Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx (born
Eric Marlon Bishop on
December 13,
1967 in
Terrell, Texas), is an
American Oscar-winning
actor,
Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling
R&B singer, and
comedian in the early
1990s. He won the 2004
Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in
Ray, a biopic about the life of the late musician
Ray Charles.
Foxx started his career as a comedian. He changed his name from Eric to "Jamie Foxx" in order to get more opportunities to perform at
comedy clubs (since he had noticed that unknown female comedians had an easier time getting booked than unknown men did, he opted for a gender-neutral alias), and he became known for his appearances on comedic TV series such as
In Living Color (during the third season) and
Def Comedy Jam.
In Living Color launched the careers of a number of comedians, including
Jim Carrey and the
Wayans brothers. When the show ended, Foxx was given his own show,
The Jamie Foxx Show, in which he played an aspiring actor who came from Texas to work in his Aunt and Uncle's hotel. His love interest was the beautiful but reluctant Fancy and his rival was white-wash Braxton Hartnabrigg, the show produced 100 episodes from 1996-2001 and still runs in syndication. Foxx's film debut came in
Toys (
1992) with
Robin Williams.
Foxx had many guest roles in movies such as in Toys, the Truth About Cats and Dogs, Booty Call, and The Players Club. His first prominent dramatic role came in
1999 when
Oliver Stone cast him as the flashy, bull-headed,star
quarterback Willie Beaman in the
football-based film
Any Given Sunday. He then starred in the movies
Bait and
Held Up. He then would star in
Ali as Drew Brown and a date book editor in
Breakin' All the Rules along side Gabrielle Union. He would then receive critical acclaim, and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, for his role in the 2004 action film
Collateral, where he played an ordinary cab driver who was hired for a night by a hitman (
Tom Cruise) on a killing spree.
Foxx's portrayal of
Ray Charles in the
2004 film
Ray earned him an
Academy Award for Best Actor. This made him only the third
African-American male actor to win the award (the others being
Sidney Poitier and
Denzel Washington). He also received a nomination for
Best Supporting Actor for
Collateral, making him only the tenth person to have been nominated for both acting categories in the same year. Foxx also became the first black actor to have double nominations in one year.
In recognition of his work in 2004, Foxx received an unprecedented three
Golden Globe Award nominations in acting categories. He was nominated for his lead role in
Ray, his supporting role in
Collateral and for his portrayal of
Stanley Williams in the
television movie Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.
He also starred in the war film,
Jarhead with
Jake Gyllenhaal in 2005. Before starring in
Jarhead, Foxx played Lt. Henry Purcell in the relatively unsuccessful film
Stealth.
Foxx was seen at many
Miami Heat playoff games in the 2005 campaign. Along with
Colin Farrell, he starred in a film version of
Miami Vice. He also has two films scheduled to open in
2007 called
Damage Control and
The Kingdom.
In
2006 it was speculated that Foxx is set to play another musical icon in a biopic, late
reggae superstar
Bob Marley. However, during an interview at the BET Awards, Foxx denied that he would be portraying Marley in any film.
Jamie Foxx is also a singer and accomplished musician. He started playing piano at a young age, and later took classical piano lessons while attending college. In 1994, Foxx released an album (on the
Fox record label) entitled
Peep This, which was only mildly successful. 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", also featuring
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
Ray Charles-influenced hook, went straight to #1 on the Billboard Top 100, and remained there for 10 weeks straight. 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".
During the
2005 Grammy Awards, Foxx performed live with
Alicia Keys and
Quincy Jones singing "
Georgia on My Mind" in tribute to the late Ray Charles. Foxx received a nomination for a 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance ("Creepin").
Unpredictable is Jamie Foxx's second studio release. It sold over 598,000 copies in its first week but reached the U.S. #1 spot in its 2nd week.
After debuting in the first week at No. 2,
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 No. 9. It has since been certified silver.
Foxx became the fourth artist to have won an Academy Award for acting (for his portrayal of Charles in
Ray) and achieved a No. 1 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 BET Awards of 2006, Jamie Foxx won two awards: Best Collaboration w/
Kanye West for "Gold Digger" and Video of the Year for the same video. Kanye's video tied with
Mary J. Blige (Be Without You) for Video of the year.
In April of
2003 Foxx was involved in an incident with two
police officers who were attempting to escort him and his
sister out of
Harrah's casino in
New Orleans.
Employees claimed they had failed to show
identification upon entry. [
1] Originally charged with
trespassing,
disturbing the peace,
battery on police officers and
resisting arrest, Foxx plead
no contest to disturbing the peace in exchange for the other charges being dropped, and was sentenced to
community service.
*No relation to
Redd Foxx whose real name was John Sanford. However, Jamie used the last name Foxx as a tribute to Sanford.
*His selection for the title role in
Ray was personally approved by Ray Charles himself.
*Has a daughter that he took with him to the 2005 Academy Awards
*He had a very minor role as a soldier in
Eddie Murphy's 1988 comedy motion picture,
Coming to America.
*He claims in a comedic way that he was the person who covered
Janet Jackson's breast in a semi-nude photoshoot including his own nude photo with his genitalia covered by "Michael Jackson's" hand. The photos he presented in
MTV Icon are obviously digitally edited. The special does not repeat anymore due to the Jackson trial.
*Cousin of
Arena Football League quarterback Michael Bishop, who's also played for the
New England Patriots and
Toronto Argonauts of the
CFL.
Coming To America (
1988) (extra, name not listed in credits)
Toys (
1992)
Straight from the Foxxhole (
1993)
The Truth About Cats & Dogs (
1996)
The Great White Hype (
1996)
Unleashed (
1997)
Booty Call (
1997)
Held Up (
1999)
Any Given Sunday (
1999)
All Jokes Aside (
2000) (documentary)
Bait (
2000)
Ali (
2001)
I Might Need Security (
2002)
Shade (
2003)
Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (
2004)
Breakin' All the Rules (
2004)
Collateral (
2004) –
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION FOR BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLERay (
2004) –
ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLEStealth (
2005)
Jarhead (
2005)
Miami Vice (
2006)Upcoming:
Dreamgirls (
2006)
The Kingdom (
2007)
Damage Control (
2007)
Albums
*1995:
Peep This #78 US (sold 200,000 copies)
*2005:
Unpredictable #1 (3 weeks) US
[Certified: 2xPlatinum], #9 UK
[Certified: Silver]Singles
Solo Singles
Collaborations
Guest vocals
Album appearances
* 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)
* 2006:
T.I.,
"Live In The Sky" (from the album
King)
* 2006:
LL Cool J,
"Best Dress" (from the album
Todd Smith)
Compilation appearances
* 2005: "Creepin'" (from
So Amazing)
*
Jamie Foxx Official Site*
Jamie Foxx Official UK Site*
Jamie Foxx Fan - Fansite
*
Jamie Foxx fan site*
Jamie Foxx Online - Fansite
*
InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Jamie Foxx (TV Interview)
*
Jamie Foxx Videos on AOL Music*
Jamie Foxx lyrics*
Daily Jamie Foxx News*
Jamie Foxx to play Bob Marley in biopic*
Archived Jamie Foxx online ad for 'Miami Vice' in the adverlicio.us
online movie ad archive
