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Jamie Lee Curtis - Biography |
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Curtis was born in Los Angeles,
California, the child of well-known actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.
Jamie's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Tony
and Janet divorced in 1962 and Janet remarried to Robert Brandt. Jamie has
an older sister, Kelly Curtis, who is also an actress, and several
half-siblings (all from her father's remarriage), Alexandra, Allegra, Ben,
and Nicholas Curtis (who died in 1994 of a drug overdose).
Curtis married actor Christopher Guest on December 18, 1984, becoming Lady
Haden-Guest when her husband inherited the Barony of Haden-Guest in 1996,
upon the death of his father. The couple have two adopted children, Anne
Haden Guest (born 1986) and Thomas Haden Guest (born 1996).
Both are entitled to use the honorific The Honourable before their names,
because of a Royal Warrant dated 30 April 2004 that addressed the status
of adopted children of peers. However, the Haden-Guest title will be
inherited by Christopher Guest's heir presumptive, his younger brother,
Nicholas, since a peer's adopted children do not have succession rights.
Curtis is actor Jake Gyllenhaal's godmother.
Today, Curtis also takes time to support various philanthropic groups. She
was Guest of Honor at the 11th annual Gala and Fundraiser in 2003 for
Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit
organization offering a live-in, twelve-step program of rehabilitation for
women in need. Past Honorees of this organization have included Sir
Anthony Hopkins; the 2005 honoree was Angela Lansbury.
Curtis attended both Westlake School in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills High
School, but graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall. Returning to California
in 1976, Jamie attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton,
California. Jamie considered majoring in social work, but left after a
semester in order to pursue a life in acting.
Curtis made her first debut in the classic 1978 horror film Halloween,
playing the role of Laurie Strode, the only teenage character in the film
who is not killed. The film was a major success and was considered the
highest grossing independent film of its time, and has earned a classic
status as a horror film. Curtis was subsequently cast in several horror
films, which led to her association with the horror genre, garnering her
the title of a "scream queen". It's been stated that the filmmakers had no
clue who her parents were at the time they cast her.
In one of her most well known roles as Laurie Strode, a babysitter being
stalked by a maniac on Halloween, in HalloweenHer first follow-up to
Halloween was the horror film, The Fog, which was directed by "Halloween"
director John Carpenter. The film opened in February 1980 to mixed reviews
but strong box office, further cementing Curtis as a horror film starlet.
Her next film, Prom Night, was a low-budget Canadian slasher film and was
released in July 1980. The film, for which she earned a Genie Award
nomination for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress, was considered
similar in style to Halloween, and received negative reviews which marked
it as a disposable entry in the then active "slasher film" genre. That
year, Curtis also starred in Terror Train, which opened in October and
received a negative reaction akin to Prom Night. Both films performed only
moderately at the box office. Curtis had a similar function in both films
- playing the main character whose friends are murdered, and who is
practically the only protagonist to survive. Film critic Roger Ebert, who
had given negative reviews to all three of Curtis' 1980 films, said that
Curtis "is to the current horror film glut what Christopher Lee was to the
last one-or Boris Karloff was in the 1930s.". Curtis later appeared in
Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and Halloween: Resurrection.
Her role in 1983's Trading Places established her as more than just a
horror queen and 1988's A Fish Called Wanda achieved near cult status --
while showcasing her as a first rate comic actress. She won a Golden Globe
for her work in 1994's True Lies.
Her recent successful film roles include Disney's Freaky Friday (2003),
opposite Lindsay Lohan. The movie was filmed at Palisades High School in
Pacific Palisades, California, near where Curtis and Guest make their home
with their children. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best
Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in this movie.
In October 2006, Curtis told Access Hollywood that she has closed the book
on her acting career to focus on family. However, she has reportedly
returned to acting after she was cast in June 2007 in Disney's upcoming
live-action-animated film, South of the Border, co-starring opposite Piper
Perabo as one of two live-action characters in the film. |
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Jamie Lee Curtis - Personal Quotes |
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"I believe people are entitled
to a private life. I'm not sure where it's written that because
you're in the public eye you are required to expose your private
business, with anybody. It is nobody's business, and it's
interesting because obviously in today's marketplace people don't
abide by that. There are no boundaries that people won't
cross...We're in a bit of a "Wild West" thing with media, and, I
think, it's just kind of like no holds barred - the Internet. You
know, there are no criteria on the Internet...I've chosen a public
life to express myself, not to tell what I do with my husband in
bed, not to do, to talk about my parents and my family life. And I
just think it's wrong, and obviously it's an insaitable appetite
that people have for gossip and inuendo and things that are nobody's
business. And there's a term that they use in this called
"legitimate public concern." What is legitimate public concern? If
an elected official has an illness, that's legitimate public concern
because they're our president or elected official. We, we, we need
to know that they're healthy because we want them to live a long
life and protect, you know, the Constitution...but in the
marketplace, in the world, I don't believe it's anybody's concern.
