Jamie Lee Curtis Biography
Born: November 22, 1958
The daughter of film stars Tony_Curtis and Janet_Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis launched her film career as a "scream queen." After a nondescript supporting role on the TV series Operation_Petticoat, Curtis rose to cult stardom playing the straight-laced teenage babysitter imperiled by an unknown slasher in Halloween (1978). Upon appearing in the film's sequel and in such spookers as The_Fog (1979) and Prom_Night (1980), she seemed in danger of being limited to blood-splattered horror films. But Curtis wasn't about to be typed this early in the game: with a meaty secondary role as a prostitute -- featuring several well-publicized nude scenes -- in the big-budget comedy Trading_Places (1983), she made the transition from imperiled teen type to knowing adult with nary a hitch.
Curtis didn't exactly have a string of box-office smashes after Trading_Places, but she was always worth watching even when the films weren't. And when the good parts did come along, notably her roles in A_Fish_Called_Wanda (1988) and My_Girl (1991), she proved she was an actress of range and stature and not just another "movie star's kid." Taking a potentially humiliating role as the unknowing wife of a secret agent in the megabucks Arnold_Schwarzenegger adventure True_Lies (1994), Curtis delivered a sparkling performance, emerging as the only truly likable character in a loud and misogynistic melodrama. In 1997, she was reunited with the cast of A_Fish_Called_Wanda (Kevin_Kline, John_Cleese, and Michael_Palin) for Fierce_Creatures, another comedy farce in the same vein as Wanda. Unfortunately, the film was largely disappointing; but, the following year, Curtis rebounded with a return to familiar territory in Halloween: H2O. The slasher flick, although less than a critical favorite, proved to be popular with audiences. In 1999, Curtis again ventured into the big-budget realm with the action thriller Virus, and had a supporting role in Daddy and Them, Billy_Bob_Thornton's sophomore writing/directorial effort. She could then be seen in Drowning_Mona, a black comedy in which she played a waitress caught up in an affair with the husband of her town's most infamous dead woman.
The 2000s have brought Curtis several interesting opportunities, including a live performance at Paul McCartney's benefit for the controversial animal rights organization PETA in 2000, and a no-holds-barred photo shoot with More magazine in 2002 -- the then 44-year-old actress wanted to emphasize that even high-profile celebrities look "normal" without the help of a team of makeup artists and digital alterations. In 2001, Curtis starred alongside Oscar-winner Geoffrey_Rush and James_Bond front man Pierce_Brosnan in the espionage thriller The Tailor of Panama, and returned for a cameo appearance in Halloween:_Resurrection, which supposedly marked her final role in the Halloween franchise. Curtis would return to more family-oriented pictures in 2003's spirited Freaky_Friday with Lindsay_Lohan, which featured the forty-something actress playing a punky teen whose spirit had magically been transferred to her mother's body; the success of that film led to the curdled comedy of the critically drubbed Christmas With the Kranks.
Married to actor Christopher_Guest since 1984, Curtis became a Baroness, Lady Haden-Guest, when her husband inherited the Barony in 1996. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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