| Well I
first discovered Jamie's acting
career in non-horror films like
in 'My Girl', 'Perfect'
and 'True Lies'
but suddenly I was browsing
through my Movie Guide looking
upon 'Halloween'
and noticed that she was one of
the main stars of that film. So,
close to Halloween I rented the
film although I saw part 6 in
theatre's a couple weeks
beforehand (Call me kookie but it
was a hit and miss release and
wanted to check it out before it
went). I realised that this is
how she first started her acting
career. Not only that, she
starred in a handful of other
teen horror films afterwards
before breaking into the big time
motion pictures and was crowned
as the ultimate scream queen of
that decade along with Linda
Blair and Caroline Munro. She
became my all time favourite
scream queen as well as my all
time favourite actress and love
her work in both genre's horror
and non-horror. Jamie Lee
Curtis was born on November 22,
1958 in Los Angeles, California
(A place for big time movie &
TV stars) to the parents two
legendary actors Tony Curtis and
Janet Leigh. Four years after her
birth, her parents filed for a
divorce.
In
the late 70's she decided to give
acting a shot follow her parents'
footsteps but had to tough it out
on her own. She had fears of
getting fired since she knew that
the acting business can get
nasty. She had acting gigs by
guesting in TV shows at Universal
Studios in Hollywood working in
Glen A. Larson Productions. Her
first gig was a walk on role in
an episode of the series 'Quincy'
and then a year later she won a
supporting guest role playing a
tough biker named Mary in the 'Nancy
Drew Mysteries' along
with Robert Englund. During that
same year she played a waitress
in a movie of the week titled 'Columbo:
The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder
Case.'
While
still guesting in TV shows like
in 'Charlie's Angels',
'The Love Boat'
and 'Buck Rogers in the
25th Century' as well as
being a semi-regular in the
series 'Operation
Petticoat' as Lt.
Barbara Duran based on the 1959
movie that starred her father,
Tony Curtis, she finally got her
big break by starring in John
Carpenter's cult classic 'Halloween'
with Donald Pleasance which she
played an adopted teen named
Laurie Strode and was the
biological sister of a blood
thirsty killer named Michael
Myers who swears to make his
family members exctinct. At first
critics bomberd the film when it
hit the box office but the film
grew more and more to cult
viewers which led on to more work
in horror films for Jamie. She
starred in Carpenters next flick
called 'The Fog'
which also had the same people
who worked in the 'Halloween'
flick as well as two of the other
actors Nancy Loomis and Charles
Cyphers. Not only that, this was
the first film that her mother
Janet starred with her daughter
in which she too had a part in.
Jamie plays a travelling
hitchhiker named Elizabeth
Solley. She starts dating the guy
who picked her up one night while
he was driving home from work.
She thinks she's bad luck since
terrible things have happened
since. The film went to theatre's
in early 1980 and shortly after,
she returned to the slasher genre
in 'Prom Night'
which was shot in Canada and it
starred Leslie Neilson. In this
one she played a triplet sister
named Kim Hammond whom her
friends accidentally murdered her
sister during their childhood but
it was kept a secret until the
night of her prom. Before 1980
came to an end she played a
college student named Alana
Maxwell in 'Terror Train'
about a masked killer targets six
college kids responsible for a
prank gone wrong years earlier
and whom are currently throwing a
large New Year's Eve costume
party aboard a moving train.
Afterwards, she slowly moved on
to starring in non-horror b-films
like 'Roadgames'
and the TV-movie 'She's
in the Army Now' but
during this same year she did
reprise her role as Laurie Strode
in the first sequel to 'Halloween.'
Even if these horror films were
just a handful for her fans
crowned her as the most beloved
scream queen as well as
nicknaming her that name and was
featured in numerous horror film
compliations and even hosted on 'Saturday
Night Live' due to her
fame.
She
moved on to starring in numerous
big time motion pictures working
with top celebrities like Dany
Aykroyd and John Cleese in 'Trading
Places', 'Grandview
USA', 'A Fish
Called Wanda', 'Blue
Steel', 'My Girl',
'Forever Young',
'Mother's Boys',
'True Lies', 'The
Heidi Chronicles', 'House
Arrest' and 'Fierce
Creatures.' With all
this to her credit some viewers
forgot that she started out
acting in low budget horror films
which she said goodbye to.
However,
she did return as Laurie Strode
for the third time in a direct
sequel to 'Halloween II'
in 'Halloween:H2O: Twenty
Years Later' only to
kill of Michael Myers in the end.
She focused on being a full time
Mom during this time period as
she adopted two kids and acted
part time working in films like 'Virus'
and 'Drowning Mona'
plus doing voice overs for
animated shows. She was asked to
have a cameo in 'Scream 3'
but she declined. Producers
decided to make another 'Halloween'
sequel titled 'Halloween:
Resurrection' and Jamie
agreed to return to it but only
to be killed off in the beginning
of the film. She got a paid
salary of $3,000,000 for her work
in it.
She
recently is starring in family
films like 'Freaky Friday'
and 'Christmas with the
Kranks' but she
announced that she has retired
from film acting.
Jamie
has been married to actor
Christopher Guest since December
18, 1984 which she saw him on an
issue of a Rolling Stone magazine
and it was love at first sight
and a couple years back she won a
2003 Grammy nomination in the
Best Spoken Album for Children
category for her recording of the
children's books she has written.
She also admits that horror films
terrifies her and she prefers not
to watch them. This may be a
shock to you horror fanatics but
it's true. Even if Jamie doesn't
work anymore she will always be
remembered as a versatile actress
and will be rich for life.

Halloween
1978 This is where Jamie got
her start after her roles in TV
shows and to a journey of a
scream queen and the first horror
movie I spotted her in as I saw
her in her more publicised films
that were non-horror. But I loved
her in this genre the best. She
plays the biological sister of
the killer Michael Myers named
Laurie Strode as Michael escapes
from the mental hospital
discovering that he has a younger
sister who was adopted to another
family. She briefly spots him
watching her on Halloween day not
knowing who he is and gets
freaked by all this. Then she
babysits for her neighbors on
Halloween night. This is when
Michael moves in for the kill but
first he kills his partying
friends in the neighborhood as
Laurie goes accross the street to
where her friends are hanging out
as one of her stuck up friends is
supposed to be babysitting as
well and not having guests over.
She sees that the house is too
quiet and then Michael plans to
move in for the kill as he wants
to have all his family members
dead! Jamie was great in her role
like she always does in any of
her shows. I loved her freaking
out and running away from Michael
as well as getting peeved by her
friend Annie who we all love to
hate. She reprised her role in
the first sequel as well as in H20
(1998) (To kill off Michael in
the end) and Resurrection
(2002) (Only to get killed off in
the beginning) This one was put
down by alot of critics but it
became a cult classic in the
years to follow plus it helped
John Carpneter become a big named
for his futite films.
The
Fog 1980 Ahh
yesss! This was like a
'Halloween' reunion as this piece
was also directed by John
Carpenter as well as by the same
makers and a couple of the same
cast members too. Jamie's Mom
came on board to co-star in this
film too as it was their first
mother daughter working together.
Although I liked 'Halloween'
better, I like Jamie's character
better in this one as she plays a
traveller named Elizabeth Solley
who enjoys doing artwork. The guy
who picks her up is an older man
but they have a romance together
which was a bonus for Elizabeth
as they are two very nice people.
However, Liz thinks she's bad
luck as the guy's car windows
break and other bad stuff
happening. But what is really
happening is a glowing fog is
hovering over their small town
leading to ghost of dead pirates
killing people away whenever the
fog covers over them so they are
on a chase from these ghouls.
This film was very creepy and it
inspired new makers to do a
remake. Jamie certainly screams
in this one in a few scenes.
Prom
Night 1980
Jamie now plays a triplet sister
to a brother and another sister
named Kim Hammond. She is amazing
in this disco teen slasher flick
and quite a good disco dancer too
even if the acting is very
outdated in it. In the beginning
a bunch of children are playing a
game in an abandoned school and
the Hammond triplets are walking
home. Kim's sister checks out
their game and accidentally gets
killed. The kids keep it a secret
and years later Kim's mother
can't shake off her daughters
death still as they visit her
tombstone. Kim is dating one of
the guy's who was responsible but
still he keeps it a secret and
Kim's father is the school
principal which is played by
Leslie Nielson. They all get
prank phone calls before the
night of the prom by a mysterious
killer. Kim will be nominated as
prom queen but a nasty prank
happens caused by the school
bully but the bully is beheaded
by the killer while he killed off
all of Kim's other friends who
were at the events as when they
were little. One family member in
the Hammond vein hasn't overcome
the death of the triplet sister
of Kim's and Kim is in for a big
surprise to find out who is
killing these people. The film is
very sad at the end of it but
Jamie was great with the fighting
battle with her and the killer as
well as the one who played her
boyfriend caught in this death
battle. It sure is a memory when
there were disco dances, roller
skating and bellbottoms. This
flick inspired many other
highschool slasher flicks during
the 80's like 'Graduation
Day' as well as the 90's
films 'Scream'
and 'I Know What You Did
Last Summer' If you
haven't chedcked Jamie in this
one go to your DVD/video rental
place and check it out now!
