Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx will receive an honorary doctorate from Jarvis Christian College this spring.
The university will bestow the degree on the Terrell native during the May 5 spring commencement ceremony in its E.W. Rand Center near Hawkins, said Sherry Shephard, the college’s director of media relations.
Foxx won an Academy Award in 2004 for his portrayal of legendary singer Ray Charles in the movie “Ray.” He also has won Grammy Awards for his R&B recordings and starred in a comedy series.
In announcing the degree, Jarvis Christian College released the following information about Foxx’s life and career.
Foxx was born in Terrell and raised by his mother’s adoptive parents, Mark and Esther Marie Talley. As a teenager, he was a part-time pianist and choir leader at New Hope Baptist Church and attended Terrell High School, where he received top grades and played on the basketball and football teams.
After high school, Foxx studied classical music and composition at United States International University.
Foxx has produced four albums that charted in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200: “Unpredictable,” “Intuition,” “Best Night of My Life” and “Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses.”
In 1991, he joined the cast of “In Living Color,” a sketch comedy series. After a recurring role in the comedy-drama “Roc,” he starred in his own sitcom, “The Jamie Foxx Show,” from 1996 to 2001. His other television performances include roles in “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” “Moesha” and the movie, “Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story.” Foxx currently is the host and executive producer of the game show “Beat Shazam.”
His film career includes roles in “Any Given Sunday,” “Ali,” “Collateral,” “Ray,” “Dreamgirls,” “Django Unchained,” “White House Down,” “Annie,” “Law Abiding Citizen,” “Sleepless” and “Baby Driver.”
