Jamie Lee Curtis's Life in Photos

Mar. 15, 2025

Jamie Lee Curtis in 1966.Photo:Martin Mills/Getty

Martin Mills/Getty

“I’m proud of my parents,” she told PEOPLE in a 1978 interview. “But I’m me.”

Her dedication to “me” is why fans love her, whethershe’s supporting her daughters, cheering onformer costars like Lindsay Lohanor going all-in inher guest role onThe Bear(and don’t forget thatReal Housewives of Beverly Hillscameo).

“I love actors. I love acting. I love the job we get to do. I love being a part of a crew. I love being part of a cast. I love what we do with each other,“she said during her acceptance speech at the 2023 SAG Awards. “The truth of the matter is I’m 64 years old and this is just amazing!”

As the Oscar winner turns 65 on Nov. 22, 2023, take a look back on her life in photos.

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Jamie Lee Curtis Is Born

Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Jamie Lee Curtis was born to silver screen stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis on Nov. 22, 1958, two years after the arrival of big sister Kelly.

The girls' parents divorced when Curtis was just 3;Leigh later got married again, to stockbroker Bob Brandt.

“People may think I don’t love Tony,” Curtis told PEOPLE in 1978. “But I just don’t know him that well.” (In 1983, she spoke of their relationship, saying, “I’ve gotten over needing him to be a father figure. He’s my friend, and when he’s in town we play.")

In that same 1978 interview, she discussed how her parents' stardom affected her ability to make friends. “You lose something growing up, because your friends grow up at a slower pace,” she said, adding that “many people want to be your friends just because you have famous parents.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis as a Child

A young Jamie Lee Curtis.Martin Mills/Getty

03of 15Jamie Lee Curtis’s Star Starts to RiseJamie Lee Curtis in 1977.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via GettyThough her mother urged her not to hop into acting right away, Curtis landed a part onOperation Petticoatin 1977, not long after a string of one-off parts onQuincy M.E., The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew MysteriesandColumbo.“I got one line a week,” she recalled to PEOPLE of the part the next year.

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Jamie Lee Curtis’s Star Starts to Rise

Jamie Lee Curtis in 1977.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Though her mother urged her not to hop into acting right away, Curtis landed a part onOperation Petticoatin 1977, not long after a string of one-off parts onQuincy M.E., The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew MysteriesandColumbo.

“I got one line a week,” she recalled to PEOPLE of the part the next year.

04of 15Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Halloween’Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween.Mary Evans/COMPASS INTERNATIONAL PICTURES/FALCON INTERNATIONAL PRODUC/Ronald Grant/Everett CollectionWhat really put Curtis on the map, however, was her part as protagonist Laurie Strode in theHalloweenhorror franchise.Operation Petticoatwas canceled and “I was devastated,“Curtis recalledtoThe New Yorker.“I thought my career was over. And two weeks later the audition forHalloweencame up. It’s one of those good stories for people who’ve just been let go from their job.“She’d go on toplay Strode in sevenHalloweenfilms between the 1970s and 2020s.

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Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Halloween’

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween.Mary Evans/COMPASS INTERNATIONAL PICTURES/FALCON INTERNATIONAL PRODUC/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection

What really put Curtis on the map, however, was her part as protagonist Laurie Strode in theHalloweenhorror franchise.

Operation Petticoatwas canceled and “I was devastated,“Curtis recalledtoThe New Yorker.“I thought my career was over. And two weeks later the audition forHalloweencame up. It’s one of those good stories for people who’ve just been let go from their job.”

She’d go on toplay Strode in sevenHalloweenfilms between the 1970s and 2020s.

05of 15Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Trading Places’Jamie Lee Curtis in Trading Places.Paramount Pictures/GettyFrom there, Curtis hardly stopped working, appearing in movies every year, like 1983’sTrading PlaceswithEddie MurphyandDan Akroyd. In the film she played Ophelia, a prostitute who is in on a scheme between the men’s characters. She won her first BAFTA Film Award for the part.Director John Landis told PEOPLE she made what could have been a cliché character “fresh, extremely warm and sympathetic.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Trading Places’

Jamie Lee Curtis in Trading Places.Paramount Pictures/Getty

Paramount Pictures/Getty

From there, Curtis hardly stopped working, appearing in movies every year, like 1983’sTrading PlaceswithEddie MurphyandDan Akroyd. In the film she played Ophelia, a prostitute who is in on a scheme between the men’s characters. She won her first BAFTA Film Award for the part.

Director John Landis told PEOPLE she made what could have been a cliché character “fresh, extremely warm and sympathetic.”

06of 15Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘True Lies’Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies.Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma/Sygma via Getty"She’s the most well-rounded character I’ve ever gotten to play,” Curtis told PEOPLE of Helen Tasker, whom she portrayed oppositeArnold Schwarzeneggerin the 1994 action hitTrue Lies,earning her first SAG Award nomination for her work.‘‘Helen is a combination of mother, wife and someone who doesn’t want to draw too much attention to herself for the sake of her family.‘‘At that point in time, Curtis was feeling a lot of those same urges, she told PEOPLE, raising her young daughter Annie, relishing in married life with husband Christopher Guest and mourning the loss of her half-brother Nicholas, who died of a drug overdose just beforeTrue Liespremiered.Curtis watched her father struggle with addiction, as well, and she fell into a similar pattern, she recalledduring a 2023 interview onMorning Joe.“I was an opiate addict, and I liked a good opiate buzz,” she shared. “I’m lucky. I didn’t make terrible decisions high or under the influence that then, for the rest of my life, I regret.“In February of 2023, she celebrated 24 years of sobriety. “I’m breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family,” she said.

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Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘True Lies’

Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies.Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma/Sygma via Getty

Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma/Sygma via Getty

“She’s the most well-rounded character I’ve ever gotten to play,” Curtis told PEOPLE of Helen Tasker, whom she portrayed oppositeArnold Schwarzeneggerin the 1994 action hitTrue Lies,earning her first SAG Award nomination for her work.‘‘Helen is a combination of mother, wife and someone who doesn’t want to draw too much attention to herself for the sake of her family.’’

At that point in time, Curtis was feeling a lot of those same urges, she told PEOPLE, raising her young daughter Annie, relishing in married life with husband Christopher Guest and mourning the loss of her half-brother Nicholas, who died of a drug overdose just beforeTrue Liespremiered.

Curtis watched her father struggle with addiction, as well, and she fell into a similar pattern, she recalledduring a 2023 interview onMorning Joe.

“I was an opiate addict, and I liked a good opiate buzz,” she shared. “I’m lucky. I didn’t make terrible decisions high or under the influence that then, for the rest of my life, I regret.”

In February of 2023, she celebrated 24 years of sobriety. “I’m breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family,” she said.

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Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Freaky Friday’

Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday.Ron Batzdorff/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

Ron Batzdorff/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

Curtis’s hot streak continued in films likeA Fish Called Wanda, My GirlandLove Lettersand series includingAnything But Love, Nicholas’ GiftandThe Heidi Chronicles.

But she really jumped into the 2000s when she starred alongsideLindsay Lohanin Disney’sFreaky Friday.

“I sawThe Parent Trapand I thought it was two girls [playing twins],” Curtis recalled to PEOPLE of learning the casting news. “So when they told me I’d be working with Lindsay Lohan, I said, ‘Which girl was she?’ Someone said, ‘Oh, no, no, that was the same girl!’ I really had no idea. She’s very good.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis’s Children’s Books

Jamie Lee Curtis and her children’s books.Newsmakers/Getty

Newsmakers/Getty

“These are wonderful books,” she told PEOPLE in 2000. “You’ll never hear me say that about anything else I do, except maybe my Caesar salads. These books are the closest thing to letting anybody know who I am.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Halloween Ends’

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween Ends.Ryan Green/Universal Pictures

10of 15Jamie Lee Curtis and Husband Christopher GuestJamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest.Kevin Mazur/GettyCurtis fell in love with filmmaker Christopher Guestafter seeing him in an issue ofRolling Stone.She passed her number along to his agent, but it wasn’t until a chance encounter at a restaurant in Los Angeles that their paths crossed — and they wed not long after, on Dec. 18, 1984"It’s hard to talk about Chris, because all you’re going to hear is the word ‘great,’ " she told PEOPLE in 1994. ‘‘He’s a great listener, a great athlete, a great husband and father.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis and Husband Christopher Guest

Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest.Kevin Mazur/Getty

Curtis fell in love with filmmaker Christopher Guestafter seeing him in an issue ofRolling Stone.She passed her number along to his agent, but it wasn’t until a chance encounter at a restaurant in Los Angeles that their paths crossed — and they wed not long after, on Dec. 18, 1984

“It’s hard to talk about Chris, because all you’re going to hear is the word ‘great,’ " she told PEOPLE in 1994. ‘‘He’s a great listener, a great athlete, a great husband and father.”

