Jamie's mother, Louise, was an adopted child. When her marriage to his father failed, his grandparents, Mark and Estelle Talley, stepped in and, at age 7 months, adopted him too. He says he had a very rigid upbringing that placed him in the Boy Scouts and the church choir. During high school, he played quarterback for his high school team and was good enough that he got press in Dallas newspapers. He studied music in college. He released a music album in 1994, "Peep This" and sings the theme song for his 1999 movie, Any Given Sunday. However, in 1989, his life changed when a girl friend challenged him to get up onstage at the Comedy Club. In fact, he says he took his androgynous stage name because he learned that women got preference for mike time on open stage nights. That led to his being cast in Roc and In Living Color and ultimately to his own WB network TV series. He has a daughter, Corrine, born in 1995, who lives with her mother.
Miami Vice (2006): $10,000,000
First man of the millennium to host Saturday Night Live. [January 8, 2000] Was a football quarterback in high school. He started as a stand up comedian. Auditioned for the Cuba Gooding Jr. role in Jerry Maguire. Had the role of Slim in The Wood, but had to drop out when he got the role of Willie Beamen in Any Given Sunday. February 2004 - Pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace in a plea deal involving previous charges of battery against a New Orleans policeman in a casino last April. He received two years probation and a $1500 fine. Attended Juilliard where he studied classical piano. His piano lessons started at the age of three at his grandmother's insistence. His top five favorite songs are "Do Me, Baby" by Prince, "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye, "Always and Forever" by Heatwave, "It's All About the Benjamins" by Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs and "Lady" by 'Lionel Richie' . Attended United States International University (currently known as Alliant International University) from 1986 to 1988. As a second grader, he was so talented in telling jokes that his teacher used him as a reward. If the class behaved, Foxx would tell them jokes. In Ray, he wore prosthetic eyelids which made him virtually blind. Went to the United States International University in San Diego after graduation on a music scholarship. Is the first person to have been nominated for three acting awards at the Golden Globes in the same year. He said that Richard Pryor is his idol in comedy, Denzel Washington is his idol in acting, and that Steve Hardin is his idol in music. His three Golden Globe nominations were announced on his 37th birthday. Started out as a stand-up comedian, often doing imitations of former president Ronald Reagan. On January 25th, 2005, he became one of the elite ten thespians to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for their achievements in two different movies. The other nine are Fay Bainter, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter and Julianne Moore. Is only the second male in history to receive two acting Oscar nominations in the same year for two different movies. The first male to do so was Al Pacino. First African American to be nominated for two Oscars in the same year. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, he performed "Georgia on my Mind" with Alicia Keys as a tribute to Ray Charles, whom he portrayed in Ray the previous year and became good friends with him before he passed away. As of January 25th, 2005, he became the sixth actor nominated for playing a pianist. The first to be nominated (and win) was F. Murray Abraham, who beat out co-star Tom Hulce for the Best Actor Oscar in _Amadeus (1984)_ . The second to be nominated was Holly Hunter who won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as a mute pianist in _Piano, The (1993)_ . Geoffrey Rush won the Best Actor Oscar for his work in Shine. And in 2002, Adrien Brody won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The Pianist. And now, Jamie Foxx is nominated for his performance as the legendary musician Ray Charles in the hit biopic Ray. His Oscar win for Ray along with Morgan Freeman's win for Million Dollar Baby, was the second time two African-Americans won Oscars in the same year. The first was in 2002 when Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Training Day and Halle Berry won Best Actress for Monster's Ball. He and Holly Hunter have both won Oscars for playing pianists - and for playing the piano themselves in their respective roles. In 1993, the same year that Hunter won Best Actress, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Firm in which she appeared opposite Tom Cruise. In 2004, Foxx was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Collateral, also opposite Tom Cruise. Cousin Michael Bishop starred at quarterback for Kansas State University in the mid-1990s and currently plays for the Arena Football League's Grand Rapids Rampage. Only one of a few actors to win the quadruple award crown during motion picture award season. Foxx won a Golden Globe, the SAG Award, the BAFTA Award and topped it off with the Oscar. Was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine in 2005 Is a Miami Heat fan. Invited to join AMPAS in 2005. His 10-year-old daughter accompanied him to the Oscars in 2005. Second actor to win an Academy Award for "Best Actor" and to have had a #1 billboard single ("Gold digger" by Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx). The first actor to do so was Bing Crosby. To play Ray Charles from the years 1949 to 1979 for the movie _Ray (2004/I)' , he dropped over 30lbs in weight, going from 189lbs to 157lbs. Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was suggested in the Worst Actor category for his performance in the film Stealth, however, he failed to receive a nomination. During 2005, he was nominated 9 times for both Best Actor in Ray and Best Supporting Actor in Collateral. 8 out of those 9 times, he won Best Actor for Ray and lost for Best Supporting Actor for Collateral. Idolizes R. Kelly and attributes his musical stylings, as well as personal style, to his influence. His performance as Ray Charles in Ray is ranked #31 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). In 2006, a region of his Unpredictable Tour ad campaigns were by filmmaker, Shane Stanley. Ray, which he played the titled role in, is ranked #99 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time (2006). Is one of only five performers to have both a Billboard #1 single and an Oscar for acting. The others are Barbra Streisand, Cher, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. His "SSG Sykes" character in Jarhead ironically took place the same time (during the Gulf War of 1990) as his In Living Color stint. Jamie Foxx's "Ray" was often the signature, real-life celebrity satired on his In Living Color series during Ray Charles' 1992 Diet Pepsi advertisements. When Jamie Foxx sings "What I'd Say" for Ray, he recites almost the same backup refrain in Kanye West's "Gold Digger". While performing as a stand-up comedian, changed his last name to Foxx after one of his favorite comics Redd Foxx and changed his first name to Jamie because it could be a girls name as well. In comedy clubs, female comics often perform before the male comics so when a club manager read his name on the list, he would often be moved up on the list of performers. Named one of People Magazine's "Hottest Bachelors" in 2006. His picked his last name as a tribute to Redd Foxx.