Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for her performances in the horror and slasher genres, alongside multiple comedies, she is regarded as a "scream queen". As of 2023, her films have grossed over $2.5 billion at the box office. Curtis has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.

The youngest daughter of actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Curtis made her screen debut in a 1977 episode of the television drama Quincy, M.E.. Her feature film debut came with the role of Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's horror Halloween (1978); the role proved to be Curtis' breakthrough and established her as a prominent scream queen. Her subsequent horror roles have included The Fog, Prom Night, and Terror Train (all 1980), as well as six sequels from the Halloween franchise, concluding with Halloween Ends (2022). She also gained brief recognition as a sex symbol following her role as a fitness instructor in Perfect (1985) and she won her first Golden Globe for the sitcom Anything but Love (1989–1992).

Curtis' most successful roles outside of the horror genre have been in the comedies Trading Places (1983), True Lies (1994), and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022); these respectively earned her BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award wins. Her other film credits include A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Blue Steel (1990), My Girl (1991), The Tailor of Panama (2001), Freaky Friday (2003), Christmas with the Kranks (2004), Knives Out (2019), The Last Showgirl (2024), and Freakier Friday (2025). Curtis earned her first Emmy nomination for the television film Nicholas' Gift (1998), and later won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the FX series The Bear (2022–present). She also acted in the satirical slasher series Scream Queens (2015–2016).

Curtis has written numerous children's books that have made The New York Times's best-seller list.

Curtis was born on November 22, 1958, in Santa Monica, California, to actors Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; 1925–2010) and Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; 1927–2004). Her father was Jewish, a son of emigrants from Mátészalka, Hungary. Her mother was of Danish, German, and Scotch-Irish descent. She has an older sister, actress Kelly Curtis (born 1956), and four half-siblings from her father's later marriages: Alexandra, actress Allegra Curtis (born 1966), Benjamin, and Nicholas (who died of a drug overdose in 1994).

Curtis's parents divorced in 1962. She has stated that, after the divorce, her father was "not around" and that he was "not interested in being a father". After her father's death, she learned that she and her siblings had all been cut out of his will. Her mother married stockbroker Robert Brandt, who helped raise her. Curtis attended the elite Harvard-Westlake School and Beverly Hills High School in Los Angeles, and graduated in 1976 from Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut. Returning to California in 1976, she studied law at her mother's alma mater—University of the Pacific in Stockton, California—but dropped out after one semester to pursue an acting career.

Curtis made her television debut in a 1977 episode of the drama series Quincy, M.E.. She went on to guest star on several series, including The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Columbo, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. She appeared as Nurse Lt. Barbara Duran in the short-lived comedy series Operation Petticoat (1977–1978), based on the 1959 film that starred her father, Tony Curtis. Curtis was also a game show panelist on several episodes of Match Game.

Her film debut occurred in John Carpenter's 1978 horror film Halloween, in which she played the role of Laurie Strode. The film was a major success and was considered the highest-grossing independent film of its time, earning accolades as a classic horror film. The producer, Debra Hill, specifically cast Curtis because her mother, Janet Leigh, had been known as a horror icon due to her Oscar-nominated performance in Psycho. She would also return to the Halloween franchise seven times, playing Strode in the sequels Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022), and having an uncredited voice role in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982).