His first dramatic role came in Oliver Stone's 1999 film Any Given Sunday, where he was cast as a hard-partying quarterback, partly because of his own football background. Following a recurring role in the comedy-drama sitcom Roc, Foxx went on to star in his own sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show, from 1996 to 2001, and he also produced through his company Foxx Hole Productions.įoxx made his film debut in the 1992 comedy Toys. Foxx joined the cast of In Living Color in 1991, where his recurrent character Wanda also shared a name with Redd's friend and co-worker, LaWanda Page. When he found that female comedians were often called first to perform, he chose the stage name of Jamie Foxx, which he felt was ambiguous enough to disallow any biases, with his surname being a tribute to the black comedian Redd Foxx. Career 1989–2003: Beginnings and acting debutįoxx first told jokes at a comedy club's open mic night in 1989, after accepting a girlfriend's dare. After completing high school, Foxx received a scholarship to United States International University, where he studied musical and performing arts composition. He also sang in a band called Leather and Lace. His ambition was to play for the Dallas Cowboys, and he was the first player in the school's history to pass for more than 1,000 yards. Foxx attended Terrell High School, where he received top grades and played basketball and football (as quarterback). His natural talent for telling jokes was already in evidence as a third grader, when his teacher would use him as a reward: if the class behaved well, Foxx would tell them jokes. He had a strict Baptist upbringing, and as a teenager he was a part-time pianist and choir leader in Terrell's New Hope Baptist Church. įoxx began playing the piano when he was five years old. He has often acknowledged his grandmother's influence in his life as one of the greatest reasons for his success. Foxx was raised in the black quarter of Terrell, which at the time was a racially segregated community. He has had little contact with his birth parents, who were not part of his upbringing. Shortly after his birth, Foxx was adopted and raised by his mother's adoptive parents, Estelle Marie (Nelson), a domestic worker and nursery operator, and Mark Talley, a yard worker. He is the son of Darrell Bishop (renamed Shahid Abdula following his conversion to Islam), who sometimes worked as a stockbroker, and Louise Annette Talley Dixon.
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