Foxx, Jamie 1967–

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Jamie Foxx 1967–

Comedian, actor, singer

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In the ever-shifting, multi-media world of Hollywood entertainment, the art of juggling talents has always paid off. Comedian, actor, singer, and producer Jamie Foxx has helped to affirm this, scoring successes on the stage, the screen, on television, and in the recording studio. A dynamic and easily likable performer, Foxx has rapidly moved from obscurity to the helm of a highly rated television series for the WB network, and shows no signs of decreasing his activity. “As a comedian, as an actor, you’ve got to make things happen,” Foxx told People magazine. “I want to have a lot of things in the air,” he added.

Jamie Foxx was born Eric Bishop on December 13, 1967 to stockbroker Shaheed Abdullah and Louise Annette Talley—now surnamed Dixon through remarriage in the small town of Terrell, Texas. Foxx’s parents quickly found themselves overwhelmed by the demands of child rearing, and at the age of seven months, he was adopted by his maternal grandparents, Mark and Esther Talley. Foxx rarely saw his biological parents throughout his childhood, so he remained unaffected by their divorce when he was six years old. Fortunately, his new family, including two half sisters and a stepbrother, provided a loving, supportive environment, and his childhood was a trauma-free one.

Began Life of Entertaining

At a very young age, Foxx showed evidence of his flair for performing and entertaining. At five years old, he started piano lessons, immersing himself both in the language of music and in the often shocking experience of facing an audience-crucial skills for his future career. While performing in a talent competition at Terrell High School, his peers began to notice a magnetism to Foxx on stage. “He was singing, and the women just moved to the front to be near him,” ex-classmate Chris Barron recalled to People. Although the teenage Foxx was a standout in his local church choir who embarked on an academic pursuit of music at the U.S. International University in San Diego, California, it was comedy, not music, that gave Foxx his break.

Like many small-town celebrities in waiting, Foxx dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to enter directly, working from the very bottom up. With no formal experience and no connections, the

At a Glance…

Born Eric Bishop, December 13, 1967, in Terrell, TX; son of Shaheed Abdullah and Louise Annette Dixon; adopted by grandparents Mark and Esther Talley; one stepbrotherand two half-sisters.f Education: Attended Terrei High School, Terrell, TX; attended U.S. International University in San Diego, CA.

Appeared in the cast of the Fox series In LMngColor, 1991-94, and Roc, 1993-94, star of The Jamie Foxx Show, 1996-, for the WB television network; appeared in films Toys, 1992; The Truth About CatsandDogs, 1996; The CreatWhite Hype, 1996;and BooityCali, 1997;starred in HBO comedy special JamieFoxx: Straight From the Foxxhole; wrote, produced, and performed thealbum Peep This.

Awards: won Black Bay Area Comedy Competition, 1991.

struggling Foxx soon ended up peddling shoes in a Thom McAn shoe store outlet, and sat in at local comedy clubs on amateur nights in hopes of performing himself. He quickly noticed a pattern of gender in the roster of comedians which he decided to use to his advantage. As he confessed to Jet magazine, “[t]hree girls would show up and 22 guys would show up. They had to put all the girls on who were on the list to break up the monotony. “Foxx, still named Eric Bishop, began signing unisex monikers on audition lists in hopes of being taken for a woman. The ploy soon worked. On his twenty-first birthday, Foxx and his friends were attending a San Francisco nightclub, and the young comedian flooded the entry list with fabricated, ambiguous names. When the master of ceremonies called out, “Jamie Foxx... Is she here?,” Foxx responded in a resonant, masculine tone, to everyone’s surprise, and stepped to the microphone.

Broke Into Comedy

From this first comedy performance, which garnered a standing ovation from the audience, it was evident that Foxx could rely on talent, not gimmicks, to sustain a career in entertainment. Nonetheless, he retained the assumed name that had helped finagle his comedy debut, perhaps in part as an acknowledgement of a new life. “I loved my old name,” he told People. “But Eric Bishop was Clark Kent. And Jamie Foxx is Superman.” With a new name, a boosted level of confidence, and one auspicious stage outing, the newly dubbed Foxx stormed the Los Angeles comedy circuit, winning the Black Bay Area Comedy Competition in 1991, and quitting his job as a shoe clerk to perform up to seven nights per week. On stage, he began to develop a sassy, outrageous persona, as well as a repertoire of characters he would use later in his career, including “Wanda, the Ugly Woman.” In addition, his impersonations of celebrities such as fellow comedian/actor Bill Cosby and prizefighter Mike Tyson were marked by a perfect balance of mimicry and exaggeration. Foxx had elevated his entertainment with rehearsed artistry and contagious energy. And yet while he had become a hero within the Southern California comedy scene, Foxx was quickly becoming a television “Superman.”

