Bio
Jamie Foxx is an American R&B singer, pianist, comedian and actor who won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor for his eponymous performance in Ray, a biopic about the life of the late musician Ray Charles.
On television he is best known for starring in his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show, playing Jamie King, an actor trying to make it big in Los Angeles while working at his relative's hotel, from 1996-2001.
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 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 (1999).
However, in 1989, his life changed when a girl friend challenged him to get up onstage at the Comedy Club. He says he took his androgynous stage name because he learned that women got preference for mic time on open stage nights.
That led to his being cast in Roc (1991) and In Living Color (1990) and ultimately to his own network TV series.
He has a daughter, Corrine, born in 1995, who lives with her mother.