It appears that whatever Jamie Foxx turns his hand too he is a success. While the thirty nine year old Texan is best known for his acting ability he has also had a very successful music career as well as being a stand up comedian.Foxx began his career in stand-up comedy appearing in the ground breaking U.S comedy sketch show In Living Colour in 19991 before going on to star in The Jamie Foxx Show. The sit com, which followed aspiring musician Jamie King, ran from 1996 to 2001.His big break into movies came in 1999 when he was cast in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, which starred Al Pacino.Since then he has become one of Hollywood's most respected and celebrated actors. He is still only the second male actor to be nominated twice, in the same year but for two different films at the Oscars.In 2004 he secured a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as taxi driver Max Durocher in Michael Mann's Collateral, alongside Tom Cruise.But this performance was eclipsed by his role as music legend Ray Charles in the biopic of his life and career Ray.
He beast actors Don Cheadle, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Clint Eastwood to the Best Actor Oscar becoming only the third African American in history, behind Denzel Washington and Sydney Poitier, to win the award.
Since his Oscar win Foxx has starred in stealth, Gulf War memoir Jarhead, Miami Vice and musical Dreamgirls.
He will next be seen in action/political thriller The Kingdom directed by Peter Berg and also starring Jennifer Garner and Chris Cooper.
Away from the big screen Foxx has also expanded his talent into the music industry.
While he did release an album in 1994 it wasn't until a decade later that his music career has really taken off.
Prior to the release of his second album Foxx worked with Twista and Kanye West. His second collaboration with West Gold Digger topped the Billboard 100 staying their for ten weeks.
His second album Unpredictable rose to the top of the Billboard pop album chart as well as reaching number nine in the UK.
Behind Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Cher and Bing Crosby Foxx becomes only the fifth number one selling music artist to have also won an Academy Award for acting.
After the release of The Kingdom Foxx is to begin work on The Soloist, a film basec on the musical prodigy Nathaniel Ayers, with Robert Downey Jr.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw