Jamie Lee Curtis is one of those celebrities you just can’t really hate. Whether you love her for her iconic roles in scary movies, or for her humanitarian causes, chances are there’s something about her that just makes you happy. Forget Halloween: any time of year is a good time to dust off that Halloween boxset and praise the scream queen herself. Here are 25 terrifying facts about Jamie Lee Curtis, the queen of horror.
1. Inheriting The Throne
Curtis’ very first role remains her most well-known: she played the ultimate Final Girl, Laurie Strode, in the original slasher flick Halloween. The film was an instant horror classic, with Curtis appearing in a selection of sequels including 2018’s smash hit reboot. Here’s hoping for more Halloween from the ultimate scream queen!
2. Esteemed Author
Apart from acting, Curtis is also a well-known writer. She is a blogger for The Huffington Post, and has published over a dozen children’s books.
3. Tragic Family
In 1994, the Curtis family was deeply affected when Jamie Lee's half-brother, Nicholas, tragically succumbed at just 22 years old. The young musician had a bright future ahead of him.
4. Scream Queen Crowned
After Halloween, Curtis went on to act in a few other horror films like The Fog, Prom Night, and Terror Train. These films earned Curtis the title of “scream queen” for her iconic shriek and her ability to outwit assailants and survive the night. This is a title she’ll probably never shake, and why would anyone want to?
Getty Images
5. Screams: They Run in the Family
Curtis’ parents were Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, both beloved Hollywood actors. Her mother even starred in one of the most famous horror movies of all time, Psycho. Now I see where she got that scream.
6. Scaring Myself
In an interview with NME, Jamie Lee Curtis made a controversial statement. Despite starring in some of the most iconic horror flicks of all time, she said that she does not enjoy horror movies. She said, “I do not like horror movies. I do not say this for a joke, although it gets a laugh, I really don’t. There’s nothing I like about being scared.” As long as she keeps acting in them, I’m satisfied.
7. Restoration Artist
Curtis and her father, who are both of Hungarian Jewish descent, reconnected with their roots in the 1990s. They did so with an utterly heartbreaking gesture: the duo helped rebuild the Great Synagogue in Hungary by donating funds to repair the building, which was heavily damaged during WWII. Curtis really has her hands in a lot of different projects.
8. Picture Perfect Marriage
Curtis is married to director, actor, and screenwriter Christopher Guest, most famous for the mockumentaries This Is Spinal Tap and Best In Show. Apparently, Curtis first saw Guest in a photo in Rolling Stone and said to her friend, “Oh, I’m going to marry that guy.” A mere five months later, she did just that. They've been together ever since.
9. Private Struggles
Even though Curtis and her husband enjoyed a happy marriage, the couple struggled with an utterly heartbreaking problem: infertility. After two years of trying to have a baby, they adopted a little girl named Annie. Almost a decade later, Jamie Lee was present at the birth of her adoptive son Thomas. She even cut the cord. In an interview, Curtis cooed over her children: "I would give my life for this child," she said of Annie.
10. The Godmother
Jamie Lee Curtis is the godmother to actor Jake Gyllenhaal. The two appear to have a great relationship in photographs, always smiling and laughing. Plus, Gyllenhaal was the one who convinced Curtis to star in the latest, excellent Halloween movie. Thanks, Jake!
11. Activist First
Curtis is a known activist for several humanitarian causes. One of these events witnessed her performance in the play 8, a depiction of the trial that nullified the prohibition on marriages between individuals of the same gender. She starred alongside Brad Pitt and Martin Sheen.
12. See You on WoW
While she certainly doesn’t fall under the normal demographic for World of Warcraft players, Curtis has proven herself to be quite the fan. She even went to Comicon in full cosplay, expertly avoiding detection.
13. Long Lost Myth
Long before she started publishing children's books, Jamie Lee Curtis used her pen for a much spookier story. The actress wrote a treatment for a film called The Myth, which she planned to produce through her production company. It was to be a natural-disaster survival film about a series of devastating earthquakes, volcanoes, and storms that all happen at the same time. Even though the premise sounds really fun, sadly the film never got past a twenty-page treatment.
