Jamie Foxx: Black Millionaire Blueprint for Success

Jamie Foxx was born Eric Morlon Bishop in Terrell, Texas, outside of Dallas, where he was raised by his grandparents. He was rejected by both his mother and Muslim father and that separation continues to this day, despite the fact that Foxx has reached out to both even after he became rich and famous, when it’s often the other way around. His father refused to reconnect with him unless he converted from his Baptist upbringing to Islam. 

Bishop’s late grandmother, his hero to this day, started him out playing the piano at age 3, ironically the same age that his idol, Ray Charles, began playing the keys. That fortuitous happenstance would be key to Bishop landing the role of a lifetime more than 30 years later.

Bishop was also a star on his Terrell High School basketball and football teams, being the starting quarterback on the latter.