Jamie Lee Curtis is getting nostalgic, taking a look back at her very first days in the industry as a working actress.
The Oscar-winning star, 67, who most recently appeared in the show Scarpetta with Nicole Kidman, Bobby Cannavale, and Simon Baker, took to Instagram with a throwback to her first days on a movie set as a teenager.
© Getty ImagesJamie Lee was born into Hollywood royalty, the daughter of one of Hollywood's original scream queens, Janet Leigh, and debonair heartthrob Tony Curtis. While she grew up with acting in her veins, she originally had other plans in mind.
Upcoming milestone
"Next year, I will [have] been an actress for 50 years," she wrote on Instagram. "I was never going to be an actor. I thought I'd be a cop."
She included a photo from one of her very first jobs, playing an unnamed waitress on an episode of the crime drama Columbo in 1977. Earlier that year, she'd made her screen debut in an episode of Quincy, M.E. playing "girl in dressing room."
"I was telling the story on set of my early jobs as an unnamed waitress on a Columbo episode when I was a contract player at @universalpictures and now I am a producer, HBIC, a costar with @nicolekidman and collaborator on Scarpetta," she added.
© Instagram"There was no future tripping. It was just each job, one job at a time, grateful for any opportunity and patience. Lots of [expletive] patience," Jamie Lee capped it off, and fans took to the comments section to lavish praise on her for her illustrious career.
"Congrats on such a fantastic career!" one wrote, with another saying: "So glad you decided to pursue acting," and a third adding: "Congratulations on blessing us with wonderful performances these last 50 years. We love you JLC, what an inspiration."
© Getty ImagesJamie Lee Curtis' impressive career
Soon after her minor 1977 appearances, Jamie Lee broke into the mainstream when she debuted as Laurie Strode in 1978's John Carpenter film Halloween, an independent slasher that ended up becoming a surprise box office smash and is now considered one of the landmarks in the genre.
It also made Jamie Lee a bonafide scream queen herself, directly following in her Psycho star mom's footsteps. She continued her work in horror films, then earning acclaim for her supporting turn in the 1983 comedy Trading Places, which won her a BAFTA.
© Getty ImagesFilms like A Fish Called Wanda (1988), My Girl (1991), True Lies (1994), Freaky Friday (2003), Knives Out (2019), The Last Showgirl (2024), and Freakier Friday (2025) have cemented her status as both a bankable star and a critical darling.
2022's Everything Everywhere All At Once proved to be a major highlight in her career, with the film not only winning Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards (one of its seven prizes that night), it also won Jamie Lee her own Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
© Getty ImagesShe will next be seen in the films The Only Living Pickpocket in New York and Sender, both of which premiered during the festival circuit earlier this year but are yet to receive a wider release.
