Biography of Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author who became known as the "Scream Queen" for her iconic roles in horror films like "Halloween," "Terror Train," and "The Fog". She's been nominated for numerous prestigious film awards, winning two Saturn Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also received two Golden Globe Awards, and in 2023, she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the comedy "Everything Everywhere All at Once".
Childhood, Adolescence, Family
Jamie was born in fall 1958 in Los Angeles, the American city of dreams. Her parents were Hollywood actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, best known for films like "Houdini" (where they appeared together), "Some Like It Hot," and "Psycho." Jamie has Jewish heritage on her father's side and Danish, Scottish, Irish, and German ancestry from her mother's.
Reflecting on her parents, Curtis has said she felt differently about her mother and father:
Jamie grew up as a well-behaved girl: she was calm and sensible, never gave her parents any trouble with her grades, and did not protest when her birthday, sometimes coinciding with Thanksgiving, was celebrated a month earlier.I wasn't raised by some sophisticated, luxurious woman. My mother was kind of a country girl. But I am a woman from a privileged family. When you have a famous father, you always feel less significant and struggle to find your right to exist in this world.
Lee Curtis successfully graduated from Westlake School for Girls, where she was a cheerleader, then attended the prestigious Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, and subsequently enrolled in the School of Social Work at University of the Pacific.
Acting Career
After one semester of college, Jamie let her friend convince her to audition, hoping to land the role of teenage detective Nancy Drew. She wasn't cast in the film, but she had already decided that she would definitely become an actress. Soon after, following several auditions, she received minor roles in the series "Quincy, M.E." and "Columbo."Reflecting on that time, the actress shared:
Rising actress Jamie Lee Curtis caught the attention of John Carpenter, who was gearing up to shoot the horror film "Halloween" (1978). This low-budget thriller about psychopath Michael Myers terrorizing a small town was shot in just three weeks with no guarantee of success.I was 19, working on contract. That meant if they told you to do something, you went and did it. And I was happy. I remember shooting a scene in «Columbo» where I played a snarky waitress in a diner. A month later, a friend approached me and said she'd seen me on a late-night show—Peter Falk had been a guest and brought along a clip featuring me. I played a snarky waitress. In the script, I walked up to Columbo, who was eating a donut, looked at him reproachfully, and said, «You can't eat that here"—he handed me the donut, and then I walked away, but when I came back to take his order, he ordered a donut.
About the similarities between herself and her character, she said:My success as a horror actress comes from being easily frightened. Very easily. Look at old photos of me with my celebrity parents—you'll see sheer terror in my eyes. My reaction to any nightmarish event, to any fear, is real. In all the films, I'm not faking that feeling. But at the same time, if I'm about to face something terrible, I'm the one crawling to the front row.
In 2021, Jamie added to her filmography the science fiction action comedy "Everything Everywhere All at Once," where she brilliantly portrayed IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra. The film was nominated for several American film awards and won seven Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Lee Curtis.I think I'm a loner. And so is Laurie. She was an intellectual, always deep in thought, never kissed a boy, and then life turned her into a pinball, endlessly bouncing from wall to wall. She was doomed to solitude, to fruitless attempts to connect with others. I share that feeling.
...the entire film is a beautiful indictment of that very one percent of the wealthy. No question about it. And at the heart of the film is Ana de Armas» character, who represents the embodiment of pure love. So she's also kind of one percent—she's made entirely of pure love! So that's what the film is about for me. I was drawn to the script, it was incredible. And honestly, we rarely get scripts this good, but even more rarely do we get scripts where they tell you right away that Daniel Craig is signed on for the film.
Jamie Lee Curtis's Personal Life
The actress chose her husband once and for all. It was actor, director, screenwriter, and composer Christopher Guest, born in 1948, who is also a baron and member of the House of Lords.
Those who know Curtis well describe her as a wonderful mother and wife, a caring and hospitable homemaker. She rarely attends parties, preferring solitude and quiet.
Jamie Lee Curtis Now
Back in 2018, the actress admitted that she had developed an addiction to opioids, which her doctor had prescribed as a pain reliever after eyelid plastic surgery. Earlier this year, Jamie opened up in a brutally honest interview about her battle with addiction and how she nearly lost everything:Thankfully, those dark days are behind her, and Curtis is now buzzing with energy and future projects. In 2023, she appeared in the drama "The Bear" and the Disney fantasy "Haunted Mansion." This year, she starred in Eli Roth's action-adventure "Borderlands." Curtis delivers another vibrant supporting performance alongside lead Cate Blanchett."I was ahead of the curve of the opioid epidemic. "I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one. I'm breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family. Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment… bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children and bigger than any work, success, failure. Anything. In recovery meetings, anyone who brings up opiates, the entire room will turn and look at me, because I'll be like, 'Oh here, talk to me. I'm the opiate girl».
Interesting Facts
- While filming "Knives Out," Curtis became the unofficial set chef, constantly wowing her co-stars with her cooking. According to Don Johnson, the actress cooked them potato soup and baked cookies. Curtis explained how she'd escape the chaos by heading to the homeowner's kitchen: "...we became friends. I made croutons for her son, he'd had knee surgery and was home from college doing rehab - stuck upstairs listening to 175 people 'ransacking' his family home. So, I made a homemade salad and croutons one day. Turns out, the smell of those croutons wafted through his room and across the entire set, so I ended up making batch after batch."
- In typical Curtis fashion, she jokes about the irony of becoming Hollywood's unofficial "holiday" actress. Jamie's repertoire includes movies about Halloween, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. She quips that Valentine's Day is the only holiday she hasn't conquered yet - and she's actively hunting for the right script.
- According to best friend Sigourney Weaver, Curtis does everything either wonderfully or brilliantly. Critics and readers clearly agree - Curtis is also a bestselling author whose books fly off the shelves. Her first book was "When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth," published in 1993. After she and her husband adopted Annie, Lee Curtis wrote "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born," followed by other works such as "Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day," "Is There Really a Human Race?," "My Brave Year of Firsts," and more.