A man of many talents, Jamie Foxx has done it all. From starting out as a comedian, to transitioning to a successful singer, to becoming an even more successful actor with Academy Award-winning roles in films such as Ray and Collateral, Foxx’s name is well known by the average person. What’s less known is the moniker Eric Marlon Bishop, which is the actor’s real name.
Born in 1967 Bishop was ad opted and raised solely by his grandmother. Creatively talented from the age of five he quickly became popular for his ability to tell jokes. But why exactly did Bishop decide to change his name to what he’s known as now?
The actor started out in 1989 telling jokes at a comedy club; when he realized that female comedians were often called up first he decided to change his name to a more gender neutral “Jamie” in order to eliminate any bias. He chose the second name of Foxx as a tribute to the comedian Redd Foxx.
Making a name for himself
The rest, as they say, is history, Foxx received his first movie role in 1991. He fast became a rising star in Hollywood and in 2005 he became the third man in history to receive two acting Oscar nominations within the same year for two different films.
He’s only become more and more of an established actor since then, with roles in Django Unchained and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Back in April the actor was hospitalized for an unknown illness although reports suggest that he is recovering now. Hopefully he’ll soon be back to doing what he’s been doing since 1989, entertaining the masses. You can next catch him in thriller God is a Bullet, which just dropped its first trailer, out this June 23.