Jamie Foxx

Born: 13th December 1967
Where: Terrell, Texas

The former boy scout, chorister and stand-up comedian was catapulted into the limelight as taxi driver Max opposite Tom Cruise's assassin in Collateral.

However, it was his sensational portrayal of American music sensation Ray Charles that cemented his place in the Hollywood firmament.

The role brought him the 2005 Best Actor Oscar and he was also nominated for best supporting actor for Collateral.

Raised by his grandparents, Foxx had strict upbringing, and studied music in college before attending the United States International University in San Diego.

In 1989 his life changed when a girlfriend challenged him to get up onstage at the Comedy Club and he took his androgynous stage name because he learned that women got preference for mike time on open stage nights.

In the next few years, Foxx appeared on stage at The Comedy Store and The Improv, and at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem.

He won the 1991 Oakland (California) Comedy Competition and also joined the cast of the TV sketch comedy show ,In Living Color, creating Wanda, one of the ugliest women in the world.

In 1992, Foxx won his first feature role, a supporting part to Robin Williams, in Toys.

Roles followed in Booty Call, The Players' Club and Held Up (his first lead role) before he was cast in Any Given Sunday.

He went on to star in the action comedy Bait and Will Smith's 2001 boxing biopic Ali as well as appear opposite Sly Stallone in the crime thriller Shade.

Offscreen, he received two years probation and was fined £1,500 in 2004 after allegations of assault against a policeman at a New Orleans casino.

After Collateral and Ray, he played a crack US Navy fighter pilot in the gung-ho action thriller Stealth with Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel.