Jamie Lee Curtis
Curtis in June 2010
Born	(1958-11-22) November 22, 1958 (age 53) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress Author Blogger
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Christopher Guest (1984–present)

Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night, and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many genres, and has won BAFTA and Golden Globe awards. Her 1998 book, Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day, made the best-seller list in The New York Times. Curtis has appeared in advertisements, and is a blogger for The Huffington Post online newspaper. She is married to actor, screenwriter, and director Christopher Guest.

Early life[link]

Curtis was born in Santa Monica, California, to actor Tony Curtis and actress Janet Leigh. Her paternal grandparents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants^[1] and two of her maternal great-grandparents were Danish.^[2] Curtis's parents divorced in 1962, after which her mother married Robert Brandt. Curtis has an older sister, Kelly Curtis, who is also an actress, and several half-siblings (all from her father's remarriages), Alexandra, Allegra, Ben, and Nicholas Curtis (who died in 1994 of a drug overdose).^[3] Curtis attended Westlake School in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills High School, and graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall. Returning to California in 1976, she attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. She considered majoring in social work, but quit after one semester to pursue an acting career.

Career[link]

Film[link]

Curtis's film debut occurred in the 1978 horror film Halloween, in which she played the role of Laurie Strode. The film was a major success and was considered the highest grossing independent film of its time, earning accolades as a classic horror film. Curtis was subsequently cast in several horror films, garnering her the title, "scream queen".

Her next film was the horror film The Fog, which was helmed by Halloween director John Carpenter. The film opened in February 1980 to mixed reviews but strong box office,^[4] further cementing Curtis as a horror film starlet. Her next film, Prom Night, was a low-budget Canadian slasher film released in July 1980. The film, for which she earned a Genie Award nomination for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress, was similar in style to Halloween, yet received negative reviews which marked it as a disposable entry in the then-popular "slasher film" genre. That year, Curtis also starred in Terror Train, which opened in October and was met with negative reviews akin to Prom Night. Both films performed only moderately well at the box office.^[5] Curtis had a similar function in both films - the main character whose friends are murdered, and is practically the only protagonist to survive. Film critic Roger Ebert, who had given negative reviews to all three of Curtis' 1980 films, said that Curtis "is to the current horror film glut what Christopher Lee was to the last one-or Boris Karloff was in the 1930s".^[6] Curtis later appeared in Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and Halloween: Resurrection, as well as giving an uncredited voice role in Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

Her role in 1983's Trading Places helped Curtis shed her horror queen image, and garnered her a BAFTA award as best supporting actress.^[7] 1988's A Fish Called Wanda achieved near cult status – while showcasing her as a comedic actress; she was nominated for a BAFTA as best leading actress.^[7] She won a Golden Globe for her work in 1994's True Lies. Her recent film roles include Disney's Freaky Friday (2003), opposite Lindsay Lohan, filmed at Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, California, near where Curtis and Guest live with their children. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for this film.^[8]

In October 2006, Curtis told Access Hollywood that she had closed the book on her acting career to focus on her family. She returned to acting after being cast in June 2007 in Disney's live-action-animated film, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, co-starring opposite Piper Perabo as one of three live-action characters in the film. She also starred in the 2010 comedy film You Again, opposite Kristen Bell and Sigourney Weaver.^[9]

Television[link]

Curtis made her television debut in an episode of Columbo, but her first starring TV role was opposite Richard Lewis in the situation comedy Anything But Love, which ran for four seasons from 1989 through 1992. Her performance as Hannah Miller received both a Golden Globe and People's Choice Award. She appeared as nurse Lt. Duran in the short-lived television series, Operation Petticoat; based on the big-screen version which starred her real-life father.

She starred in the 1981 TV film, Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story, playing the part of the eponymous doomed Playmate. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work in TNT's adaptation of the Wendy Wasserstein play The Heidi Chronicles. More recently, Curtis starred in the CBS television movie Nicholas' Gift, for which she received an Emmy nomination. Curtis also appeared in the science fiction series, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and an early episode of The Drew Carey Show. Jamie Lee Curtis was a game-show panelist on several episodes of Match Game.

