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Jamie Foxx biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Jamie Foxx
  • OCCUPATION: Actor
  • BIRTH DATE: December 13, 1967 (Age: 45)
  • EDUCATION: Terrell High School, U.S. International University
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Terrell, New Jersey
  • Originally: Eric Morlon Bishop
  • Full Name: Jamie Foxx
  • ZODIAC SIGN: Sagittarius

Best Known For

A talented singer, comedian, and actor, Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx has proved to be a triple threat in the entertainment industry.

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Synopsis

Born Eric Morlon Bishop on December 13, 1967, in Terrell, Texas, Jamie Foxx has emerged as one of the most diversely talented entertainers of his generation. Foxx started out landing a spot on the TV's In Living Color in the early 1990s. He then proved himself as a dramatic actor, appearing in Ray in 2004, a role that earned him an Academy Award. Two years later,

Foxx impressed music fans with his hit collabration with Kanye West for the song "Gold Digger." More recently, he starred in Quentin Tarantino's western Django Unchained (2012).

Early Life

A talented singer, comedian, and actor, Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx has proved to be a triple threat in the entertainment industry. After his parents' marriage dissolved, Foxx was adopted by his maternal grandparents when he was less than a year old. He enjoyed sports and music as a child, and attended Terrell High School in his hometown.

After receiving a scholarship, Foxx enrolled at the U.S. International University in San Diego where he majored in music. It was during college that he was encouraged by friends to take the open mike one night at a comedy club, and his career in entertainment began.

In Living Color

Leaving college, Foxx moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy. In 1991, he was hired as a regular cast member on the Fox variety show In Living Color. Foxx also explored his interest in music during the 1990s, releasing the album Peep This, in 1994. With its traditional, smooth R&B sound, the album reached as high as No. 12 on the R&B and hip-hop charts with the single, "Infatuation," attracting some attention from listeners and radio stations.

That same year, Foxx left In Living Color, but he soon returned to television. Because of his huge popularity on the show, the network gave him his own series, The Jamie Foxx Show, in 1996. Foxx played a struggling Los Angeles actor who lived in a hotel owned by his aunt and uncle. During the show's five years on the air, his character had an on-again, off-again relationship with the front desk clerk played by Garcelle Beauvais.

Big Screen Debut

By the time the show ended in 2001, Foxx was beginning to be viewed a talented dramatic actor. This was due in large part to his performance in the sports drama Any Given Sunday (1999). Playing football star Willie Beamen, Foxx showed incredible range in his performance and held his own against one of film's greats Al Pacino. His next notable film role was in Michael Mann's Ali, followed by two powerful performances in 2004: opposite Tom Cruise in the thriller Collateral and starring in the eagerly anticipated biopic Ray. Foxx earned both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe award for his authentic turn as Ray Charles.

Following Ray, Foxx took an interesting array of roles with mixed results. The military action film Stealth (2005) with Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel was a critical and financial dud.

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