The Tragic True Story Of Jamie Foxx
Legendary actor and entertainer, Jamie Foxx, originally named Eric Marlon Bishop, has had a long and storied life. He first got a taste for performing as a young boy, playing piano from the age of 5 and going on to attend college under a music scholarship. While there, Foxx began doing stand-up sets at local clubs, honing a comedic craft that would eventually come in handy with "In Living Color," the show that introduced his genius to the world. From there, Foxx went on to prove himself as a serious, multifaceted, Academy Award-winning actor.
While Foxx is widely loved and respected today, he came from humble beginnings, and the road to revelry hasn't been a straight shot. He's had crushed dreams, career missteps, controversial moments, a long history of family troubles, and a recent reckoning with his own mortality. It's been an exhausting journey, and many fans might be shocked by everything they don't know about one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
He was abandoned as a baby
Jamie Foxx's life was riddled with roadblocks from the get-go, as he was abandoned by both of his parents when he was only 7 months old. However, when speaking with Oprah Winfrey for O Magazine, Foxx conceded that it wasn't a totally tragic story, as he did have others around to look after him. "Although my parents weren't around, my grandparents adopted me," Foxx said. "I was never short on the love of a mother and father, though it came from an earlier generation of family."
He uses the term "grandparents" here in the general sense, as the woman whom he calls his grandmother, Estelle Marie Talley, isn't actually his biological family. She had adopted his mother, Louise Annette Talley Dixon, which, as he explained in an interview with EW, actually makes his mother his legal sister as well. While they might not be family in the straightforward sense, Foxx elaborated to EW that his grandmother was kin in all the ways that counted. "My grandmother was my crew," he said. "She made sure I had every opportunity to cultivate the talents that I had."
He waited for them to come back
Though his parents had left him behind, Jamie Foxx said he couldn't help but still miss them. Speaking with Oprah Winfrey for O Magazine, Foxx confessed that growing up, he was always waiting for them to return. "I wanted my mom to show up," he said. No one could blame him if he hated his parents for what he did, he still had nothing but love for his absent mother. "She was so fly and good-looking. We were country, but my mom was straight city. She had the new hair, the gold earrings, the Sting Ray Corvette."
In contrast to his cravings for a cool mom, Foxx told Winfrey he had more mixed feelings regarding his father. While he said he was hopeful, he was also confused as to why his father wouldn't come back for him. "Why couldn't he drive 28 miles to check on a son who passed a football more than 1,000 yards?" pondered Foxx. He went on to explain that he felt his relationship with his father was complicated by religion: "I think some of his absence has to do with his being a Muslim. He drew a line in the sand: 'I'm a Muslim, and since you're not, I can't be your father.'" He said that when they reunited many years later, Foxx approached his father and asked, "Listen, I understand observing your religion, but is that worth missing out on your son's life?" Aside from that conversation, Foxx said, his father is not present in his life.
His dreams of being a football player were crushed
Jamie Foxx always had ambitions of making it big, but not as a Hollywood Star. Initially, Foxx hoped to play professional football. "I wanted to be a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys," the Texas-born actor told Deseret News. This wasn't just a pipe dream either, as he was in fact a very talented player back in the day.
While playing on the football team at Terrell High School in Texas, Foxx ruled the field and broke records, becoming the first quarterback to pass for more than 1,000 yards in the school's entire history. While no one could deny he had talent, Foxx said sports stardom wasn't in the cards for him, as he just wasn't gifted with the right physical dimensions to play professionally: "When you find out you're not big enough, you've got to find something else to do," he said.
Obviously, Foxx was able to find another funnel for his talent in Hollywood, but Terrell High made sure his athletic legacy lived on and actually named its performing arts center after him as a grand-standing monument for putting the school on the map.
He was held back because of his race
While his dreams of being a football player didn't pan out for him, Jamie Foxx still had a bright future in the arts and attended the United States International University in San Diego on a music scholarship. Initially, Foxx was excited about finally leaving behind the racial bigotry of rural Texas, and hoped that things would be different at college. "I'd come from a world where blacks and whites were separated by the town's railroad tracks," Foxx told Oprah Winfrey for O Magazine. "At the university, there were people from 81 different countries. I met people who looked like me."
Reality soon came crashing down on the starry-eyed musician, though, as Foxx learned that despite that he was now in a more diverse pool of peers, his race was still going to be a roadblock for him. In an interview with People, Foxx revealed that he was partially excluded from his college music department because he's Black. "They wouldn't let me go on the stage but they would let me behind the curtain because there weren't any African Americans in the production," said Foxx. "So I [would] sing in the back, and I would just sing the parts they needed me [for]."
He fumbled an Oscar-winning role
When appearing on "The Graham Norton Show," Jamie Foxx revealed that he once auditioned for the role of Rod Tidwell in the 1996 hit film "Jerry Maguire." He went to New York to read for the part across from Tom Cruise, but unfortunately for Foxx, the audition was a bit rough.