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She added, “I will fight and defend her right to exist to anyone who claims that she doesn’t.”

12of 15Jamie Lee Curtis and Godson Jake GyllenhaalJamie Lee Curtis and godson Jake Gyllenhaal.Jon Kopaloff/Getty ImagesNot only does she have a famous family, but a famous extended family, as well! Curtis is godmother toJake Gyllenhaal; the two even lived next door to each other for a while during the COVID-19 pandemic.“We’ve just gotten to know each other,“Curtis told PEOPLEat the April 2023 premiere of Gyllenhaal’s film,The Covenant. “He made a lot of sourdough bread, a lot,” she continued, adding that it was “very good.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis and Godson Jake Gyllenhaal

Jamie Lee Curtis and godson Jake Gyllenhaal.Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Not only does she have a famous family, but a famous extended family, as well! Curtis is godmother toJake Gyllenhaal; the two even lived next door to each other for a while during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve just gotten to know each other,“Curtis told PEOPLEat the April 2023 premiere of Gyllenhaal’s film,The Covenant. “He made a lot of sourdough bread, a lot,” she continued, adding that it was “very good.”

13of 15Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Knives Out’Jamie Lee Curtis in Knives Out.Claire FolgerCurtis joined the ensemble cast of 2019’s mystery thriller,Knives Out.“It is a fantastic, fun, super interesting holiday movie,“she said onToday. “It was written beautifully. It’s super super super fun at a time when things aren’t so fun all around the world. It’s just nice to have a movie that’s funny and you get to go and have a good time.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Knives Out’

Jamie Lee Curtis in Knives Out.Claire Folger

Curtis joined the ensemble cast of 2019’s mystery thriller,Knives Out.“It is a fantastic, fun, super interesting holiday movie,“she said onToday. “It was written beautifully. It’s super super super fun at a time when things aren’t so fun all around the world. It’s just nice to have a movie that’s funny and you get to go and have a good time.”

14of 15Jamie Lee Curtis Wins an OscarJamie Lee Curtis wins an Oscar.ANGELA WEISS/AFP via GettyThe actress earned her first Oscar nomination — and win! — for her supporting role in 2022’s belovedEverything Everywhere All at Once.“We just won an Oscar,“Curtis saidwhile shouting out various crew members,Everything Everywheredirecting duothe Daniels (Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan), her agents, her sister Kelly, her “beautiful husband” and their two daughters. “To all of the people who have supported the genre movies I have made all these years, the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people, we just won an Oscar together!”

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Jamie Lee Curtis Wins an Oscar

Jamie Lee Curtis wins an Oscar.ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

The actress earned her first Oscar nomination — and win! — for her supporting role in 2022’s belovedEverything Everywhere All at Once.

“We just won an Oscar,“Curtis saidwhile shouting out various crew members,Everything Everywheredirecting duothe Daniels (Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan), her agents, her sister Kelly, her “beautiful husband” and their two daughters. “To all of the people who have supported the genre movies I have made all these years, the thousands and hundreds of thousands of people, we just won an Oscar together!”

15of 15Jamie Lee Curtis on ‘The Bear’Jamie Lee Curtis on The Bear.Chuck Hodes/FXMost recently, Curtis earned buzz for her enthralling performance as Sugar and Carmy’sstruggling mother Donna on an episode ofThe Bearseason 2.Calling it the “role of a lifetime” in an Instagram post, Curtis said, “There’s not a person alive who won’t relate to what it feels like to be around someone like Donna Berzatto. I certainly have my own experiences. That’s what makes the show so magnificent. We can relate and commiserate and celebrate all of our communal survival in this thing called … life.”

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Jamie Lee Curtis on ‘The Bear’

Jamie Lee Curtis on The Bear.Chuck Hodes/FX

Chuck Hodes/FX

Most recently, Curtis earned buzz for her enthralling performance as Sugar and Carmy’sstruggling mother Donna on an episode ofThe Bearseason 2.

Calling it the “role of a lifetime” in an Instagram post, Curtis said, “There’s not a person alive who won’t relate to what it feels like to be around someone like Donna Berzatto. I certainly have my own experiences. That’s what makes the show so magnificent. We can relate and commiserate and celebrate all of our communal survival in this thing called … life.”

source: people.com