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Despite her exposure to the entertainment industry from birth, Curtis didn’t necessarily want to be an actress from a young age. In fact, she wanted to become a police officer!

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Regardless of the circumstances, Curtis was cast in the lead role and joined her mother on the list of history’s most adored scream queens.

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Her father was Tony Curtis, a famed actor of Hollywood’s Golden Age, known for starring in movies like ‘Some Like it Hot’ (1959) opposite Marilyn Monroe. Her mother, Janet Leigh, was best known for starring in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ (1960).

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Jame Lee Curtis was born in Los Angeles on November 22, 1958. Her family were already well-established members of Hollywood’s royalty.

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As Curtis puts it, “My lack of any school success I made up for in personality. I was a jokester from a very young age.” Having grown up around showbiz people, she instinctively knew how to entertain.

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In an interview with The New Yorker, Curtis shared that she grew up with gray teeth because her mother took tetracycline while she was pregnant. The antibiotic was discovered to cause teeth staining in babies in utero and is no longer prescribed to pregnant women.

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In 2022, Curtis took on a less stylish but no less iconic role in the movie ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Her brilliant performance as ill-tempered IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre earned her her first Oscar nomination and award at the age of 64. “It is the thrill of my life, professionally. It is, because it never was something I thought would ever happen," she said.

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The first ‘Halloween’ movie came out in 1978 and was followed by numerous sequels throughout the ‘80s,‘90s, and early 2000s. The series even returned for two final sequels in 2018 and 2021.

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One of Curtis’ more recent hits was the 2019 murder mystery ‘Knives Out.’ Curtis plays Linda Drysdale, whose whole look was inspired by her friend; Patti Röckenwagner. Curtis sent a photo of Röckenwagner wearing a “head-to-toe raspberry-sorbet blouse and trouser” to the movie’s costume designer and said, “That’s Linda Drysdale.”

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She picked up her first Golden Globe in 1990 for her performance in the TV comedy series ‘Anything But Love,’ co-starring Richard Lewis. In 1995, she won her second award, this time for her performance in the movie ‘True Lies’ (1994).

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Sadly, Guest never called her! Although sometime later, she spotted him in a restaurant and they waved to each other. The next day, he called her, and the rest is history. They got married in December 1984 and have been together ever since.

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There’s definitely a nerdy streak in the family! Curtis has always loved getting dressed up, and Ruby and her partner got married in full cosplay attire in 2022. Ruby introduced her mom to games like World of Warcraft and Street Fighter when she was younger, and Curtis is now a huge fan. She frequently attends Comic-Con and similar events.

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Curtis and Guest adopted two children. Their daughter Annie (right) was born in 1986, and their daughter Ruby (left) was born in 1996. Ruby came out as transgender in 2020, and she and Curtis have spoken openly about the beauty and challenges they have experienced through that transition.

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In 1983, Curtis began to show her range by appearing in the comedy ‘Trading Places’ with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. It was a major hit at the box office, and she was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance.

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Despite her personal fears, Curtis went on to star in several other horror movies including ‘The Fog’ in 1980, which also featured her mother, Janet Leigh.

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Curtis auditioned for the starring role in the horror movie ‘Halloween’ in 1977. It came down to her and one other actress, and she believes that her family's status must have given her a leg up. “If you’re going to choose between this one and this one, choose the one whose mother was in ‘Psycho,’ because it will get some press for you. I’m never going to pretend that I just got that on my own."

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Curtis says that she was popular because she was fun and outgoing (and a cheerleader), but her school years were still a nightmare. She believes she would be diagnosed with a learning disability today.

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Curtis briefly attended the University of the Pacific in California in 1976 before getting her first acting roles. In fact, she left college after signing a contract with Universal Studios.

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However, Curtis struggled in school and didn’t have the grades to pass the entrance exam. She moved high schools three times in four years due to her academic issues.

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Curtis was one of the last actors of the 20th century to be part of the outdated studio contract system, which allowed studios to pay actors a set weekly wage regardless of how profitable their movies or TV shows were. This was standard during the Golden Age of Hollywood, but had been phased out through the 1950s and 1960s.

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In addition to her illustrious acting career, Curtis started her own production company along with her mother, Janet Leigh, and sister, Kelly Curtis, in 1981. They called it Generation Productions.

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Guest inherited the title of Baron Haden-Guest from his British father (pictured) following his death in 1996, which means that Curtis is technically the Baroness Haden-Guest! The couple prefer not to use their titles.