Terror
Train 1980
This one was probably as low
budget horror as you can get with
Curtis involved. Jamie plays a
graduating student at the Sigma
Phi named Alana Maxwell. For her
grad gift, her and her friends
are all taking a New Years Eve
cruise on a stream train as they
all wear their fraternity
costumes and play pranks on one
another. However, a masked killer
disguised as one of her
fraternity friends is also on
board too as there was a
fraternity prank that went wrong
3 years before and somehow she
was involved with the incident.
The killer seems to wait for her
for last. Beforehand she enjoys
the disco dancing room and the
other events. Jamie's screaming
and running away from the killer
is very similar to her role as
Laurie Strode in 'Halloween'
so all you fans may love her to
death in this one. An interesting 80's
New Years Eve slasher flick which
almost had similar elements to
other films like 'Hell
Night' but
the events were in a train.
Roadgames
1981 Jamie was slowly
moving on to non-horror films by
having a good supporting role in
this one. She is a traveller in
this one too like she was in 'The
Fog' as the person who
picked her up named her Hitch. He
is an eccentric truck driver
(PLayed by Stacy Keach) as he
witnesses a murder along his way.
Him and Hitch tries to track him
down but Hitch is kidnapped by
the murderer. Jamie doesn't
appear in this film until halfway
through so it's a surprise
waiting for her appearance. This
flick was made on a low budget
but it's a well done flick and
it's very mysterious. You won't
be disappointed as you'll all
wonder what happened to Jamie's
character. Is she alive or
killed? Find out by renting this.
Love
Letters 1984
This film was a major
bore. It tries so hard to be a
good story but it lacks. It was
written and directed by Amy
Holden Jones who did the same for
the trashy T&A slasher film 'Slumber
Party Massacre' Although
her directing was better her
writing weasn't and it was made
on a similar budget as you can
tell but this is not a horror
film. Jamie plays the role of a
classical radio disc jockey named
Anna Winter who experiences her
mother death and reads the love
letters to a guy who was her
original father she never met and
her mother was only having an
affair with. Instead she marries
and alcholoic which Anna had to
encounter his abusive actions
while growing up. Suddenly Anna
has a steamy affair with one of
her fans which is a model
photographer and likes the idea.
Jamie is nude in it which may
shock you fans as you all
remember her usually not
performing nude in films. But
then she loves him too much
causing her to have an identity
crisis. The acting in this one
was good which saves this film
from bombing but even you Curtis
fans will probably agree with me
that this isn't one of her best
films.
Grandview,
U.S.A. 1984
Now this one was an improvement
as Jamie plays a tomboy named who
runs a car crash event and also
works in the tow truck business.
A graduating teen named Tim
Person (C. Thomas Howell) has a
crush on her when he set his eyes
on her asking to get his car out
of a ditch . But an obnoxious tow
truck driver named Slam (Patrick
Swayze) also wants her. This
causes war for the two of them.
Tim always dreams of acting in a
rock video and her appearing with
him in it but she shows no
interest in him. Later on they
form a relationship as Tim is
having troubles at home and
crashes at her house for the
night but gets busted by Slam
when he enters her trailer the
next morning. Jamie does perform
nude but is brief. This was a
great drama with a touch of
comedy in it and has a terrific
cast in it other than Jamie too.
This film was promising for her
moving out of the b-film
industry.
Perfect
1985 This one nearly
damaged her career but she
survived. I was a John Travolta
fan. This was during Travolta's
has-been years as he plays a scum
bag tabloid reporter for Rolling
Stone magazine and meets up with
an aerobic instructor named Jesse
which is played by Jamie as he
wants to do a story on health
clubs. They start seeing one
another. He tries to destroy her
career for Rolling Stone incuding
interviewing their conversations
and their personal lives together
which enrages her. Jamie
apparently only ate one meal a
day for her part in this film and
worked out alot. She also
trained for several months before
shooting began. All the scenes
that show her leading classes
were filmed first, with the
narrative and dramatic sequences
shot next. The last sequence
filmed was the closing credits
workout. She also filmed a music
video with Jermaine Jackson to
promote the movie. This film was
supposed to be romantic but the
story was sad and sank
terribly. However, I loved it
when Jamie Lee Curtis insulted
Travolta's character for what he
did to her career on her health
club plus I loved Carly Simon's
cameo in it.
