Jamie Foxx was born in Terrell, Texas on December 13, 1967 as Eric Marlon Bishop. It wasn't until the late 1980s that he decided to change his name. Why? Well, Foxx was actually interested in comedy, and he started performing at open mic nights in 1989, partially because his girlfriend at the time dared him to. He noticed that female comedians tended to be called to the microphone before male comedians, so he changed his name to the gender ambiguous "Jamie" in hopes of getting up on stage quicker. That's right, one of the most famous names in Hollywood came out of trying to trick the dudes running open mic nights. The Foxx was a tribute to Redd Foxx of Sanford and Son fame. He once said, "When you hear the name Foxxas in Redd Foxxyou automatically think funny." Speaking of comedy, that's something Foxx was apparently always interested in. He was funny even as a kid to the point that in second grade, he made the kids laugh so much that his teacher would promise the class that if they behaved, they'd get to listen to some of Jamie's jokes. That sounds like the best second grand class ever.