Aspiring to expand beyond a local audience, Foxx auditioned alongside several hundred other comedians for a part in an ensemble cast of a new television comedy for the Fox television network entitled In Living Color. Foxx landed the role, and in 1991 joined the cast of the highly rated show that would last several seasons and help elevate the careers of future stars’ Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson, and the Wayans Brothers. The show followed a short sketch comedy format, with an exuberant, outrageous attitude perfect for Foxx’s style of comedy. Adapting his material for television, Foxx was able to translate his stand-up characters into favorites of television comedy, and quickly developed a nation-wide fan base. Not only was In Living Color a kindling fire for Foxx’s popularity, it also provided the growing funnyman an opportunity to hone his comic skills among his contemporaries. “Damon [Wayans] taught me the importance of having a little attitude,” he remarked to People about one of his co-stars. “And Jim [Carrey] taught me goofiness,” he added.

A Multi-media Star

In Living Color proved to be a gateway of opportunity for Foxx, catapulting him into numerous engagements in both television and film. During the show’s run, Foxx managed to portray a recurring character on the series Roc, also on the Fox network, in addition to making guest appearances on stand-up specials. In 1993, HBO invited him to create a one-man concert program, and the result was Jamie Foxx: Straight From the Foxxhole. The uncensored nature of cable television allowed him to return to the style of his earliest material, and the program fared well. Foxx even juggled his motion picture debut into his demanding television schedule, acting alongside veteran comedian Robin Williams in the family feature Toys.

By the time In Living Color ran its final season in 1994, Foxx’s resume was impressive enough to establish himself securely in the comedy world. However, in the following year Foxx took a brief vacation from comedy and made an impressive return to his performing roots--music. Still under the Fox studios banner, he released a full-length album of 12 R&B tracks, all of which he wrote, sang, and produced. The record climbed to #12 on Billboard magazine’s sales charts, and received warm reviews from music critics. Easily slipping back into the vocal training of his youth, Foxx had successfully given life to yet another branch of his career.

After a brief period of respite, Foxx plunged back into film and television with full force. In 1996, he played supporting roles in the films The Truth About Cats and Dogs and The Great White Hype, the latter gaining Foxx critical merit for his portrayal of a small-time boxing manager. But once again, it was television comedy that helped push his popularity. Moving from the Fox network to the WB (Warner Brothers) network, Foxx helped create and produce a program that was different from most of his work to date. With The Jamie Foxx Show, WB launched a family oriented situation comedy, starring a decidedly adult comedian. And yet the combination worked.

Prior to The Jamie Foxx Show, the comedian attracted backlash from critics who objected to Foxx’s sometimes shocking comic arsenal, especially for his negative discussion of women. Taking this into consideration, Foxx decided to create a show “[l]ike I Love Lucy or The Dick Van Dyke Show,” he explained to Mediaweek magazine. “They were clean and still funny. If you try to be on the edge you cut lots of people out,” he continued. His efforts were received as planned, and the series became the WB network’s highest rated series, scoring heavily among younger audiences and women. The show, in which Foxx essays the semi-autobiographical portrait of a struggling actor eking out a living as a worker at a shady hotel, is the product of a diverse creative team, made up of men and women, blacks and whites, which strives for a fresh, universal appeal. “You don’t have to be gimmicky, you don’t have to fall back on stereotypes,” Foxx told Mediaweek. “It’s not a conveyor belt. We try to handcraft the show,” he added. Alongside many programs that thrive on a barrage of sexual innuendos alone, The Jamie Foxx Show was a refreshing surprise and a marked sign of growth for its star.

Like The Jamie Foxx Show itself, Jamie Foxx seems to be reaching to please audiences in all quarters. In addition to his self-titled series, Foxx caters to a very young market by providing voices for the animated children’s program C Bear and Jamal. At the same time, he still pleases fans of his earlier, more explicit work with films like 1997’s Booty Call. Booty Call, which reunited Foxx with In Living Color co-star Tommy Davidson, was an over the top sex comedy about two failing Romeos that pulled no punches and yet never became crass or offensive. Foxx intends to release a follow-up to his music debut Peep This. As the scope of Foxx’s output grows, so does his popularity, assuring his place as one of the brightest stars of the next century.