On the show, Foxx reenacts reading his lines with vigor. "As I'm reading, I'm loud, 'Show me the money!'" Cruise, on the other hand, was muttering his lines in a silent, under-the-breath sort of manner. This strange delivery threw Foxx off, and he said he actually thought that Cruise had lost his place, so he stopped reading and tried to show Cruise where they were in the script. Foxx then recalls Cruise saying, "I know, I said the line, I'm waiting on you." This misstep shook Foxx up, and from there, he said the audition just fell apart. "I'm sweating, I done lost my place, I went blind."
This was a tragic error on Foxx's part, and the role of Ray eventually went to Cuba Gooding Jr. In 1997, the actor took home an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his work in the film. It could've been Foxx on that stage!
He lost his grandmother
In 2004, Estelle Marie Talley passed away at her home in Terrell, Texas. This was a devastating death for Jamie Foxx, as his grandmother was the one who raised him, and those memories overtook him in the wake of her death. "I remember those hands wipin' tears from my face," Foxx recalled to GQ. "Those hands had me stuck at the casket. ... I couldn't move." It wasn't a simple fact of being brought up by the woman, either. The two shared a genuine, authentic bond, one that Foxx said he doesn't share with many. "If you could go to heaven right now and say, 'Where is Estelle Talley?' Do that interview," Foxx said. "Because that's who knows me. Nobody else."
At the time of her passing, Foxx said, he was shaken, but in the years that have followed, he's looked back with nothing but love. In 2019, Foxx celebrated his grandmother's birthday on Instagram, posting an old picture of the two of them together with the caption "My rock... Miss u always... #iwishyouwerehere."
His father left him twice
While the loss of his grandmother was heartbreaking for Jamie Foxx, a glimmer of hope came out of it, as his father actually showed up at her funeral. In a profile by GQ, Foxx said that, after years of absence, his father was tentatively testing the waters to rejoin the family: "Are you my son? Are you not my son? I wanna reconcile but I'm scared," he said his father had asked him.
It seemed as if his father was hoping to make amends and finally forge a real father-son relationship, so Foxx said he opened his arms, telling his father, "You don't have to be scared. It is what it is." Despite the hope this brief encounter spurred, Foxx said, after the funeral, his father disappeared on him yet again, and they hadn't spoken since.
The funeral happened in 2004, but even a decade later, in 2014, Foxx admitted he would make room for another reunion, telling The Sunday Times that "the door is open" for his father. He did concede that this wasn't about blind forgiveness, but partially in hopes of settling some of the questions that had plagued him for years, like why father never visited him despite living less than 30 miles away. "What happened? Where were you? Were you stricken with something? Could you not make it?" Foxx asked.
He almost lost his stepfather
While Jamie Foxx's biological dad was never around, he said he was able to find a consistent father figure with his mother's second ex-husband, George Dixon. Dixon was there for him in a way his real father wasn't and would show up to the sports events Foxx's biological father always failed to appear at. "Sometimes he'd stand outside the fence and say, 'C'mon, man!' And I'd make it," Foxx told GQ. "I'd make the high jump."
For a brief moment, in a tragic turn of events that seems almost too cruel to be true, Foxx almost lost this father figure as well. While speaking with Graham Norton on his talk show, Foxx said that Dixon had been sentenced to seven years of prison on a drug charge. This was particularly hard on Foxx, as this man meant the world to him: "That father taught me everything," he said.
Foxx told GQ that he felt like his stepfather, this man whom he admired so much, had failed him, but he wasn't going to just kick him to the curb. "I felt that he let me down," he said, but he also extended an invitation to his stepdad for when he got out of prison. "I said, 'You are gonna live with me.' I got his parole changed. I said, 'I will save your life, because your kids are something special." He took his stepfather in, and as of 2020, Dixon had been living with him for 20 years.
His mom came back, but it wasn't easy
Jamie Foxx's stepfather isn't the only family member he's taken in and forgiven despite their missteps. When speaking with O Magazine in 2005, Foxx had said he and his mother hadn't yet reconnected, but when speaking with "The Graham Norton Show" in 2020, according to The Sun, the actor revealed that things had changed and that his mother had been living with him since 2008.
Despite being thankful to have her back in his life, Foxx has expressed that it wasn't just an immediate flash-forward to mother and son bonding. The road to reconciliation can be rocky, and there was a lot of his childhood that he had left to process. "We're trying to learn about each other," he told The Sunday Times. "You realize certain things that you missed when you were growing up, like, 'Oh, I do that because of that,' or 'Oh, I do this because of this.'"
He's battled with substance abuse and his mental health
Over the years, Jamie Foxx has opened up about his struggle with substance abuse and its chaotic effect on his mental health. In an interview with HipHollywood, he recalled having drug-induced mental breaks which he says were so bad, his family had to intervene. "When that [was] happening, I was lucky enough to have people like my sister, like my family, to say, 'Yo, you can't go out right now, because you're talking crazy."
