You may have seen her in television interviews, or read about her
in magazines, but you don't really know Jamie Lee Curtis. And the
daughter of tinsel-town royalty prefers it that way. Born to Hollywood
luminaries Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh in 1958, Curtis has been in the
glare of celebrity throughout her life, and it has given her a
gimlet-eyed view of fame.
Taking a seat beneath a long line of windows in her unpretentious
southern California home, the actress explains both the danger and the
usefulness of stardom. "I don't need any more attention; it didn't do
much for me," she says. "The attention that I have received--both because
of the notoriety of my family and because I am an actor--did not give me
self-esteem. It didn't stop me from seriously risking my life with drugs
and alcohol."
It did, however, allow her to shift attention to people who need
it, a beneficial aspect of fame she learned early on. "My mother joined
forces with other celebrity women to create SHARE, an organization that
works with the mentally handicapped community. SHARE stands for 'Share
Happily and Reap Endlessly,'" Curtis says.
After 43 years in the limelight, Curtis now gets satisfaction from
helping lesser-known causes. "Organizations that have hundreds of
celebrities showing up for them don't need me," the actress says. "But
many other organizations need a spotlight to raise awareness and money.
The only value of having the spotlight on me is that I can mirror it back
to someone or something else."
Which is just what Curtis does. Though involved with many
charities, she is self-effacing about her role in all of them. If asked
about her work at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, she discusses at
length the caring people who work there but doesn't mention that she has
spent the past two decades visiting its terminally ill children. While
describing in detail the bravery of those she met through the Children
Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF), she neglects to tell you about her
many hours of tireless fund-raising.
A little research unearths that Curtis first became involved with
CAAF after losing a friend to the disease. Since 1998 she has attended
the organization's annual Halloween fund-raiser every year-a fitting
touch for a woman who earned the title "Scream Queen" in the film
Halloween.
"CAAF is just a natural fit for me, given my relationship with the
AIDS crisis and because of my friend Rick, who died of the disease," she
explains.
Curtis' interest in children's causes first began while shooting a
film in 1983, when she befriended Lori Tull, a 13-year-old
heart-transplant patient.
"The town that we were shooting in put on a benefit for Lori, one
of the first successful teenage heart-transplant patients," she says. "I
met her and we became friends over the course of the rest of her life,
which was another six years."
Where Do Balloons Go?
To truly discover the extent to which Curtis is involved with
helping children, you would have to hear it from others. Perhaps no story
is more telling than that of Katie Westbrook. A young cancer patient who
aspired to be a lawyer, Katie met Curtis during a fund-raiser for
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the two quickly became
close.
"Katie wasn't in awe of Jamie, and Jamie didn't pity Katie," Beth
Westbrook, Katie's mother, says. "They genuinely connected, whether they
were talking about cancer or boy bands. Once, after getting off the phone
with Jamie, Katie said, 'You know, Mom, she doesn't like me--she loves
me.'"
Another time, Katie underwent a 23-hour-long surgical procedure. A
nurse approached Beth in the waiting room to tell her that Beth's sister
had been calling for regular updates throughout the ordeal. Puzzled
because her sister was standing beside her, Beth asked the caller's name.
"She would only say 'Jamie,'" the nurse replied.
After the surgery, Curtis flew out to Pittsburgh to see Katie, who
spoke excitedly about receiving an honorary law degree from Duquesne
University. The commencement took place the day after Katie's fifteenth
birthday. She died three hours before the ceremony.
After the funeral, Beth thanked Curtis for her endless support.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Curtis replied. Today she remains
close with the Westbrooks, and has taken Katie's younger sister, Kerry,
under her wing. "She is not a celebrity," Beth says. "She is a
friend."
Curtis, all too familiar with losing friends, draws on her personal
experiences in her children's book
Where Do Balloons Go?Using the premise of errant
helium balloons, the book helps children explore the idea of loss in a
less-frightening way.
Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born
Curtis and her husband, actor and director Christopher Guest, have
two adopted children: Annie, 15, and Tom, 6. Not surprisingly, Curtis'
second book,
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, focuses on
adoption. The story is a helpful introduction to the topic for children
and is engagingly illustrated.
"I think we, as parents, forget that we are also teachers," Curtis
explains. "If our children don't have good learning skills, it will be
our fault." However, she doesn't believe that learning is a one-way
street.
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