Eric Marlon Bishop, known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, singer-songwriter, and record producer, who is best known for portraying Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical drama film Ray, which earned him an Academy Award, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics' Choice Movie Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He also played the titular role of Quentin Tarantino's 2012 revisionist Western film Django Unchained, Max Dillon/Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Will Stacks in the 2014 film remake of Annie, and voiced Nico the canary in the Blue Sky's Rio films and Bug in the 2023 R-rated Universal Pictures comedy film Strays.
For Disney, he voiced Joe Gardner in the 2020 Disney/Pixar film Soul. He also reprised his role as Max Dillon/Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in the 2021 Marvel film Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Born in Terrell, Texas, Foxx is the son of Darrell Bishop (renamed Shahid Abdula following his conversion to Islam), who sometimes worked as a stockbroker, and Louise Annette Talley Dixon. Shortly after his birth, Foxx was adopted and raised by his mother's adoptive parents, Esther Marie (Nelson), a domestic worker and nursery operator, and Mark Talley, a yard worker. He has had little contact with his birth parents, who were not part of his upbringing. He was raised in the black quarter of Terrell, which, at the time, was a racially segregated community. He has oftentimes acknowledged his grandmother's influence as one of the greatest reasons for his success.
Foxx began playing the piano when he was five years old. He had a strict Baptist upbringing and, as a teenager, was a part-time pianist and choir leader in Terrell's New Hope Baptist Church. His natural talent for telling jokes was already in evidence as a third grader, when his teacher used him as a reward: if the class behaved well, Foxx would tell them jokes. He attended Terrell High School, where he received top grades and played basketball and football (as quarterback). His ambition was to play for the Dallas Cowboys, and he was the first player in the school's history to pass for more than 1,000 yards. He also sang in a band called Leather and Lace. After high school, Foxx received a scholarship to United States International University, where he studied musical and performing arts composition.
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