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Curtis entered recovery in 1999 and has been sober ever since. She decided to be candid about her experiences in the hope that one of her articles would have the same effect on someone that Chiarella’s had on her. She has become one of Hollywood’s most outspoken advocates for sobriety and recovery.

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Throughout her recovery journey, Curtis has been supported by her husband and two children. She met Christopher Guest in 1984, after first randomly pointing him out in a magazine that spring and telling her friend she was going to marry him! She discovered that Guest was signed with the same agency and asked them to pass her number on to him.

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Curtis abused Vicodin and alcohol for the following decade. For a while, she was terrified of the stigma and saw her addiction as a weakness that could be exploited if anyone ever found out. However, in 1999, she saw an article by writer Tom Chiarella in which he outed himself as a Vicodin addict. She was so deeply affected by his honesty and the discovery that she was not alone that she decided to seek treatment.

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Christopher Guest is a British-American screenwriter, director, musician, and actor best known for creating and starring in his mockumentary-style comedies like ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ (1984) and ‘Best in Show’ (2000).

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After the movie was complete, she immediately went and had cosmetic surgery on her eyes to look younger. While she was recovering from the procedure she was prescribed Vicodin, a strong opioid painkiller to which she became addicted.

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As her career progressed into her thirties, Curtis became acutely aware of the severe beauty standards applied to actresses. When she was working on the movie ‘Perfect’ (1985) at age 35, a famous cameraman said he wouldn’t shoot her one day. Curtis says her face was puffy that day and she felt mortified.

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One fact about Jamie Lee Curtis that few could have guessed is that she actually hates horror movies! Curtis has said on countless occasions that she hates being scared and is easily spooked.

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Curtis has certainly had a long and fascinating career. She summarized it rather bluntly while marveling over her Oscar nomination: “I’m 64 years old. I’ve been an actor since I was 19. I made horror films and sold yogurt that makes you sh**. I never thought I would hear my name at the Oscars.” From Activia commercials to Oscar-winning movies, Curtis brings her uniquely energetic and joyful spirit to the screen every time.

See also: Stars open up about ageism

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Curtis has also authored many best-selling children’s books. She released her first book in 1994, and in 1998 her book ‘Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day’ made The New York Times best-seller list for 10 weeks. She has continued to publish a new book every few years since then.

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Curtis picked up the Best Supporting Actress SAG Award for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and in two of her speeches that night she joked about being a product of nepotism.

“I got my SAG card when I was 19 years old, when I signed a seven-year contract to Universal Studios and starred in an ABC TV series called the ‘Operation Petticoat,’ which was based on the movie that my father, Tony Curtis—nepo baby!— starred in,” Curtis said as the audience laughed. She recalled being fired from the TV show after a year and thinking her life was over, “But the good news is that if I hadn’t been fired from ‘Operation Petticoat,’ I would have never had the opportunity to audition for a little tiny, no-budget horror movie called ‘Halloween,'" which of course became one of the biggest horror franchises in history.

In her acceptance speech for her first SAG Award, Curtis added, “I know you look at me and think, well, ‘Nepo baby. That’s why she’s there.’ And I totally get it. But the truth of the matter is, I’m 64 years old and this is just amazing.” It's a nice change in Curtis's tone as she'd previously criticized New York magazine’s polarizing nepo baby article, claiming it was "designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt."

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Jamie Lee Curtis is one of those special people in Hollywood who doesn't take herself too seriously. She grew up as Hollywood royalty surrounded by legends from the entertainment industry, at ease on film sets and red carpets. This has allowed her to be more outspoken and honest than most actors, as she's not afraid of being blacklisted. When she isn't gatecrashing her friends' red carpet interviews and cracking jokes, she's lifting the lid on issues that impact the people in her community, like substance abuse and the impossible beauty standards forced upon women in the spotlight.

Her exceptional career is in its fifth decade and shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, she received her first ever Oscar, winning Best Supporting Actress for the film 'Everything Everywhere All at Once,' in 2023 at the age of 64!

"I know it looks like I’m standing up here by myself but I am not, I am hundreds of people. I’m hundreds of people," she said in her acceptance speech. The film swept at the awards, with Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan also winning Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively, along with winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It's surely a peak of Curtis's career, and she added in her speech, “To all the people who have supported the genre movies that I’ve made for these years, the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people, we just won an Oscar together!”

Ready to discover more? Click through this gallery to learn all about the hilarious and wholehearted Jamie Lee Curtis.