Clarice M. Starling is a fictional character and protagonist of the novels The Silence of the Lambs (1988) and Hannibal (1999) by Thomas Harris. In the 1991 film adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs, she was played by Jodie Foster, while in the 2001 film adaptation of Hannibal, she was played by Julianne Moore. In the CBS television series Clarice, she is played by Rebecca Breeds. Clarice Starling, as portrayed by Foster, is ranked by the American Film Institute as the greatest heroine in film history. Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly ranked Starling as one of the "50 Greatest Movie Protagonists" and "100 Greatest Movie Characters" respectively. Foster's interpretation of Starling is highly ranked amongst the greatest screen performances of all-time, receiving a multitude of accolades including the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1992. The Silence of the Lambs In The Silence of the Lambs, Starling is a student at the FBI Academy. Her mentor, Behavioral Sciences Unit chief Jack Crawford, sends her to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. He is housed in a Baltimore mental institution. Upon arriving at the asylum for her first interview with Lecter, the asylum manager Frederick Chilton makes a crude pass at her, which she rebuffs; this helps her bond with Lecter, who despises Chilton. "Multiple" Miggs, the inmate in the cell next to Lecter, throws his semen at her; this offends Lecter, who "influences" Miggs to commit suicide as a way of apologizing to her. As time passes, Lecter gives Starling information about Buffalo Bill, a currently active serial killer being hunted by the FBI, but only in exchange for personal information, which Crawford had specifically warned her to keep secret from Lecter. Starling tells Lecter that she was raised in a small town in West Virginia by her father, a night marshal. When she was a young child, her father was shot when responding to a robbery; he died a month after the incident. Her mother managed to keep the family together for more than two years after his death, working as a motel maid in the daytime and cooking at a café at night, but she was ultimately unable to support the entire family. When Starling was 10 years old, she was sent to live with her mother's cousin on a Montana sheep and horse ranch, but she ran away when she witnessed