Jamie Foxx Biography
Summary
"Jamie Foxx" (born December 13 1967) is an American actor, singer, and stand-up comic. Foxx is possibly best known for his portrayal of musician Ray Charles in "Ray", and for his collaborations with director Michael Mann. With "Ray", he became one of the few African-Americans to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Jamie studied at Juilliard and San Diego's United States International University in music. Foxx received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 14 2007.
Life and career
Early life
Foxx was born "Eric Marlon Bishop" in Dallas, Texas, the son of Louise Annette Talley Dixon and Darrell Bishop, who sometimes worked as a stockbroker and changed his name to Shahid Abdula after converting to Islam. Shortly after his birth, Foxx was adopted and raised by his mother's adoptive parents, Esther Marie (née Nelson), a domestic worker and nursery operator, and Mark Talley, a yard worker. He has had little contact with his birth parents, who were not part of his upbringing. Foxx was raised in the black quarter of Terrell, at the time a racially segregated community. (In The Kingdom, Foxx makes reference to Terrell.) He had a strict Baptist upbringing. He has frequently cited his adoptive grandmother's influence on his life.
At his grandmother's urging, Foxx began piano lessons at age five. He went on to play for church groups in Terrell, and studied classical music in college. He also played football (quarterback) at Terrell High School.
Foxx changed his name while doing stand up once he found out that female comedians were often called first to perform. He felt Jamie Foxx was an ambiguous enough name to disallow any biases. His last name was chosen as a tribute to Redd Foxx.
"In Living Color"
After a small part on the TV series Roc, Foxx joined the cast of "In Living Color" in 1991. Here he won over viewers with many unusual characters and impressions, which included: ugly girl Wanda; fictitious boxer Carl 'The Tooth' Williams; and "The Dirty Dozens" champion T-Dog Jenkins. His impersonation of Garrett Morris would eventually find him starring against the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member in his sitcom, "The Jamie Foxx Show".
Characters
Ace
Carl 'The Tooth' Williams
Cornbread Turner ("Duke")
Larry
T-Dog Jenkins ("The Dirty Dozens")
Tyrone ("The Dysfunctional Home Show")
Wanda
Impressions
All impressions were on 'In Living Color' (unless otherwise noted)
Arsenio Hall
Bill Clinton (I Might Need Security)
Bill Cosby
Busta Rhymes (during an episode of The Jamie Foxx Show)
Don King
Eddie Murphy
Garrett Morris
Jaleel White
James Brown
Johnny Gill
JoJo
Lionel Richie
Stevie Wonder (when he hosted SNL)
Louis Farrakhan
Martin Luther King, Jr. (when he hosted SNL)
Martin Lawrence
Mike Tyson
Prince
R.Kelly (during an episode of "The Jamie Foxx Show")
Sean 'Diddy' Combs (when he hosted SNL)
Shaquille O'Neal
Sidney Poitier (during his Oscar acceptance speech)
Sir Mix-A-Lot
Snoop Dogg
Tito Jackson
Tony Blair (in an episode of Chappelle's Show)
Acting career
His first dramatic role came in Oliver Stone's 1999 film "Any Given Sunday", where Foxx played a heavy-partying football player. He was cast in the role in part because of his background as a football player. He has since evolved into a respected dramatic actor. Following "Any Given Sunday", Foxx was featured as taxi driver Max Durocher in the film "Collateral" alongside Tom Cruise, for which he received outstanding reviews and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His real standout performance, however, was his portrayal of Ray Charles in the biopic "Ray" (2004), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Foxx is the only second male, and the first African American, in history to receive two acting Oscar nominations in the same year for two different movies, "Collateral" and "Ray". The only other male actor to achieve this was Al Pacino. In 2005, Foxx was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 2005-06 Foxx appeared in three more movies: "Jarhead", "Miami Vice", and "Dreamgirls" which were hits at the box office and lifted Foxx even higher as a bankable star in Hollywood.
In 2007 he is working as a star of the movie "The Kingdom".
