A multitalented star! Jamie Foxx got his start in sketch comedy before becoming an Oscar-winning actor.
Foxx began playing the piano at a young age, going on to perform and lead the choir at New Hope Baptist Church in his hometown of Terrell, Texas. As a teenager, he excelled in basketball and football before choosing to study musical and performing arts composition at United States International University in California.
On a dare, Foxx gave his first stand-up comedy performance at an open mic night in 1989. Two years later, he joined the cast of In Living Color, a sketch comedy series that also featured Jim Carrey, Kim and Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier. Carrie Ann Inaba and Jennifer Lopez also performed in the show’s “Fly Girls” dance troupe.
Lopez was in the audience when Foxx auditioned for the Emmy-winning series. “It was interesting because we were both rookies on the show. And I remember seeing her, and I say to her, ‘Hey, I have a girlfriend, I’m not hitting on you, but you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,’” he recalled to Yahoo Entertainment in 2020. “But we became friends because we were the rookies on the show.”
Foxx remained on In Living Color from season 3 to season 5 before landing his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show. He was a co-creator of the WB show, which aired from 1996 to 2001.
The Just Mercy actor formed a close bond with costar Garcelle Beauvais on his sitcom, but the pair were never more than friends. “I think me and you should have been together,” Foxx teased during a 2020 appearance on the “Going to Bed with Garcelle” podcast. “So every time I see [you with someone], I’m like, ‘Damn. I f–ked up.’ So every dude, I give them a really sh–ty look.”
Beauvais laughed off the revelation, teasing, “I feel it and they feel it.”
While he and the Bravo star kept their relationship strictly platonic, Foxx has been involved in a few A-list romances over the years. He welcomed daughter Corinne in 1994 with ex Connie Kline and daughter Anelise in 2008 with former girlfriend Kristin Grannis.
The “Just Like Me” musician has never tied the knot. Us Weekly confirmed in March 2015 that Foxx had been dating Katie Holmes for two years — and the twosome kept their romance under the radar for six years before calling it quits.
A source exclusively told Us in August 2019 that Holmes was the one to pull the plug after realizing “their lives were different.”
The Baby Driver actor proceeded to keep quiet about his dating life in the years after his split from Holmes, instead focusing on raising his kids. In April 2023, Corinne and her family asked for prayers after Foxx suffered an undisclosed medical emergency. One month later, the Beat Shazam host broke his social media silence.
“Appreciate all the love!!!” he wrote via Instagram in May 2023. “Feeling blessed.”
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Scroll down for a look back at Foxx’s career highlights over the years:
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