One of the most famous Halloween faces belongs to Jamie Lee Curtis. Aside from being the actual face of the Halloween movie franchise, she is a decorated actress and author. Curtis has taken her skills to the big screen and television screen in genres ranging from horror to drama to comedy.
Halloween was the film that put Jamie Lee Curtis in the spotlight. The classic seasonal movie debuted in 1978 and not only jumpstarted her career as a whole, but launched an ongoing appearance in horror films. Within four years of its release, Curtis landed three more horror film leads, including the sequel Halloween II. This streak of appearances pinned Curtis as the “Scream Queen.” Following her lead roles in Prom Night (1980), The Fog (1980), and Halloween II (1981), Curtis made her drama debut with a TV Movie entitled Death of a Centerfold: The Dorthy Stratten Story. This film is a biography based on a Canadian Playboy model’s abusive marriage that ultimately led to her death. After she made both horror and drama appearances, she took a stab (pun fully intended) at comedy. In 1983, she starred in Trading Places alongside comedy stars Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. From there on she was one of the biggest and commonly featured actresses of the 80s. In 1990, Curtis won her first Golden Globe for her comedic sitcom role in Anything But Love. She even dabbled in an action movie alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger True Lies (1994) which won her her second Golden Globe. She returned for the revivals of Halloween in 1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection (2002). Following her return to horror, she starred in the box-office hit remake of Freaky Friday (2003) starring as Lindsay Lohan’s mother. Curtis did not act in films much often following her Christmas classic role in Christmas with The Kranks (2004). She occasionally appeared in roles but returned primarily to television roles.
Aside from her actual TV roles, she was often seen in commercials and ads as a primary spokesperson for Activia yogurt. In 2012, she began her TV appearances often. She had recurring roles on hit TV shows New Girl and NCIS, but her largest TV role since was her role in Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens (2015-2016). While Curtis took over the horror genre in the 80s, Ryan Murphy has created one of the most well-known TV thrillers American Horror Story. So when he was creating another horror TV show titled from Curtis’ 80s nickname, it was only fitting she would have the main role as the dean of the university the show took place at.
While she was in between her shifts from movies to television, Curtis published six children’s books. She wrote periodically from 1993 to 2018 and was a co-author of Today I Feel Silly, and Other Mood That Make My Day which became a New York Times Best-Seller. She noted her two adopted children Annie and Tom were often inspirations for her writing. More recently, Curtis returned to the cinema screens in the mystery movie Knives Out (2019) and the newest Halloween installation Halloween Kills (2021). The latest Halloween movie is to be followed by Halloween Ends in 2022.