In September 2007, Foxx was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He said, upon receiving the honor, 'it was one of the most amazing days of my life'.
Music career
Foxx is a Grammy-nominated singer and accomplished musician. He began piano lessons at age five, and later took classical piano lessons while attending college. In 1994, Foxx released an album (on the FOX record label) entitled "Peep This". In 2001, he hosted the MTV "Video Music Awards".
His music career went into a higher gear when, in 2004, he was featured on rapper Twista's song, 'Slow Jamz', which also featured Kanye West. The song reached number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 Singles chart, as well as number three on the UK singles chart. Foxx's second collaboration with Kanye West, 'Gold Digger', in which he sang the 'I Got a Woman' Ray Charles-influenced hook, went straight to #1 on the "Billboard" Top 100, and remained there for 10 weeks. In 2005, Foxx was featured on the hit single 'Georgia' by Atlanta rappers Ludacris and Field Mob. The song sampled Ray Charles' hit 'Georgia on My Mind'. "Unpredictable" is Jamie Foxx's second studio release. It sold over 598,000 copies in its first week but reached the U.S. number one spot in its 2nd week.
After debuting in the first week at number two, "Unpredictable" rose to the top of the "Billboard" pop album chart, with 2nd-week sales of 200,000 copies in the United States. The album also charted in the UK top 10 album chart, peaking at number nine. It has since been certified Platinum. Foxx became the fourth artist to have won an Academy Award for acting and to have achieved a number-one record album in the US. (The other three to accomplish this feat were Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Barbra Streisand.) Foxx's first single from the album, the title track, 'Unpredictable' (featuring Ludacris) samples 'WildFlower' by New Birth. The song peaked inside the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and also made the UK top 20 singles chart. The second US single from the album was 'DJ Play A Love Song', which reunited Foxx with Twista. In the UK, however, the second single was 'Extravaganza', which saw Foxx once again collaborate with Kanye West. He was not, however, featured in the song's music video.
At the 2006 BET Awards, Foxx won two awards: Best Duet/Collaboration with Kanye West for 'Gold Digger' and Video of the Year for the same video. Kanye's video tied with Mary J. Blige's (Be Without You) for Video of the year. On December 8 2006, Foxx received a 4 Grammy nominations:
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Love Changes" feat Mary J. Blige.
Best R&B Album for "Unpredictable".
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Georgia" by Ludacris & Field Mob feat Jamie Foxx.
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Unpredictable" feat Ludacris.
On January 22 2007, Foxx was on Sirius Satellite Radio, announcing his new 'Foxxhole' channel.
Foxx recorded a song with country superstars Rascal Flatts entitled 'She Goes All The Way' for their album, 'Still Feels Good'.
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
*2005, Best Actor: "Ray"
*2005, Best Supporting Actor: "Collateral" (nominated)
American Music Awards
*2006, Favorite R&B/Soul Male Artist
*2006, Favorite R&B/Soul Album: 'Unpredictable' (nominated)
BAFTA Awards
*2005, Best Actor: "Ray"
*2005, Best Supporting Actor: "Collateral" (nominated)
BET Awards
*2007, Best Actor: "Dreamgirls" (nominated)
*2006, Best Male R&B Artist: (nominated)
*2006, Best Collaboration: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West
*2006, Best Video: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West
*2006, Best Actor: (nominated)
*2006, Best Collaboration: 'Unpredictable' with Ludacris (nominated)
*2005, Best Actor: "Ray"
*2004, Best Collaboration: 'Slow Jams' with Kanye West & Twista (nominated)
Black Movie Awards
*2006, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: "Jarhead" (nominated)
Black Reel Awards
*2007, Best Actor: "Dreamgirls" (nominated)
*2005, Best Actor (Drama): "Ray"
*2005, Best Actor (Network/Cable): "Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story"
*2005, Best Supporting Actor: "Collateral"
