British Baroness, children’s author, activist, producer, video game aficionado, godmother to Jake Gyllenhaal and holder of two baby diaper patents Jamie Lee Curtis also stars in the new film Halloweena role she has held for 44 years, a longevity record that secures her a special place in Hollywood.
The Night of the Masks (1978)
The daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh (of fame for her role in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psychosis), she was born part of the Hollywood cream of the crop. But Jamie Lee Curtis has no intention of exploiting the surrounding nepotism; She dropped out of law school and rose through the ranks on her own, starting with tiny roles on hit TV shows like Quincy, ME, Charlie’s Angels and even Columbo. Then, when she was only 19, John Carpenter offered her the role of Laurie Strode and a salary of $8,000. She accepts. When the film was released, the reviews weren’t kind – Roger Ebert, on the other hand, voted it one of his top 10 favorite films of the year – but word of mouth worked and the revenue was there. Because with a box office result of 70 million US dollars, the first feature film in the Halloween series is one of the most profitable independent films of the year. No less than 12 spinoffs later, The Night of the Masks is an iconic first slasher film that cemented Jamie Lee Curtis as the perfect scream queen.
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Of course, John Carpenter calls her back for his next film, The Fog, and Jamie Lee Curtis is inundated with offers for roles in horror films. The filmmaker then directs her in Halloween 2: The Mask (1981) and we hear her voice in Halloween 3: The Sorcerer’s Blood (1982). She also makes a few stints in comedy or romantic drama, and imposes herself as a sex symbol with Perfect (1985), in which she answers a love-struck John Travolta. Then John Cleese of Monthy Python wrote the screenplay for A Fish Called Wanda and director Charles Crichton gave him the role of Wanda, the very cheeky girlfriend of the American Otto (Kevin Kline). The wacky comedy is a global triumph, earning three Oscar nominations, with Kevin Kline grabbing the statuette for Best Supporting Actor.
True Lie (1994)
As a result, Jamie Lee Curtis gave up horror films for a while and turned to full-length action films. She therefore agrees to film Blue Steel (1990) with Kathryn Bigelow – ex-wife of James Cameron – without turning down romantic comedies like A second chance (1992) with Mel Gibson. At the same time, James Cameron found his Terminator in the person of Arnold Schwarzenegger. And when the Canadian director came up with the idea of adapting his screenplay for True Lie, a spy action comedy, he cast the 36-year-old actress as Schwarzenegger’s wife, earning her a Golden Globe Nomination. And her status as a woman of dreams was so reaffirmed that she landed an endorsement deal for pantyhose brand Legs… and had her legs insured for $1 million.
A Crazy, Crazy, Crazy Friday (2003)
If Jamie Lee Curtis stays true to the role of Laurie Strode that launched her career – with Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later in 1998 and then Halloween: The Resurrection in 2002 – she continues her career and diversifies her roles by she notably made an appearance in The Tailor of Panama, released in 2001. The one who never takes herself seriously then becomes Lindsay Lohan’s mother in the comedy Crazy Friday, crazy, crazy, and the friendship between the two actresses continues to this day .
Everything, everywhere, all at once (2022)
Jamie Lee Curtis retired in 2008 to focus on his family and two children. She is discreet but continues to portray Laurie Strode, voice some cartoons and begin producing the Hondros documentary about war photographer Chris Hondros with her godson Jake Gyllenhaal. Then, because she likes a challenge, she becomes a Treasury clerk in the crazy sci-fi comedy Everything, Everywhere, Everything at the Same Time, and confided on French television that her love scene with Michelle Yeoh was the most beautiful she had ever shot .