Blue
Steel 1990 A
nicely done thriller of Jamie
playing a tough as nails rookie
cop named Megan Turner who
witnesses a robbery in a store
and kills the criminal before he
kills her. This causes alot of
controversy for her at the police
station almost jeapordising her
career. Also there is another
psychotic killer who saw this
scene in the store and takes the
criminals gun and goes on a
killing spree. He becomes
obsessed with Megan and Megan
starts dating this fellow not
realising that he too is a killer
when she is trying to uncover a
mystery after finding dead
bodies. Also she can't cope with
her family as her father abuses
her mother and wondering if she
should turn her father in. The
story is filled with suspense and
made Jamie well respected by
viewers who saw it. You'll love
her role in it.
My
Girl 1991 This
was the first time I spotted
Jamie in a show which was this
one and loved it. It was a very
heartwarming tale taking place in
the early 70's. Her role is a
caring person named Shelley
DeVoto who has been hired by a
funeral parlour caretaker named
Harry (Played by Dan Aykroyd) to
do make up for the dead bodies
during funreral events. She falls
in love with him and starts
living with him. There she
encounters his daughter named
Vada (Anna Chlumsky) who is very
imaginary in a happy way and
talks to her mother up in heaven
and hangs out with her best
friend named Thomas J. (Macaulay
Culkin) who is a boy younger than
her and is very eccentric and
allergic to many things. When
Vada discovers that her dad is
seeing Shelley she doesn't adjust
to this as she hasn't gotten over
her mothers death trying to find
any way to break them up. Shelley
also encounters his mother who
has a few screws loose. This
makes life tough for Shelley to
adjust to but she tries to find
every way to make things the best
for all of them. Towards the
ending for this film was very
emotional. This one was followed
by a sequel as Jamie reprises her
role in it.
Mother's
Boys 1994 Oooh
yesss! Jamie plays a psychopath
in this one which was very
different for her indeed. Jamie
plays a divorced mother named
Jude Madigan who left her husband
and kids 3 years ago for no
paricular reason and returns to
visit her children with nasty
plans for all of them. At first
she tries to seem loving and
caring to her kids but to the
grown ups like her ex-husband and
his girlfriend she shows an evil
and dark side to her. She also
tries to poison her kids minds to
do evil deeds to their father's
girlfriend making out that she is
wicked and nasty and won't do
anything to stop this situation
until she is dead. This was one
of Jamie's best perfromances of
all time and if you have seen
this you all will probably agree
with me. When you see her in the
beginning you would really want
her but then in the end you'd
want her out of your life.
True
Lies 1994 This
was Jamie's best performance I
found and her best film I
thought. It was hilarious with
lots of action. She is a
businesswoman named Helen Tasker
with a loving husband named Harry
(Arnold Schwartznegger) and a
family. Things seem to go well
but Harry thinks that she is
having an affair and gets his
friend to do a test in a dark
room without her seeing him or
knowing that he is behind all of
this. Jamie is hilarious when she
goes nuts and tries to use a
chair to smash the glass that
Arnold's character is behind. She
is also funny at prending to be
sexy for her next test to see if
her affair was real or not. I
loved the stunts in this when she
goes on an adventure while being
kidnapped. This one was
considered to be her top film for
her acting career and all you
fans of her's will love it I
guarantee you.
Virus
1999 Some of you
might've thought that after
Jamie's role in 'Halloween:
H20' was marking her
retirement from acting but don't
be upset shortly after, she
played the lead role in this one
named Kelly Foster, a tugboat
passenger along with Donald
Sutherland and William Baldwin
who take refuge from a storm in a
seemingly abandoned Russian
intelligence post. They find out
that a crew was killed off by
aliens as they were considered a
virus. Kelly and her people are
cornered by them as whenever
someone turns into a victim they
are transformed into these killer
type machines. I have seen this
at theatre's but don't remember
it extremely well, but I liked
it. I have seen a couple of other
movies starring jamie that aren't
listed on here for similar
reasons.
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