In 2012, she appeared in three episodes of the television series NCIS, playing the role of Dr. Samantha Ryan, a potential romantic interest of Special Agent Gibbs. It has been hinted that her role may be a recurring one. During an interview, she openly said that if they could develop a story line that she would be more than happy to be on the show more.^[10] If the role is made recurring, it will be at least the second time Harmon has worked with Curtis; he played her fiancée and later husband in the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday ^[11]

Children's books[link]

Working with illustrator Laura Cornell, Curtis has written a number of children's books,^[12] all published by HarperCollins Children's Books.^[13]

• When I Was Little: A Four-Year Old's Memoir of Her Youth, 1993.
• Tell Me Again About The Night I was Born, 1996.
• Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day, 1998; listed on the New York Times best-seller list for 10 weeks.^[14]
• Where Do Balloons Go?: An Uplifting Mystery, 2000.
• I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem, 2002.
• It's Hard to Be Five: Learning How to Work My Control Panel, 2004.
• Is There Really a Human Race?, 2006.
• Big Words for Little People, ISBN 978-0-06-112759-5, 2008.
• My Friend Jay, 2009, edition of one, presented to Jay Leno
• My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story, 2010.

Invention[link]

In 1987, Curtis filed a US patent application that subsequently issued as Patent No. 4,753,647. This is a modification of a diaper with a moisture proof pocket containing wipes that can be taken out and used with one hand.^[15] Curtis refused to allow her invention to be marketed until companies started selling biodegradable diapers,^[16] although the full statutory term of this patent expired February 20, 2007 and is now in the public domain.

Humanitarian and political causes[link]

In March 2012, Curtis was featured with Martin Sheen and Brad Pitt in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as Sandy Stier.^[17] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.^[18][19]

Personal life[link]

Curtis married actor Christopher Guest on December 18, 1984, becoming Lady Haden-Guest when her husband inherited the Barony of Haden-Guest in 1996, upon the death of his father. The couple have two adopted children (Annie, b. 1986; Thomas b. 1996).^[20] Curtis is actor Jake Gyllenhaal's godmother.^[21]

On her website, Curtis tells her young readers that she "moonlights as an actor, photographer, and closet organizer."^[12] She takes time to support various philanthropic groups. Curtis was Guest of Honor at the 11th annual Gala and Fundraiser in 2003 for Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization offering a live-in, twelve-step program of rehabilitation for women in need. Past honorees of this organization include Sir Anthony Hopkins and Angela Lansbury. Curtis is also involved in the work of the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, serving as the annual host for the organization's "Dream Halloween" event in Los Angeles, launched every year in October.^[22][23]

Curtis appeared on the cover of the May/June 2008 issue of AARP Magazine, with gray hair and in water up to her chest.^[24]

Curtis was an alcoholic who was once addicted to pain killers that she began using after a routine cosmetic surgical procedure. She became sober in 1999^[25] and maintains that recovery is the greatest achievement of her life.^[26]

Curtis has appeared in advertisements for Activia since 2007,^[27] and is a blogger for The Huffington Post online newspaper.^[28] During California's 2008 General Election, Curtis appeared in the "YES on Prop 3" TV advertisements.^[29]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jamie Lee Curtis

Wikinews has related news: Jamie Lee Curtis quits acting

• Official website for Jamie Lee Curtis & Laura Cornell books
• Jamie Lee Curtis at the Internet Movie Database
• Jamie Lee Curtis interview

Lee Curtis and the All-Stars were a British beat group from Liverpool, who were contemporaries and (briefly) local rivals of The Beatles in the early 1960s. Led by Pete Flannery, who used the stage name Lee Curtis, other group members included Pete Best and Wayne Bickerton.

Career[link]

Their origins lay in the Detours, a group formed in 1961 by school friends in Liverpool including lead singer Peter Flannery, who adopted a stage name derived from the American singer Curtis Lee. Although they performed regularly in the Liverpool and North Wales areas, Lee Curtis and the Detours split up after a few months. Flannery and his brother and manager Joe, who had previously worked as a singer with the Joe Loss Orchestra, decided to form a new group, to be called Lee Curtis and the All-Stars.^[1]

In mid 1962 they recruited band members from other local groups. Original members were Frank Bowen (lead guitar), Tony Waddington (rhythm guitar), Wayne Bickerton (bass), and Bernie Rogers (drums). However, when Pete Best was sacked by the Beatles, the Flannery brothers - apparently encouraged by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein - decided to dispense with Rogers and install Best as the group's drummer.^[2][3] They also occasionally performed with singer Beryl Marsden. By the end of 1962, the group were one of the most successful in the area, and placed second in the Mersey Beat annual poll, behind the Beatles but ahead of Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Searchers, and other groups who later became nationally and internationally renowned. Lee Curtis and the All-Stars were signed by Decca Records, and released two singles in early 1963, "Little Girl" and "Let's Stomp". However, neither made the charts, and in mid 1963 the rest of the band decided to split from Curtis to form The Original All-Stars. That group later became the Pete Best Four, and several years later Bickerton and Waddington moved on to become the writers and producers behind The Rubettes.^[2]

