Raised by his grandparents who were actually his own mother's adoptive parents, Eric Marlon Bishop was born in the Texas town of Terrell on December 13, 1967. Abandoned six months after he was born, Eric Bishop was raised by his grandparents whom he would later identify as his childhood inspiration leading him to become Jamie Foxx, a world renowned stand up comedian, actor, and R&B singer.

Jamie Foxx

In L.A. you can hide. I can hide at the beach, hide up in the hills. In Miami, everybody is looking at you.

Rocky Start

Raised by his grandparents who were actually his own mother's adoptive parents, Eric Marlon Bishop was born in the Texas town of Terrell on December 13, 1967. Abandoned six months after he was born, Eric Bishop was raised by his grandparents whom he would later identify as his childhood inspiration leading him to become Jamie Foxx, a world renowned stand up comedian, actor, and R&B singer.

Back to Basics

At the age of five, Foxx began learning to play the piano. As he progressed, he eventually became a pianist and leader of the choir within his church and was accredited as one of top students at Terrell High School. After high school, Foxx went on to United States International University where he was allowed the opportunity to study classical music and composition. Although music was seemingly his forte, his direction would change in 1989.

Dare to Be Great

Acting on a dare from a girlfriend, Jamie Foxx first took the stage on an open mic night at a local comedy club. His impressions were better than average and many seemed to like his jokes, thus, a stand up comedian was born. Upon finding out that comedy clubs usually called on women to perform first, he changed his first name to a more gender neutral tone and picked the last name "Foxx" in homage to the late actor and comedian Redd Foxx.

And So It Goes

After two years of traveling around the country performing stand up comedy, Foxx gathered momentum and eventually scored a role on the comedic variety show "In Living Color." While working on the show, the name Jamie Foxx began to catch on and he made his first film debut in the movie Toys in 1992, but Foxx's most acknowledged role came in 2004 when he played the part of Ray Charles in the film Ray. Ray has become Foxx's most well respected role and landed him an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor.

At the same time, Foxx was also attempting to create a name for himself within the music industry. His first big break in came 2004 not only from his lead role in Ray, but his featured musical role in the song Slow Jamz by Twista, which also featured the up and coming Kanye West. The song charted out at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Foxx went on to collaborate on another song by Kanye West, Gold Digger, where Jamie Foxx sang the hook "I Got a Woman." For ten weeks Gold Digger sat at the spot it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, which was again at number one.

The song may be available as a free music download on some music or mp3 websites. Jamie also received more acclaim at the 2006 BET Awards where he received acknowledgment in the Best Duet/Collaboration from his work with Kanye West in the production of Gold Digger. During this same time, Foxx worked on his own personal style releasing a second studio album titled Unpredictable in late 2005. As with his collaborative work, the album was a success selling almost 600,000 copies in the first week as well as gaining momentum in the U.K. where it climbed to number nine on the UK Albums Chart. Jamie's passion for music has earned him recognition not only in the R&B/Hip-Hop community but has been heralded in multiple genres evident by his performance with George Strait at the George Strait Artist of the Decade All-Star Concert.

Bumps in the Road

April of 2003 saw Foxx in the headlines once more, but not for positive matters. He was arrested in New Orleans after an altercation with police at Harrah's Casino. Charges would be lessened and Foxx escaped any jail time receiving an insignificant fine and probation. One other instance where Jamie Foxx found himself positioned negatively in the public eye came from an off color comment made about Miley Cyrus on his radio talk show. Foxx issued a public apology and little has been said concerning the matter ever since. Although there were some negative moments, it's hard to stay down when one has received the acclaim of Jamie Foxx.

Foxx in the Present

In 2007, Foxx announced he will be forming a channel on Sirius Satellite Radio aptly named 'The Foxxhole.' The show will feature comedians and music focusing on emerging African American talents.

Did You Know?

• Foxx is one of four people in the U.S. to receive both an Academy Award in acting as well as having an album listed at number one.
• Jamie was a standout on his high school football team becoming the first player at his high school to pass for more than 1000 yards.
• In the second grade, Jamie's teacher would allow him to tell jokes to the class when the class behaved and earned a reward.

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