Jamie Lee Curtis

Curtis's film debut occurred in the 1978 horror film Halloween, in which she played the role of Laurie Strode. The film was a major success and was considered the highest grossing independent film of its time, earning accolades as a classic horror film. Curtis was subsequently cast in several horror films, garnering her the title "scream queen".

Curtis at the 1989 Emmy Awards

Her next film was The Fog, which was helmed by Halloween director John Carpenter. The horror film opened in February 1980 to mixed reviews but strong box office,[8] starting Curtis as a horror film starlet. Her next film, Prom Night, was a low-budget Canadian slasher film released in July 1980. The film, for which she earned a Genie Award nomination for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress, was similar in style to Halloween, yet received negative reviews which marked it as a disposable entry in the then-popular slasher genre. That year, Curtis also starred in Terror Train, which opened in October and met with negative reviews akin to Prom Night. Both films performed moderately well at the box office.[9]

Curtis had a similar function in both films—the main character whose friends are murdered and is practically the only protagonist to survive. Film critic Roger Ebert, who gave negative reviews to all three of Curtis's 1980 films, said that Curtis "is to the current horror film glut what Christopher Lee was to the last one—or Boris Karloff was in the 1930s."[10] Curtis has returned to the Halloween series five times, playing Laurie Strode again in the sequels Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), and Halloween (2018), and having an uncredited voice role in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982).

Her role in 1983's Trading Places helped Curtis shed her horror queen image, and garnered her a BAFTA award as best supporting actress.[11] 1988's A Fish Called Wanda achieved near cult status while showcasing her as a comedic actress; she was nominated for a BAFTA as best leading actress.[11] She won a Golden Globe for her work in 1994's True Lies. Her film roles also include Disney's Freaky Friday (2003), opposite Lindsay Lohan, filmed at Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, California, near where Curtis and Guest live with their children. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for this film.[12]

In October 2006, Curtis told Access Hollywood that she had closed the book on her acting career to focus on her family. She returned to acting after being cast in June 2007 in Disney's live-action-animated film Beverly Hills Chihuahua, co-starring opposite Piper Perabo as one of three live-action characters in the film. She also starred in the 2010 comedy film You Again, opposite Kristen Bell and Sigourney Weaver.[13]

Curtis in 2011

Curtis made her television debut in an episode of Columbo, and guest starred on several shows, including Charlie's Angels and the science fiction series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century She appeared as nurse Lt. Duran in the short-lived TV series Operation Petticoat (1977), based on the 1959 film that starred her father, Tony Curtis. Jamie Lee Curtis was a game-show panelist on several episodes of Match Game.

She starred in the 1981 TV film Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story, playing the eponymous doomed Playmate. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work in TNT's adaptation of the Wendy Wasserstein play The Heidi Chronicles. Her first starring TV role was opposite Richard Lewis in the situation comedy Anything But Love, which ran for four seasons from 1989 through 1992. Her performance as Hannah Miller received both a Golden Globe and People's Choice Award. More recently, Curtis starred in the CBS television movie Nicholas' Gift, for which she received an Emmy nomination. Curtis also appeared in an early episode of The Drew Carey Show.

In 2012, she appeared in 5 episodes of the television series NCIS, playing the role of Dr. Samantha Ryan, a potential romantic interest of Special Agent Gibbs (Mark Harmon). It was hinted that her role might be a recurring one. During an interview, she said that if they could develop a storyline, she would be more than happy to be on the show more.[14] It was at least the second time Harmon has worked with Curtis; he played her character's fiancé and later husband in the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday.[15]

From 2015 to 2016, Curtis had a lead role on the Fox television series Scream Queens, which aired for two seasons.

Working with illustrator Laura Cornell, Curtis has written a number of children's books,[16] all published by HarperCollins Children's Books.[17]

• When I Was Little: A Four-Year Old's Memoir of Her Youth, 1993.
• Tell Me Again About The Night I was Born, 1996.
• Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day, 1998; listed on the New York Times best-seller list for 10 weeks.[18]
• Where Do Balloons Go?: An Uplifting Mystery, 2000.
• I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem, 2002.
• It's Hard to Be Five: Learning How to Work My Control Panel, 2004.
• Is There Really a Human Race?, 2006.
• Big Words for Little People, ISBN 978-0-06-112759-5, 2008.
• My Friend Jay, 2009, edition of one, presented to Jay Leno
• My Mommy Hung the Moon: A Love Story, 2010.
• My Brave Year of Firsts, 2016.
• This Is Me: A Story of Who We Are and Where We Came From, 2016.
• Me, Myselfie & I: A Cautionary Tale, 2018.[19]

In 1987, Curtis filed a US patent application that subsequently issued as Patent No. 4,753,647. This is a modification of a diaper with a moisture-proof pocket containing wipes that can be taken out and used with one hand.[20] Curtis refused to allow her invention to be marketed until companies started selling biodegradable diapers.[21] The full statutory term of this patent expired February 20, 2007, and it is now in the public domain. She filed a second US patent application related to disposable diapers in 2016 which issued as US Patent 9,827,151[22] on November 28, 2017, and will expire on September 7, 2036.