Curtis formed a new version of the All-Stars in 1963, with Paul Pilnick (lead guitar), George "Porky" Peckham (rhythm guitar - in later years a renowned record cutting engineer), Dave "Mushy" Cooper (bass), and Don Alcyd (drums). The new line-up recorded a single "I've Got My Eyes On You", contributed two tracks to the Decca album, Live at the Cavern, and played in clubs in Hamburg, but split up soon afterwards.^[4] However, Curtis continued to build up his popularity on the club circuit in Germany, and had a year-long residency at the Star-Club. He also recorded regularly in Germany, although the line-up of his backing group, the All-Stars, changed repeatedly.^[2]

Towards the end of 1967, he was a passenger in a car which crashed while he was on the way to a performance in Germany, and he suffered head injuries. After a few further performances, he decided to leave the music business and returned home to Liverpool.^[5]

In later years, Lee Curtis worked as a croupier and at the Ford motor works at Halewood, occasionally returning to live performance in Liverpool and Germany.^[5]

References[link]

John Travolta
John Travolta in 2007
Born	John Joseph Travolta (1954-02-18) February 18, 1954 (age 58) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Residence	Jumbolair subdivision; Ocala, Florida
Occupation	Actor, singer, dancer, producer, writer
Years active	1969–present
Religion	Roman Catholic (until 1975) Scientologist (1975-present)
Spouse	Kelly Preston (1991–present)
Children	Jett Travolta (1992–2009) Ella Bleu Travolta (b. 2000) Benjamin Travolta (b. 2010)
Website
http://www.travolta.com

John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor, dancer, and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Travolta's acting career declined in the early 1980s and continued to deteriorate for the rest of the decade. His career enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s with his role in Pulp Fiction, and he has since continued starring in Hollywood films, including Face/Off, Ladder 49, and Wild Hogs. Travolta was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in Get Shorty.

Early life[link]

Travolta, the youngest of six children,^[1] was born and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, an inner-ring suburb of New York City. His father, Salvatore Travolta (November 1912 – May 1995),^[2] was a semi-professional American football player turned tire salesman and partner in a tire company.^[3] His mother, Helen Cecilia (née Burke, January 1912 – December 1978),^[2] was an actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama and English teacher.^[4] His siblings, Joey, Ellen, Ann, Margaret, and Sam Travolta, have all acted.^[4] His father was a second-generation Italian American and his mother was Irish American;^[5][6] he grew up in an Irish-American neighborhood and has said that his household was predominantly Irish in culture.^[7][8] He was raised Roman Catholic, but converted to Scientology in 1975.^[6][9]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

After attending Dwight Morrow High School,^[10] Travolta moved across the Hudson River to New York City and landed a role in the touring company of the musical Grease and on Broadway in Over Here!, singing the Sherman Brothers' song "Dream Drummin'".^[11][12] He then moved to Los Angeles to further his career in show business.

Travolta's first California-filmed television role was as a fall victim in, Emergency! (S2E2), in September 1972,^[13] but his first significant movie role was as Billy Nolan, a bully who was goaded into playing a prank on Sissy Spacek's character in the horror film, Carrie (1976).^[14] Around the same time, he landed his star-making role as Vinnie Barbarino in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979), in which his sister, Ellen, also occasionally appeared (as Arnold Horshack's mother).^[15] The show aired on ABC.

1970s stardom[link]

Travolta in 1983

Around this time, Travolta had a hit single entitled "Let Her In", peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[16][17] In the next few years, he appeared in two of his most noted screen roles: Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and as Danny Zuko in Grease (1978).^[4] The films were among the most commercially successful pictures of the decade and catapulted Travolta to international stardom.^[18] Saturday Night Fever earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.^[19] At age 24, Travolta became one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.^[20] His mother and his sister Ann appeared as extras in Saturday Night Fever and his sister Ellen appeared as a waitress in Grease. Travolta performed several of the songs on the Grease soundtrack album.^[21] In 1980, Travolta inspired a nationwide country music craze that followed on the heels of his hit film, Urban Cowboy, in which he starred with Debra Winger.^[22]

Downturn[link]

After Urban Cowboy, Travolta starred in a series of financial and critical failures that sidelined his acting career. These included Perfect, co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and Two of a Kind, a romantic comedy reteaming him with Olivia Newton-John. During that time he was offered, but turned down, lead roles in what would become box office hits, including American Gigolo^[23] and An Officer and a Gentleman, both of which went to Richard Gere.^[24]

