A recent Golden Globe winner for his acclaimed portrayal of late soul singer Ray Charles in Ray, Foxx, 37, is a tabloid staple thanks to some candid photos allegedly stolen from his Las Vegas home last year. Not that the Texas native appears overly worried. As he recently told GQ: "There's no farm animals involved. There's no men involved. And to be honest with you? [The photos are] nice."

Such brash self-confidence is no surprise. Foxx has made a career out of charming audiences with his playa-style smoothness and self-deprecating humour. It's what made him a standout performer on Fox TV's In Living Color and earned him his own series, The Jamie Foxx Show, on the WB. It also paved the way for high-profile support roles in Oliver Stone's gridiron epic Any Given Sunday (1999) and Michael Mann's hitman thriller Collateral (2004), as well as his showcase performance in last fall's Ray.

So who is Jamie Foxx? He was born Eric Bishop on December 13, 1967, in Terrell, Texas, a small town that prides itself on being the "city of tomorrow with the charm of yesterday." Certain of those charms, though, were lost on Foxx. "I heard 'n**ga this' and 'n**ga that' my entire life, so I couldn't wait 'til I got a chance to get away from there," he told Newsweek recently. "People tell me racism is just more subtle in places like Los Angeles and New York. Well, I prefer subtle s**t. You ain't got to let me know you don't like me ’Äì I already know that."

He excelled at music and sports, beginning piano lessons at age three at his loving but strict grandmother's insistence and becoming his high school's star quarterback.

Foxx was also funny, and, encouraged by friends, honed his natural stage presence at comedy club open mic nights. A move to LA (to start a music career initially) landed the 22-year old a recurring role on the Charles Dutton sitcom Roc. This led to a turn on the ensemble sketch comedy show In Living Color where he essayed any number of memorable characters, including the big-lipped, big-butted Wanda. He also continued to dabble in music, releasing the album Peep This in 1994.

The WB took a chance on the up-and-comer, giving him his own show in 1996. The Jamie Foxx Show cast him as Jamie King, an ambitious young man in search of fame in LA who hones his stand-up skills in the cocktail lounge of his family's once-celebrated hotel. The show lasted five seasons and earned him a 1998 Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.

Foxx continued to juggle TV with mostly forgettable films like 1997's Booty Call and 1998's The Players Club until his breakout role in 2001's Ali where he played Muhammad Ali's (Will Smith) trainer Drew 'Bundini' Brown. He returned to stand-up before earning roles in Collateral and Ray. Of the latter performance, much hailed by critics, MTV personality Kurt Loder has said "the Academy Awards people should probably just bundle up this year's Best Actor Oscar and FedEx it over to Jamie Foxx right away."

Indeed, Ray's critical and financial momentum seems to have landed Foxx on Hollywood's A-list. He's already won Best Actor at the Critics' Choice Awards and Golden Globes and is up for a Best Actor Oscar. Summer 2005 will see him co-star in Stealth, an expensive action film directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast and The Furious). He's also landed a role in American Beauty director Sam Mendes' prestige project Jarhead, due this fall - just in time for more Academy Award consideration. Rumour also has him reuniting with his Ali and Collateral director Mann in a big-screen adaptation of Mann's infamous TV show Miami Vice.

And Foxx hasn't forgotten his musical roots. He was nominated for BET's Best Collaboration Award last year for his appearance on Twista and Kanye West's track 'Slow Jamz', and has hit the lab with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Scott Stapp and Slash in preparation for a new studio album.

"You never know what might be on it. We might do 46 tracks, 'cause I got friends," Foxx told MTV news. "It's gonna be called Ambidextrous, which means I'm goin' in different ways. It's gonna be a grown-up record."

- BRIAN SLADE

Gwen Stefani
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ON TOUR: Duran Duran
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Under Surveillance 2005
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TRAVEL: Grand Bahama Island
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MOVIE: Constantine
.: The comic Hellblazer hits the big screen

SPORT: Chairmen of the Board
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Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory
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DVD: Miami Vice
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BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
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STUFF
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BODY LANGUAGE
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MOVIE PREVIEWS
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CONCERT CALENDAR
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TECHNOLOGY
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SOUNDTRAX
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REWIND/REPLAY
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THE END: Please Kill Me
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Simple Plan
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The Stills
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Good Charlotte
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Curioser and Curiosa
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