| submarine on the 1977- 1978 ABC sitcom "Operation Petticoat". (Coincidentally, her father co-starred with Cary Grant in the original 1959 Blake Edwards-directed film.) Possessing neither the peaches-and-cream loveliness of her mother nor the sensuous, pretty-boy good looks of her father, Curtis had a sometimes gawky, somewhat androgynous look which combined an appealing ordinariness with a tomboy's formidably healthy sexiness. She gradually transcended her "scream queen" origins beginning with an affectingly romantic turn in "Love Letters" (1982) and especially her good-hearted prostitute in John Landis' Eddie Murphy/Dan Aykroyd vehicle, "Trading Places" (1983). The latter revealed Curtis' flair for comedy as well as other impressive attributes. Consequently she had to live down the nickname 'The Body', referring to a slim but curvaceous figure which producers loved to exploit in scantily clad (or briefly nude) fashion. The TV-movie "Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story" (NBC, 1981) used this aspect of her persona appropriately and touchingly, but the major critical and popular failure of the mis-titled "Perfect" (1985) slowed her ascending career a bit. 5Curtis kept busy in offbeat and interesting if little-seen fare like "Amazing Grace and Chuck" (1987) and a nice turn as Ray Liotta's love interest in "Dominick and Eugene" (1988) before comedy turned her career around again with her seductive con in "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988). She smoldered as the girlfriend of a crook (Kevin Kline) posing as a law student to get some valuable information out of his stuffy lawyer (John Cleese). As with Aykroyd, whom Curtis numbers among her favorite co-stars ("Trading Places"; "My Girl" 1991; "My Girl 2" 1994), she was a strangely apt choice to play opposite funnyman Cleese. (Despite her success with comedy, Curtis derides her abilities to deliver comic lines. She will only admit to being a good "reactor".) 5In a vivid change-of-pace, Curtis proved a credible and impressively complex action heroine in Kathryn Bigelow's stylish cop flick "Blue Steel" (1990). Box office was disappointing but VARIETY (February 7, 1990) was duly impressed: "Curtis gives an eerily effective performance as Turner, getting across in palpable waves her shaky determination and an inner steeliness born of anger against her abusive father (Philip Bosco)." 5Segueing to TV, Curtis also had a respected and enjoyable sitcom duet with Richard Lewis, "Anything But Love" (1989-92). This somewhat cynical and neurotic look at yuppie love struck a responsive chord with viewers, especially females. The show never won great ratings but kept rebounding on ABC's lineup until some bright young exec at Fox Television decided it would tank in syndication. Thus this became an exceedingly rare instance in which the production company, rather than the network, was responsible for a series' cancellation. 5Approaching her mid-thirties, Curtis gamely tried on bland but likable young mother and supportive girlfriend roles in "My Girl" and "Forever Young" (1992). Her 1994 work seemed to sum up her career to date with a turn in the deliberately over-the-top "Mother's Boys" which bizarrely revisited her horror roles of yore, while James Cameron's "True Lies" gave Curtis--rather surprisingly amid all the action pyrotechnics--a highly enjoyable showcase role encompassing her scream queen, pin-up, comedienne and mother roles. Reviewers remarked upon her rare ability to be simultaneously funny and sexy as she metamorphosed from mousy housewife to would-be sexpot to action heroine. Curtis' next two comedies failed to live up to her potential: she was an anal retentive Mom put under "House Arrest" (1996) by her resentful teen, and re-teamed with her old "Wanda" cohorts for the underperforming "Fierce Creatures" (1997). Curtis reprised her signature role of Laurie Strode in "Halloween H20" (1998) then went on to star with Bete Midler and Neve Campbell in Drowning Mona in 2000.Jamie also return to the Halloween series on last time for Halloween: Resurrection in 2002, she is set to star in another sequel to True Lies next year! |