Resurgence[link]

In 1989, Travolta starred in Look Who's Talking, which grossed $297,000,000, making it his most successful film since Grease. Travolta continued to the two sequels Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993). But it was not until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's hit Pulp Fiction (1994), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, that his career revived.^[25][26][4] The movie shifted him back onto the A-list, and he was inundated with offers. Notable roles following Pulp Fiction include a movie-buff loan shark in Get Shorty (1995), an FBI agent and terrorist in Face/Off (1997), a desperate attorney in A Civil Action (1998), a Bill Clinton-esque presidential candidate in Primary Colors (1998),^[4] and a military detective in The General's Daughter (1999).

2000–present[link]

Travolta also starred in Battlefield Earth (2000) based on a work of science fiction by L. Ron Hubbard, in which he played the leader of a group of aliens that enslaves humanity on a bleak future Earth. The film received almost universally negative reviews and did very poorly at the box office.^[27] Travolta played Mrs. Edna Turnblad in the remake of Hairspray, his first musical since Grease.^[28]

Personal life[link]

Travolta dancing with Princess Diana at the White House, November 9, 1985

Travolta was in a relationship with actress Diana Hyland, whom he met while filming The Boy in the Plastic Bubble; Hyland died of breast cancer in 1977.^[29]

Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991. The couple had a son, Jett (1992–2009).^[30] Their daughter, Ella Bleu, was born in 2000. On May 18, 2010, Travolta and Preston announced that she was pregnant with the couple's third child,^[31] later confirmed to be a boy.^[32] Their son, Benjamin, was born on November 23, 2010 in Florida.^[33]

Travolta and Preston have regularly attended marriage counseling; Travolta has stated that therapy has helped the marriage.^[34]

Travolta is a certified private pilot and owns five aircraft, including an ex-Qantas Boeing 707–138 airliner. The plane bears the name Jett Clipper Ella in honor of his children.^[35] Pan American World Airways was a large operator of the Boeing 707 and used Clipper in its names. The 707 aircraft bears the marks of Qantas, as Travolta acts as an official goodwill ambassador for the airline wherever he flies. His $4.9 million estate in the Jumbolair subdivision in Ocala, Florida, is situated on Greystone Airport with its own runway and taxiway right to his front door.^[36]

On November 24, 1992, Travolta was piloting his Gulfstream N728T at night above a solid undercast, when he experienced a total electrical system failure, while flying under instrument flight rules into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. During the emergency landing he almost had a mid-air collision with a USAir Boeing 727, an event attributed to a risky decision by an air traffic controller.^[37]

On September 13, 2010, during the first episode of the final season of her talk show, Oprah Winfrey announced that she would be taking her entire studio audience on an 8-day expenses-paid trip to Australia, with Travolta serving as pilot for the trip. He had helped Winfrey plan the trip for over a year.^[38]

Travolta has been a practitioner of Scientology since 1975 when he was given the book Dianetics while filming the movie The Devil's Rain in Durango, Mexico.^[39] After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, joining other celebrities in helping with the relief efforts, Travolta flew his 707 full of supplies, doctors, and Scientologist Volunteer Ministers into the disaster area.^[40]

In May 2012, an anonymous masseur filed a lawsuit against Travolta citing claims of sexual assault and battery. A lawyer for Travolta said that the allegations were "complete fiction and fabrication" and someone wanting their 15 minutes of fame. Travolta's counsel also stated that his client would be able to prove that he was not in California on the day in question and asserted that Travolta would "sue the attorney and Plaintiff for malicious prosecution" after getting the case thrown out.^[41] A second masseur later joined the lawsuit making similar claims.^[42][43]

Son's death[link]

On January 2, 2009, Travolta and Preston's son, Jett, died while on their vacation in The Bahamas.^[44][45] A Bahamian death certificate was issued, attributing the cause of death to a seizure.^[46] Jett, who had a history of seizures,^[47] reportedly suffered from Kawasaki disease as an infant.^[48] On September 24, 2009,^[49] Travolta and Preston confirmed speculation that their son had autism and suffered regular seizures.^[50] They made their statements while giving testimony after a multi-million dollar extortion plot against them regarding the circumstances of their son's death. After a mistrial,^[51] Travolta dropped the charges.^[52] Travolta has credited his family and faith in helping him survive the tragic death of his son, and in moving forward with his film career.^[53]

Filmography[link]