And that's what I think." --comments made on The View, Sept. 19,
2000.
"I thought, while they're up and firm [her breasts], why not shoot
them once or twice." - on screen nudity
"I'm Laurie Strode's guardian angel."
"When I did "Sesame Street" (1969), Elmo was not the worldwide
phenomenon he is now. I understood Elmo was special, and I said that
the only way I would do Sesame Street was with Elmo. Kevin Clash,
the young man who did the voice for him, was a very sweet guy and I
predicted Elmo's meteoric rise to fame way in advance. I am a
trendsetter without knowing it. Two years later the Elmo craze
began, but I was ahead of the curve."
When asked if she regretted making any films - "Easy. There's a
piece of shit called _Virus (1999/I)_ which I made because another
movie that I was supposed to do fell through. It was a bad choice
and the movie is a piece of shit. The runner up is a movie called
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), which is this benign but still bad coming
of age movie, which is just bad. I will never, ever see those films
again. They are laughable, ludicrous movies and I'm bad in them.
They're nasty."
"Believe me, none of it works" - on cosmetic surgery
"In some circles, my Caesar salad is more famous than my body."
"My life is so filled that for me to accept acting work now means
that I have to basically let somebody else do the job that I want to
do, which is raise my children. It's not that I'm retired, it's just
that I no longer accept acting work."
"The more I like me, the less I want to pretend to be other people."
Family Circle, 4-18-06
About Madonna: "'Holiday' came on the radio the other day and I
remember where I was the first time I heard it: in West L.A. on my
way to aerobics class." (In Style magazine, Sept/2006)
"I'm not an actor anymore. I really don't imagine I'll do that
again. I'm just focused on my family and just can't imagine anything
that's going to pull me away from them right now. |
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Jamie Lee Curtis - Filmography |
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South of the Border (2008)
.... Aunt Viv
A Home for the Holidays (2005) (TV) .... TV Program Host
The Kid & I (2005) .... Jamie Lee Curtis
Molly & Roni's Dance Party (2005) (V) .... Disc jockey
Christmas with the Kranks (2004) .... Nora Krank
Freaky Friday (2003) .... Tess Coleman
Halloween: Resurrection (2002) .... Laurie Strode
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & the Island of Misfit Toys (2001)
(V) (voice) .... Queen Camilla
... aka Rudolph & the Island of Misfit Toys
Daddy and Them (2001) .... Elaine Bowen
... aka Daddy & Them (USA: DVD box title)
The Tailor of Panama (2001) .... Louisa Pendel
"Pigs Next Door" (2000) TV Series (voice) .... Clara
... aka Muca Beal Dorais (Ireland: Irish title)
Drowning Mona (2000) .... Rona Mace
Virus (1999) .... Kelly Foster
... aka Virus (France)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) .... Laurie Strode/Keri Tate
... aka Halloween: H20 (USA: promotional title)
... aka Halloween: H20 (20 Years Later) (USA: promotional title)
Nicholas' Gift (1998) (TV) .... Maggie Green
... aka Dono di Nicholas, Il (Italy)
Homegrown (1998) .... Sierra Kahan
Fierce Creatures (1997) .... Willa Weston
House Arrest (1996) .... Janet Beindorf
"The Drew Carey Show" .... Sioux (1 episode, 1996)
- Playing a Unified Field (1996) TV Episode .... Sioux
Ellen's Energy Adventure (1996) (uncredited) .... Dr. Judy Peterson
The Heidi Chronicles (1995) (TV) .... Heidi Holland
True Lies (1994) .... Helen Tasker
Mother's Boys (1994) .... Judith 'Jude' Madigan
My Girl 2 (1994) .... Shelly DeVoto Sultenfuss
Forever Young (1992) .... Claire Cooper
My Girl (1991) .... Shelly DeVoto
Queens Logic (1991) .... Grace
"Anything But Love" .... Hannah Miller (17 episodes, 1989-1992)
- Mr. Mom (1990) TV Episode .... Hannah Miller
- Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1989) TV Episode ....
