Jamie Lee Curtis' Parents: Actress Honors Oscar-Nominated Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis During Speech
John Castro Jamie Lee Curtis gave her late parents, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, a sweet shout-out during her win for Best Supporting Actress at the 2023 Oscars on Sunday. Curtis teared up as she noted that they were both nominated for Oscars in their lifetime.
Curtis won for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. At the end of her speech, she cried while sharing, "And my mother and my father were both nominated for Oscars in different categories -- I just won an Oscar."
Leigh, who died in 2004, was nominated in 1961 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Psycho but did not win, though she did win the category at the Golden Globes that year. Meanwhile, Curtis, who died in 2010, received his first and only Oscar nomination in 1959 for The Defiant Ones.
Curtis has previously weighed in on the "nepo baby" chatter given her famous parents. The 64-year-old actress took to Instagram to respond to Vulture's viral December 2022 cover story about the privilege that celebrities with famous parents have.
Curtis posted pics of herself with her famous parents and proudly dubbed herself "an OG Nepo Baby" in a lengthy caption.
"I have been a professional actress since I was 19 years old so that makes me an OG Nepo Baby," she wrote. "I've never understood, nor will I, what qualities got me hired that day, but since my first two lines on Quincy as a contract player at Universal Studios to this last spectacular creative year some 44 years later, there's not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars."
Though she acknowledged her privilege, Curtis wrote that "the current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt."
"For the record I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me, I don't pretend there aren't any, that try to tell me that I have no value on my own," she wrote. "It's curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever."
"I have come to learn that is simply not true. I have suited up and shown up for all different kinds of work with thousands of thousands of people and every day I've tried to bring integrity and professionalism and love and community and art to my work. I am not alone," Curtis continued. "There are many of us. Dedicated to our craft. Proud of our lineage. Strong in our belief in our right to exist."
Curtis encouraged everyone "in these difficult days of so much rage in the world" to try to "BE KIND, BE KIND; BE KIND."
Curtis isn't the first celeb with famous relatives to speak out. Kate Moss' sister, Lottie Moss, wrote on Twitter that she's "so sick of people blaming nepotism for why they aren't rich and famous or successful," and Ice Cube's son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., encouraged others in his position to "embrace that s**t" and to "not let anyone get it in your head that you should feel bad or your accomplishments are less than what they are."
The 2023 Academy Awards hosted by Jimmy Kimmel airs live on Sunday, March 12 starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. In the meantime, keep checking back into ETonline.com for complete Oscars coverage including all the night's big winners.
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