She gained fame as a “scream queen” over 40 years ago, but in the four decades since has proven her versatility in a range of genres. Award-winning activist, author and daughter of two film icons, Jamie Lee Curtis has built an impressive resume over several mediums. And 2022 was an especially wonderful year for her with an acclaimed performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” that brought her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Curtis was born in Santa Monica on November 22, 1958 to actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. After finishing school, she briefly pursued an education in law, but decided to follow in her parents’ footsteps instead. In 1977, she was given a small role in an episode of “Quincy M.E.,” followed by several more small parts and a role in the short-lived “Operation Petticoat,” based on the film which had starred her father. Then she received a part in a low-budget horror film that would change her life forever.
In 1978, Curtis made her movie debut in John Carpenter‘s now-iconic “Halloween,” and the enormous success of this film locked Curtis into the “lone survivor” role. In 1980 alone, she made three more horror films, including “The Fog” for Carpenter. However, her career would have a dramatic change again with her casting in another film that would become a classic, this one in the comedy genre.
“Trading Places” (1981) allowed Curtis to display her comedic talents as well her sensuality, veering her away from the horror queen “good girl” roles and earning her a BAFTA. After receiving great acclaim for that role, as well as for the 1988 comedy “A Fish Called Wanda” (for which she received her first Golden Globe nomination), Curtis was able to branch out and has appeared in a wide variety of movies, including drama, mystery and comedy. In 1995, she won a Golden Globe for her performance in “True Lies.” In addition, she has found equal success on television, starring on the sitcom “Anything But Love” from 1989 to 1992 (for which she won a Golden Globe in 1990) and on the satirical horror comedy “Scream Queens” from 2015 to 2016, as well having small roles on “NCIS” and “New Girl.” She has starred in numerous TV movies including “Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story” in 1981 and “Nicholas’ Gift” in 1998, for which she received a Primetime Emmy nomination.
Curtis is not only a busy actress, but has also written several children’s books and is a blogger for “The Huffington Post.” She is a political activist, often advocating for human rights. She has been involved in several philanthropic projects, including helping to finance the rebuilding of the “Great Synagogue” in Budapest, Hungary, in 1990 alongside her father.
In 1984, Curtis saw a picture of Christopher Guest from the movie “This Is Spinal Tap” and told her friend that she would one day marry him – which she did five months later on December 18, 1984, leading to a rarity in Hollywood: a long happy marriage. They have two adopted children, Annie (born in 1986) and Thomas (born in 1996). She became a baroness when Guest inherited his father’s title in 1996, but she does not use the title. In 1999, she became sober following an addiction to painkillers that started after a routine cosmetic surgical procedure a few years before. She and her son are fans of “World of Warcraft,” and she has attended Comic-Con in costume.
Over four decades in, Curtis doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon as she has many projects in the works. Tour our photo gallery featuring her 16 best movies, ranked worst to best.
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16. Fierce Creatures (1997)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image This spiritual successor to the hit “A Fish Called Wanda” wasn’t as well-received as its predecessor, but it brings together much of the original cast and is funny in its own right. Shrewd American businessman Rod McCain (Kevin Kline) purchases a failing British zoo that must turn a profit, and hires a manager (John Cleese) who decides to do away with all the animals except for the “furious creatures.” Curtis is American businesswoman Willa Weston, who joins forces with McCain’s son (also played by Kline) to take control of the zoo and use any means necessary to revoke the policy and still turn a profit. Curtis once again proves her comedic skill.
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15. Forever Young (1992)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Two young boys stumble upon and accidentally reactivate a chamber which stores Army Captain Daniel McCormick (Mel Gibson), who had volunteered to be cryonically frozen for one year in 1939. Daniel connects with one of the boys Nat (Elijah Wood) and his mother Claire (Curtis), who must overcome their disbelief in order to help Daniel find out the mystery of why he had been left frozen and what happened to the people he left behind – all before Daniel’s rapid aging catches up to him. It’s a cheesy plot, but the actors have chemistry and do well with the sentimental plot.
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14. Dominick and Eugene (1988)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Dominick (Ray Liotta) is a medical student taking care of his mentally-disabled twin brother Eugene (Tom Hulce), who works as a garbage collector to finance Dominick’s education. As the two battle dark memories of their past and conflicts in their present, Dominick’s career goals and budding romance with nurse Jennifer (Curtis) lead to uncertain futures for the close-knit brothers. The film was well-received, with praise for the cast for their poignant performances, including a Golden Globe nomination for Hulce.
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13. Roadgames (1981)
Image Credit: Courtesy of GUO Film Distributors Driving through Australia, truck driver Patrick Quid (Stacy Keach) suspects a fellow driver of killing a hitchhiker, and begins a game of cat and mouse with the driver of the green van. Young American woman Pamela (Curtis) is trying to hitch a ride, and the game is on to see if Quid can save her, or if she will become the next victim. This tense Hitchcockian-style thriller is a hidden gem in Curtis’s film catalog.
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12. Spare Parts (2015)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate Inspired by their new teacher, four Mexican-American students from an underfunded school in Arizona form a robotics club and take on the reigning champs from MIT. With little cash and mostly spare parts to use, the ragtag team turns out to be fierce competition for the bigger, financially-backed schools in this inspiring film loosely based on a true story. Curtis turns in a solid performance as Principal Karen Lowry.