Hannah Miller
- Hearts and Bones (1989) TV Episode .... Hannah Miller
- It's Better to Have Loved and Flossed (1989) TV Episode ....
Hannah Miller
- Truth or Consequences (1989) TV Episode .... Hannah Miller
(12 more)
Blue Steel (1990) .... Megan Turner
A Fish Called Wanda (1988) .... Wanda Gershwitz
Dominick and Eugene (1988) .... Jennifer Reston
... aka Nicky and Gino (UK)
Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987) .... Lynn Taylor
... aka Silent Voice
Un homme amoureux (1987) .... Susan Elliott
... aka A Man in Love (USA)
... aka Uomo innamorato, Un (Italy)
"Tall Tales and Legends" .... Annie Oakley (1 episode, 1987)
... aka Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends (USA: complete
title)
- Annie Oakley (1987) TV Episode .... Annie Oakley
As Summers Die (1986) (TV) .... Whitsey Loftin
Welcome Home (1986)
Perfect (1985) .... Jessie
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
(scenes deleted) .... Sandra Banzai - Buckaroo's Mother
... aka The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (USA: short title)
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) .... Michelle 'Mike' Cody
"Saturday Night Live" .... Host (1 episode, 1984)
... aka NBC's Saturday Night (USA: first season title)
... aka SNL (USA: informal title)
... aka SNL 25 (USA: alternative title)
... aka Saturday Night (USA: second season title)
... aka Saturday Night Live '80 (USA: sixth season title)
- Jamie Lee Curtis/The Fixx (1984) TV Episode .... Host
Love Letters (1984) .... Anna Winter
... aka My Love Letters
... aka Passion Play
Trading Places (1983) .... Ophelia
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) (voice) (uncredited) ....
Curfew Announcer/Telephone Operator
... aka The Last Halloween (Philippines: English title)
Money on the Side (1982) (TV) .... Michelle Jamison
Callahan (1982) (TV) .... Rachel Bartlett
"Fridays" .... Guest Host (1 episode, 1981)
- Episode #3.7 (1981) TV Episode .... Guest Host
Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story (1981) (TV) ....
Dorothy Stratten
Halloween II (1981) .... Laurie Strode
... aka Halloween II: The Nightmare Isn't Over! (USA: video box
title)
Escape from New York (1981) (uncredited) (voice) ....
Narrator/Computer Voice
... aka John Carpenter's Escape from New York (USA: complete title)
She's in the Army Now (1981) (TV) .... Pvt. Rita Jennings
Roadgames (1981) .... Pamela 'Hitch' Rushworth
... aka Road Games (USA)
Terror Train (1980) .... Alana Maxwell
... aka Monstre du train, Le (Canada: French title)
... aka Train of Terror
Prom Night (1980) .... Kim Hammond
The Fog (1980) .... Elizabeth Solley
... aka John Carpenter's The Fog (USA: complete title)
"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" .... Jen Burton (1 episode, 1979)
- Unchained Woman (1979) TV Episode .... Jen Burton
"The Love Boat" .... Linda (1 episode, 1978)
- Till Death Do Us Part, Maybe/Chubs/Locked Away (1978) TV Episode
.... Linda
Halloween (1978) .... Laurie Strode
... aka John Carpenter's Halloween (USA: complete title)
"Charlie's Angels" .... Linda Frey (1 episode, 1978)
- Winning Is for Losers (1978) TV Episode .... Linda Frey
"Operation Petticoat" (1977) TV Series .... Lt. Barbara Duran
(unknown episodes, 1977-1978)
Operation Petticoat (1977) (TV) .... Lt. Barbara Duran
... aka Life in the Pink (USA: reissue title)
... aka Petticoat Affair (UK)
Columbo: The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case (1977) (TV) ....
Waitress
"The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" .... Mary (1 episode, 1977)
... aka The Nancy Drew Mysteries (USA: short title)
- The Mystery of the Fallen Angels (1977) TV Episode .... Mary
"Quincy M.E." .... Girl in dressing room (1 episode, 1977)
... aka Quincy (International: English title: informal title)
- Visitors in Paradise (1977) TV Episode .... Girl in dressing room
Columbo: Forgotten Lady (1975) (TV) (uncredited) .... Grace's
daughter |
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Jamie Lee Curtis - Related Links |
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Wikipedia: Jamie Lee Curtis
YouTube: Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis at Babemania.com
Top Celebrities Sites:
The Celebrity
Cafe |
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