Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 1958) an American film actress and a writer of books for children. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in many horror films early in her career, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that covers many genres, and she has received an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Awards. Her 1998 book, Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day, made the best-seller list in The New York Times. She is married to actor Christopher Guest (Baron Haden-Guest) and, as the wife of a Baron, is titled Baroness Haden-Guest and therefore could be styled The Lady Haden-Guest, but she chooses to use neither the title nor the style when in the United States.Curtis was born in Los Angeles, California, the child of well-known actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Jamie's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Hungary. Tony and Janet divorced in 1962 and Janet remarried to Robert Brandt. Jamie has an older sister, Kelly Curtis, who is also an actress, and several half-siblings (all from her father's remarriage), Alexandra, Allegra, Ben, and Nicholas Curtis (who died in 1994 of a drug overdose).
Curtis attended both Westlake School in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills High School, but graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall. Returning to California in 1976, Jamie attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Jamie considered majoring in social work, but left after a semester in order to pursue a life in acting.
Curtis married actor Christopher Guest on December 18, 1984, becoming Lady Haden-Guest when her husband inherited the Barony of Haden-Guest in 1996, upon the death of his father. The couple have two adopted children, Anne Haden Guest (born 1986) and Thomas Haden Guest (born 1996). Both children are entitled to use the honorific The Honourable before their names, because of a Royal Warrant dated 30 April 2004 that addressed the status of adopted children of peers. However, the Haden-Guest title will be inherited by Christopher Guest's heir presumptive, his younger brother, Nicholas, since a peer's adopted children do not have succession rights.
Curtis is actor Jake Gyllenhaal's godmother.
Today, Curtis also takes time to support various philanthropic groups. She was Guest of Honor at the 11th annual Gala and Fundraiser in 2003 for Women in Recovery, Inc., a Venice, California-based non-profit organization offering a live-in, twelve-step program of rehabilitation for women in need. Past Honorees of this organization include Sir Anthony Hopkins; the 2005 honoree was Angela Lansbury.