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11. Blue Steel (1990)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Curtis once again plays the target for a psycho killer, but this time she’s police rookie Megan Turner, who is suspended on her first day for shooting a man who was supposedly unarmed. As she fights to regain control of her career and her life, she learns that she has become the unwitting victim to an obsessed stalker, who is playing mind games with her and causing her to be undermined at her male-dominated work. Curtis plays the tough female survivor well, and this Kathryn Bigelow-directed film provides one of her most vulnerable suspense performances.
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10. The Fog (1980)
Image Credit: Courtesy of AVCO Embassy Pictures Curtis re-teamed with “Halloween” director John Carpenter for this eerie ghost story. A mysterious fog terrorizes a community 100 years after the town’s founders sunk a ship off its coast, killing the entire crew. “The Fog” has become a cult classic, and is a great suspense film. An added bonus: Curtis’s real-life mom and star of “Psycho,” Janet Leigh, co-stars.
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9. My Girl (1991)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Curtis delivers a poignant performance as Shelly DeVoto, a divorcee who develops a relationship with undertaker Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Aykroyd) and his preteen daughter Vada (Anna Chlumsky) during the summer of 1972. With a stellar cast and a fantastic soundtrack, “My Girl” makes you laugh and makes you cry, and is possibly Curtis’s sweetest performance.
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8. Halloween (2018)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Although there had been nine sequels in the franchise already, three of which included Curtis, the writers opted to make this “Halloween” a direct sequel from the original and ignore all the in-between. In this telling, Michael Myers escapes from his institution 40 years after his killing spree, and sets out to terrorize the lone survivor, Laurie Strode (Curtis), who has suffered severe post traumatic stress over the four decades. But this time Laurie is ready for him and will do whatever it takes to protect her family. This film was well received both critically and commercially, marking the second-best October opening ever, and the best-ever opening for a film starring an actress over 55-years-old. Curtis was praised for her performance, and there is much anticipation for two sequels coming in 2021 and 2022.
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7. Freaky Friday (2003)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Tess (Curtis) is a widowed mother of two who is about to remarry, which is causing strife with her teenage daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan). During an argument, a mysterious fortune cookie causes them to exchange bodies. As a “teenager trapped in mom’s body,” Anna gives her new body a complete makeover and causes upheaval in Tess’s well-ordered life. Curtis is hysterical playing the teenager trapped in her mom’s body, earning her sixth Golden Globe nomination.
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6. Knives Out (2019)
Image Credit: Claire Folger Curtis is part of a large ensemble in this stylish whodunit. Wealthy mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) seemingly commits suicide; however, an anonymous person pays famed PI Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to investigate. Curtis is excellent as his daughter Linda, one of the dysfunctional family members waiting to get their hands on Thrombey’s fortune. The ensemble, which also includes Chris Evans, Toni Collette and Don Johnson, won several critics’ awards, including the National Board of Review, and the film landed on several Top Ten lists.
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5. Trading Places (1983)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures Wealthy and greedy Mortimer brothers (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) make a wager and conduct a social experiment: they concoct a scheme in which Louis Winthrope (Dan Aykroyd), the managing director of their brokerage firm, and Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy), a street hustler, exchange places. As Winthrope’s life spirals out of control as a result, he is befriended by kind-hearted prostitute Opheilia (Curtis), who helps him. Curtis had been pigeon-holed into the “scream queen” category when she was offered the part of Ophelia, and proved herself to be an equally adept comedienne, earning her first Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA win.
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4. True Lies (1994)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Bored housewife Helen Tasker is looking for excitement when she discovers – in the most hilarious of circumstances – that her boring husband Harry (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is actually a secret government agent. Helen transforms from a nervous, self-doubting woman into an alluring, self-assured partner to her husband in a wild adventure that she never expected. Full of action and comedy, “True Lies” was a hit and won Curtis her second Golden Globe.
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3. Halloween (1978)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Compass International Pictures This classic John Carpenter horror film launched Curtis’s career and established her as an iconic “scream queen,” as well as spawning eleven sequels and leading to the popularity of slasher films in the ensuing years. Curtis is the vulnerable Laurie Strode, the “good girl” high schooler terrorized by the murderous Michael Myers while she’s babysitting. As the lone survivor of his killing spree, Laurie would appear in four of the sequels, and Curtis became the go-to girl for 80s slasher flicks. As great as she is in her comedic roles, this is the film that made her a star and cemented her place in film history.
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2. A Fish Called Wanda (1989)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer In London, gangster George Thomason (Tom Georgeson), his righthand man Ken Pile (Michael Palin), weapons expert Otto West (Kevin Kline) and sultry con artist Wanda Gershwitz (Curtis) band together to pull off a heist that nets them a stash of diamonds. After they hide the diamonds, they all double-cross each other, with Wanda pulling George’s lawyer Archie Leach (John Cleese) into the fray by seducing him for information. Considered by many to be Curtis’s finest performance, she plays the alluring and conniving Wanda perfectly, netting her first Golden Globe and second BAFTA nominations.
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1. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Image Credit: A24 Curtis doesn’t hold back as sassy IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre in this mind-bending film. It’s also a transformative role, turning the very attractive actress into someone who is not very (from the clothes, to the hair, to everything). And she steals virtually any scene from a cast of Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and more. The role brought her an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.