His family wasn't the only concerned party who felt like they needed to step in and save the actor at times. In 2005, Foxx was partying hard after being nominated for an Academy Award for best actor for his role as Ray Charles in "Ray." Foxx told Howard Stern that one week prior to the Oscars, Oprah Winfrey had called him to try and set him straight, "You're blowing it, Jamie Foxx," Winfrey said to him. "All of this gallivanting and all this kind of s***, that's not what you want to do."
Winfrey held an informal kind of intervention for Foxx, which he said helped him calm down and take a step back from his reckless lifestyle. "To this day, it's the most significant time in my life where it was, like, a chance to grow up," Foxx told the radio show host.
His reputation has been somewhat tarnished
Over the course of his career, Jamie Foxx has ruffled a few feathers with certain tasteless comments and controversial behavior. During an episode of "The Jamie Foxx Show" in 2009, he made some inappropriate comments about Miley Cyrus, who was underage at the time. "Make a sex tape and grow up," Foxx said. "Get some crack in your pipe. ... Catch chlamydia on a bicycle seat."
In 2015, rumors had started to leak about Caitlyn Jenner's gender transition, and when introducing Jenner at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Foxx made some jokes that many considered to be bordering on transphobia (per Reuters). "He's doing a his and her duet all by himself," Foxx remarked to Jenner. "Look, I'm just busting your balls — while I still can."
These comments are just the tip of the iceberg for Foxx. He's also come under fire for a slew of other reported offenses including defending controversial rappers like Kanye West and Chris Brown, mocking deaf people, allegedly sexually assaulting a woman (a claim that, according to Us Magazine, he denies), as well as having meltdowns, getting physical, and exhibiting cruel behavior on sets.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
He was 'shattered' by the death of his sister
Jamie Foxx was always close with his sister, Deondra Dixon. Deondra suffered from Down syndrome, and he often served as her caretaker. When speaking with GQ, Foxx recalled people asking him if looking after her was too much of a burden, which he emphatically denied: "You know what? If I can't take care of my sister ... what will people think of me?" remarked Foxx. "Sittin' up in Mr. Chow, drinking Dom Pérignon and doing interviews with GQ. ... No, we won't have any of that." In 2018, Foxx told Dateline (per People) that his sister is the one who taught him "how to live."
In 2020, Foxx took to Instagram to share the tragic news of her death. He posted several photos of the two of them together along with a bittersweet caption, "My heart is shattered into a million pieces... my beautiful loving sister Deondra has transitioned... I say transitioned because she will always be alive... anyone who knew my sis... knew that she was a bright light."
His daughter Corinne was diagnosed with a painful condition
For many years, Jamie Foxx's daughter Corinne Foxx experienced debilitating pain and nausea during her menstrual cycle. She told People that she had thought this was normal, as several doctors had brushed off her concerns regarding these symptoms. "There's a lot of medical gaslighting that goes into this journey," Corinne said. "I think women of color, especially, are often silenced or not believed when they come in with symptoms."
It wasn't normal though, as Corinne was eventually diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis, a condition by which abnormal tissue grows outside the uterus, causing extreme discomfort to its patients. Corinne actually had to undergo surgery in 2018 to relieve herself of the pain. Following that difficult journey, Corinne became an ambassador for the Endometriosis Foundation of America, as well as an executive producer of "Below the Belt," a documentary raising awareness about the condition.
After the release of the film, Jamie Foxx took to Instagram to applaud his daughter for powering through such a severe struggle and making something good out of it. "So proud of my daughter," Foxx wrote, "Please check out the documentary movie Below The Belt... you will be blown away by the courage the women possess in this film."
He went through 'hell' with a health scare
While his daughter, Corinne Foxx, was originally the focus of the Foxx families' thoughts and prayers, things took a real turn on April 12, 2023. Alarm bells were sounded when Corinne posted to social media that her father had suffered a "medical complication," but didn't provide much elaboration or context (per CNN). A source told CNN that Jamie Foxx was hospitalized in Georgia, but not much else was known, and an outpour of concern from friends and fans began to flood the internet.
For weeks, the public was in the dark as to the current condition of the beloved actor, but on May 12, Jamie Foxx took to social media to reassure everyone that he was still alive and kicking and said he was very touched by everyone's well wishes. "Appreciate all the love!!! Feeling blessed," he wrote, "see u all soon."
Later in 2023, Jamie Foxx returned to Instagram with a video providing some explanation as to why word about his condition was kept so under wraps. "I just didn't want you to see me like that ... with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was going to make it through." He also cleared up some of the rumors about his condition, saying that it wasn't as bad as some people were claiming but that it was still harrowing: "Some people said I was blind ... said I was paralyzed. I'm not paralyzed, but I went to hell and back."