Jamie Lee Curtis was attending the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, when she decided that she — like her parents before her — wanted to pursue a career in acting. Curtis made her professional screen debut the following year (in 1977), playing an unnamed background character in an episode of "Quincy, M.E." She was 19. This quickly led to other notable TV roles in shows like "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" and "Columbo," as well s a lead role in the short-lived sitcom "Operation Petticoat."

During her flurry of TV jobs, Curtis landed her first role in a feature film, playing the intellectual teen Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's "Halloween." The 1978 horror film was a quick, cheap exploitation movie (it only had a budget of about $325,000), but it was a big career m

See Full Page