<p id=”par-1_68″><a href=”https://cheatsheet.com/tag/gunsmoke”><em>Gunsmoke</em></a><em> </em>welcomed plenty of guest stars during its 20-season run from 1955 to 1975. Bette Davis, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Dern, and Angie Dickinson were among the notable actors who paid a visit to Dodge City over the years. Future Oscar-winner Jodie Foster is also on the list of actors who did <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/gunsmoke-had-some-famous-star-trek-stars-appear.html/”>time on <em>Gunsmoke</em></a><em>. </em>She appeared several times on the show, including a memorable Christmas episode. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jodie-foster-appeared-in-the-gunsmoke-episode-p-s-murry-christmas-nbsp”>Jodie Foster appeared in the ‘Gunsmoke’ episode ‘P.S. Murry Christmas’ </h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Jodie-Foster-Amanda-Blake-Gunsmoke.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Black and white photo of a young Jodie Foster next to Amanda Blake in an episode of ‘Gunsmoke'” class=”wp-image-3751540″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Jodie Foster and Amanda Blake in the 1971 ‘Gunsmoke’ episode ‘P.S. Murry Christmas’ | CBS via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_54″>Foster started as a child model and actor in the ’60s, appearing in shows such as <em>Mayberry R.F.D. </em>and <em>Julia. </em>Later, she landed roles in <em>Bonanza</em>, <em>My Three Sons</em>, and <em>Gunsmoke</em>. She appeared in three episodes of the latter show, once in season 15 and twice in season 17, playing different characters each time. </p>
<p id=”par-3_75″>Her second <em>Gunsmoke </em>appearance came in the 1971 episode “P.S. Murry Christmas.” At the time, she was about nine years old. In the episode, several children living at an orphanage run by a mean-spirited headmistress escape via train with the help of a caretaker. But they only make it as far as Dodge City. The children have never had a proper Christmas celebration, so <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/amanda-blakes-favorite-gunsmoke-moment-enough-make-producer-cry.html/”>Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake)</a> gives the orphans a holiday to remember. </p>
<p id=”par-4_39″>Foster played one of the orphans, a girl named Patricia. Erin Moran, who later starred in <em>Happy Days</em>, played another orphan named Jenny. Todd Lookinland, the brother of <em>The Brady Bunch </em>star Mike Lookinland, also appeared in the episode. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-taxi-driver-star-didn-t-think-she-d-have-an-acting-career-as-an-adult-nbsp”>The ‘Taxi Driver’ star didn’t think she’d have an acting career as an adult </h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Jodie-Foster-in-Bugsy-Malone.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Young Jodie Foster, dressed in 1920s fashion, standing between John Cassisi and Scott Baio in ‘Bugsy Malone'” class=”wp-image-3751541″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>John Cassisi, Jodie Foster, and Scott Baio in ‘Bugsy Malone’ | LMPC via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-5_79″>Not long after her stint on <em>Gunsmoke</em>, Foster began to land more significant roles in movies such as <em>Tom Sawyer </em>and Martin Scorsese’s <em>Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. </em>In 1976, she played a child prostitute in <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/martin-scorsese-scared-actor-away-taxi-driver-casting-robert-de-niro.html/”><em>Taxi Driver</em></a><em>, </em>which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also starred in <em>Freaky Friday</em>, <em>Bugsy Malone</em>, and <em>The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane</em>.<em> </em>Despite her success, Foster didn’t believe she’d have a lasting career as an actor.</p>
<p id=”par-6_51″>“I never thought I’d be an actor when I grew up, and my mom was quite clear about that,” the two-time Oscar winner said during a <em>True Detective</em> Q&A in Los Angeles on Dec. 5 (via <a href=”https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jodie-foster-thought-her-acting-career-would-be-over-at-18-i-never-thought-id-be-an-actor-when-i-grew-up-200348632.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Yahoo!</a>). “She would always say, ‘So are you gonna be a lawyer or a doctor?’”</p>
<p id=”par-7_23″>At the time, the conventional wisdom was that child actors, no matter how talented, “never grow up to be real actors,” she added. </p>
<p id=”par-8_87″>Foster enrolled at Yale University, where she studied literature. But she also continued to act, eventually proving that she had what it took to make it as an adult in the business. She earned praise (and an Academy Award) for her role as a rape survivor in <em>The Accused </em>and a second Oscar for <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jodie-foster-doesnt-regret-turning-down-silence-lambs-sequel-hannibal.html/”><em>The Silence of the Lambs</em></a>. In 2024, she was nominated again for <em>Nyad </em>and starred in HBO’s <em>True Detective: Night Country</em>. It’s not where she thought she would be in her early sixties.</p>
<p id=”par-9_44″>“[My mother] would always say that my career would be over by the time I was 18,” Foster, now 62, said. “When I went to college, I just expected that would be the end of everything and then I’d have to figure everything out.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_16″><em>For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to </em><a href=”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWmTM34h0-P7FcCwuA6h6sw/videos” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”><em>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel</em></a><em>.</em></p>