*2005, Best Actor (Musical/Comedy): "Breaking All the Rulez" (nominated)
*2002, Best Supporting Actor: "Ali"
*2000, Best Supporting Actor: "Any Given Sunday" (nominated)
Boston Society of Film Critics
*2004, Best Actor: "Ray"
Broadcast Film Critics
*2005, Best Actor: "Ray"
*2005, Best Supporting Actor: "Collateral" (nominated)
Florida Film Critics
*2004, Best Actor: "Ray"
Golden Globes
*2005, Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy: "Ray"
*2005, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: "Collateral" (nominated)
*2005, Best Actor in a Television/Mini-Series: "Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story" (nominated)
Image Awards
*2007, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: "Dreamgirls" (nominated)
*2006, Outstanding Male Artist
*2005, Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: "Ray"
*2005, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: "Collateral" (nominated)
*2005, Outstanding Actor in a Mini-Series/Television Movie: "Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story"
*2002, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: "Ali"
*2001, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: "The Jamie Foxx Show" (nominated)
*2000, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: "The Jamie Foxx Show" (nominated)
*1999, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: "The Jamie Foxx Show" (nominated)
*1998, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: "The Jamie Foxx Show"
Independent Spirit Awards
*2005, Best Male Lead: "Redemption: The Stan Tookie Wiliams Story" (nominated)
Kansas City Film Critics
*2005, Best Actor: "Ray"
MOBO Awards
*2006, Best R&B Act (nominated)
MTV Movie Awards
*2005, Best Male Performance: "Ray" (nominated)
*2005, Best Breakthrough Male Performance: "Any Given Sunday" (nominated)
MTV Video Music Awards
*2006, Best Hip-Hop Video: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West (nominated)
*2006, Best Ringtone: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West (nominated)
*2006, Best R&B Video: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West (nominated)
*2004, MTV2 Award: 'Slow Jams' with Twista & Kanye West (nominated)
Soul Train Awards
*2007, Best R&B/Soul Album, Male: "Unpredictable"
*2006, Best Music Video: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West
*2006, Best R&B/Soul Dance Cut: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West (nominated)
Vibe Awards
*2005, Best Collabo: 'Gold Digger' with Kanye West (nominated)
*2004, Best Collabo: 'Slow Jams' with Twista & Kanye West (nominated)
Discography
Albums
"Peep This"
*Released: July 19 1994
*Chart positions: 78 U.S.
*RIAA certification: –
*U.S. sales: –
*Worldwide sales: 200,000
"Unpredictable"
*Released: December 20 2005
*Chart positions: 1 U.S., 9 UK
*RIAA certification: 2x Platinum
*Worldwide sales: 3 million
"Man's Intuition"
*Release: April 29 2008
*Chart positions: TBA
*RIAA certification:TBA
*Worldwide sales: TBA
*Singles: Love Won't Let You Down (featuring Timbaland)
Guest vocals
Album appearances
1998: Adina Howard, 'T-Shirt and My Panties On' (from the album "Woo: Music From The Motion Picture")
2002: Busta Rhymes, 'Pass the Courvoisier' (from the album "Genesis")
2003: MC Lyte, 'Where Home Is' (from the album "Da Undaground Heat, Vol. 1")
2004: Twista, 'Slow Jamz' (from the album "Kamikaze")
2005: 50 Cent, 'Build You Up' (from the album "The Massacre")
2005: Kanye West, 'Gold Digger' (from the album "Late Registration")
2005: Twista, 'When I Get You Home' (from the album "The Day After")
2005: DTP, 'Georgia' (from the album "Disturbing tha Peace")
2005: Loon, 'No I Ain't Gangsta" (from the album "Loon")
2006: T.I., 'Live In the Sky' (from the album "King")
2006: LL Cool J, 'Best Dress' (from the album "Todd Smith")
2006: Diddy, 'Partners For Life' (from the album "Press Play")
2006: The Game, 'Around The World' (from the album "Doctor's Advocate")
2006: Snoop Dogg, 'Psst!!' (from the album "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment")
2007: Rascal Flatts, 'She Goes All The Way' (from the album "Still Feels Good")
Compilation appearances
2005: 'Creepin" (from "So Amazing")
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Jamie Foxx.
