Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the coolest names in Hollywood. She has a versatile portfolio from comedy to horror. However, well known she may be, few people know about her tumultuous childhood.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Childhood
The now-famous actress is perhaps best known for her iconic role in the Halloween Series. Curtis was born to Hollywood elite Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis in 1958. Born on November 22 in Hollywood, California, she had a seemingly perfect life. Sadly, her parents divorced when she was 4, drastically changing her life, and that of her older sister Kelly. “By the time I came along… my parents’ bond had deteriorated precipitously as their stardom grew. And like any other save-the-marriage baby, I failed.” Jamie Lee Curtis disclosed.
If the divorce wasn’t traumatic enough, Jamie Lee Curtis once stated in an interview that after the divorce, Tony was “not interested in being a father.” Oddly, news reports have claimed that Tony had his children removed from his will before his death. However, the reason is unknown to the public.
Yearning to Belong
While the divorce was hard on the family, Tony would go on to marry and divorce several more times throughout Jamie Lee Curtis’ life. In fact, she would bear witness to a total of 13 marriages and divorces, gaining four half-siblings along the way. This hardship left her feeling like love was an impossible concept. Moreover, she struggled to find her place in the world. “I was born to famous parents. My birth and subsequent growing up was documented for public consumption. My parent’s fame and beauty preceded me. The comparing. The measuring up. Everywhere I went. Everything I did.” She once shared.
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Jamie Lee Curtis Found Love
Despite the heartbreak Jamie Lee Curtis endured, she became an incredible actress. She is a wife and mother and has been happily married since 1984. She and her husband, Christopher Guest, were married within months of meeting one another, and they have 2 daughters, Annie and Ruby. “I said out loud to my friend, the late, great Debra Hill, ‘Oh, I’m going to marry that guy.'” She recalled of the first time she saw him.
Amusingly, she reached out to him, hoping to spark a romance. However, Jamie Lee Curtis never heard back from him. Then a year later, they ran into each other, from across the room. “He was sitting about 10 feet away and he looked at me and kind of nodded. I made a gesture, like, ‘Hi, I’m the one who called you. I was sitting with Melanie Griffith and Steven Bauer, and I looked down at my plate and whispered, ‘Oh my God, I called this guy and he never called me back and there he is.’ At that moment, Chris got up to leave. He shrugged his shoulders, and basically waved goodbye. Not a word was exchanged,” she said.
The following day, he called and asked her out. Incredibly, he disclosed knowing she was “the one” after their first date. “It was a moment of just knowing. This feeling of, ‘This is the real thing,’ and knowing that,” he once explained on the podcast, In Bed with Nick and Megan.
Bumpy Road to Success
While she was born into Hollywood Royalty, her life was one that was not without its struggles. Not only did she go through numerous ups and downs with her father in their personal life. She encountered roadblocks in their professional relationship as well. Jamie Lee Curtis made a few short appearances on Television shows but got her first “big break” working on a show in which her father starred. Sadly, she was only given about one line per episode and the show didn’t do well, coming to a halt after the first season.
On the other hand, at 19 years old, her life would change drastically, this time in a positive way. Despite not being John Carpenter’s first choice for the role, Jamie Lee Curtis stepped into her role and wowed audiences, starring in the 1978 horror classic Halloween. The low-budget film did incredibly well, and her career took off from there.
Jamie Lee Curtis, the product of 13 divorces, has gone on to live a full life surrounded in love and success. Despite her tumultuous childhood, she would go on to appear in more than 50 movies and television shows. She did go into a brief retirement from acting in 2006 but made a comeback a few years later. She solidified to return to Hollywood, appearing in Freaky Friday and has since made reoccurring appearances in shows like NCIS and movies like Knives Out.
Sources
- “She Grew Up Through 13 Divorces Yet Still Became an Inspirational Star.” Inner Strength
- “Jamie Lee Curtis.” Biography.
- “Jamie Lee Curtis’ Parents: Meet Her Hollywood Royal Mom & Dad.” Hollywood Life. Cynthia Cook. March 12, 2023.
- “Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest’s relationship, in their own words.” TODAY. Jordan Greene March 8, 2023.
- “Jamie Lee Curtis Has Never Worked Hard a Day in Her Life.” NewYorker Rachel Syme December 1, 2019.