Actor, director and producer Jodie Foster will receive the Cecil B. De Mille Award for lifetime achievement at the 70th Golden Globe Awards on January 13th from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

Selected by the HFPA board, the 49-year-old is the youngest recipient of the honour since Charlton Heston in 1967. During her long career, Foster has been recognised several times by the HFPA, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for The Accused in 1989 and again for The Silence of the Lambs in 1992; and receiving 5 Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy for Freaky Friday in 1977,  and for the top Drama award in 1995 for Nell, in 1998 for Contact, for The Brave One in 2008 and in the comedy category for last year’s Carnage.

Foster began her acting career at 3 in commercials, but her breakthrough role in film came at 13 in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, which garnered her critical acclaim and multiple accolades, including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Since then, Foster has appeared in more than 40 films, winning a multitude of awards, including two Oscars.

In 1991, the Hollywood star veered into directing, making her debut with the highly acclaimed Little Man Tate, followed soon afterwards by Home for the Holidays. But it took her another 15 years to make her third feature, The Beaver, which starred Mel Gibson and was released in 2011.

The Cecil B. De Mille Award will be presented to Foster at the 70th Annual Golden Globe® Awards on Sunday, January 13, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The Cecil B. De Mille Award, which was announced this morning at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills by actors Kristen Stewart and Simon Baker, is given annually by the HFPA to individuals who have made an impact on the world of entertainment. Last year the award was bestowed on Morgan Freeman. Previous honorees include Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, Frank Sinatra, Steven Spielberg, Sophia Loren and Harrison Ford.