harrowing portrayal of a sexual assault survivor (Review) in "The Accused." At the time of the ceremony, she was only 26 years old.

Just three years later, at the age of 29, Foster secured her second Oscar for what would become her most iconic role: the determined FBI trainee Clarice Starling in the 1991 thriller "The Silence of the Lambs." This second win solidified her status as one of the most respected actors of her generation.

Foster's success was not sudden. Her immense talent had been recognized by the Academy years earlier when she received her first nomination at just 14 years old for her performance in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver." Her ability to successfully transition from a highly acclaimed child actor into a celebrated adult star, all while taking on incredibly complex and emotionally demanding roles, places her in a very elite category of performers.