14. My Celeb BFF
Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver are both statuesque scream queens, respectively leading the Halloween and Alien franchises. You'd think they'd be enemies, but actually, they're celebrity BFFs. However, Curtis has never seen all of Weaver's most famous film, Alien, claiming it was too scary for her. She really must hate horror movies.
15. Her Other Title
Technically, we should call Jamie Lee Curtis the Scream Baroness instead of the Scream Queen. Following her father-in-law's demise, his 5th Baron Haden-Guest title transferred to his son (Curtis' husband), Christopher Guest. With this transition, Curtis assumed the designation of "Baroness Haden-Guest." She doesn’t go by this title, and neither does Guest, although technically they could.
16. Very Important Legs
In her prime, Curtis’ legs were insured for $1-million! They were a pretty hot commodity at the time.
17. Jaqueline Of All Trades
Although she still acts in the horror genre, Curtis made her first reach out of horror with the classic Dan Akroyd/Eddie Murphy comedy Trading Places. This role was a huge success, even winning Curtis a prestigious BAFTA award. Her next flick, the hilarious A Fish Called Wanda, earned her another nomination.
Trading Places, Paramount Pictures
18. Harmful Rumor Debunked
Over the last few decades, Jamie Lee Curtis has been at the center of a very strange rumor. Gossip mills whispered that Curtis was born with both sexes, and only became female after birth. This has never been proven, however, with Curtis knowing well enough not to feed the trolls. And besides… why would anyone care about such a thing?
19. What Could Have Been
Curtis attended the University of the Pacific in California. Her original intention was not to get into acting at all, but to become a social worker. She decided after a single semester that she wasn’t into it, and started pursuing acting.
Wikimedia Commons, Yoshio Kohara
20. Lover of Children
If her career as a children’s book author isn’t proof enough that Curtis loves kids, her leadership role at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles should be. Curtis even supported the opening of an inpatient facility for the hospital, and spends time visiting terminally ill children. What a hero.
21. Passion Project
Some celebrities have weird hobbies. Jamie Lee Curtis is no different. The iconic Final Girl holds the patent for, of all things, a new type of diaper. It’s a diaper with a pocket attached that holds easily accessible wipes. She filed the patent in the 80s, and it went to the public domain in 2007. You do you, Jamie.
22. Everyone Struggles
Jamie Lee Curtis seems approachable and charming, but don't let her smile fool you: she has seen her fair share of darkness. The actress struggled with addiction throughout her decades-long career. As a young woman, she relied heavily on these harmful substances, which only led to her situation deteriorating further. In 1989, she had a routine plastic surgery procedure. As part of her recovery, she was prescribed painkillers. Tragically, Curtis became addicted to the pills.
23. Survivor
Jamie Lee Curtis took a substantial amount of time before she shared her challenges with opioid dependency. But as we learned from the Halloween movies, she is undoubtedly a survivor. In 1998, Jamie Lee Curtis finally broke her silence. She confided in her beloved sister, who urged Curtis to get help and overcome her addiction. Curtis has now been sober for nearly 20 years.
24. Unwillingly Removed
When the life of Curtis' father came to end, the entire Curtis family was engulfed in intense grief. However, as time progressed, their sadness transformed into a deep sense of betrayal. It turned out that Curtis had cut all his children, including Jamie Lee, out of his will. Instead, all of his belongings were auctioned off. But that's not even the worst part: Curtis gave no reason for his cruel final gesture. His widow received everything instead.
25. Dark Days
Even though her father Tony Curtis departed in 2010, Jamie Lee Curtis has only recently revealed the dark secret she shared with him. As she disclosed her past struggles with addiction, Curtis admitted that she once shared substances, which were prohibited, with her father. Not really a run-of-the-mill way to bond! While Tony Curtis went to rehab in the 80s, Jamie Lee Curtis finally got sober in 1999.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
