People: Underneath it all, Foxx still smiling

All Jamie Foxx really needed to know about show business he learned as a child.

He developed his most marketable skill, comedy, as a youngster in church. That’s also when he discovered music, learning dedication through piano lessons. Later, as the star quarterback at Terrell High School in Texas, Foxx learned the value of humility.

Now an Academy Award-winning actor, Grammy-nominated musician, film producer, radio host and stand-up comic, the 39-year-old entertainer continues to follow the advice of a high school friend.

“He said you’ll never be bigger than the game,” Foxx recalls. “The game will always be here, even when we’re gone and can’t do it anymore. That’s any business that we’re in. … You put the best you can into it, and then whatever you get out of it, be humble and thankful.”

On Foxx’s gratitude list are his latest projects, which include a starring role in the action-thriller “The Kingdom,” a weekly radio program on his own 24-hour channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, a follow-up to his hit R&B album and the occasional stand-up stint.

Comedy made him famous, but as a child Foxx dreamed of being a singer. At his grandmother’s urging, Foxx started studying piano at age 5. He went on to play for various churches in his hometown and study classical music in college.

He moved to Los Angeles, but when he didn’t find success, he took a detour at the Comedy Store.

“I had some impressions up my sleeve,” he says, suddenly talking like Mike Tyson, Ronald Reagan and Bill Cosby to prove the point. “That was my ticket.”

In 1991, Foxx was plucked from the standup stage to join the cast of the sketch-comedy show “In Living Color,” where he worked with Jim Carrey and “all 50,000 Wayans.”

“I still pinch myself,” Foxx says.

That led to “The Jamie Foxx Show” and eventually to his big-screen break: a leading part in Oliver Stone‘s football flick, “Any Given Sunday.” Six years later, Foxx won the best-actor Oscar for his performance in “Ray.”

He returned to music that same year, releasing his album, “Unpredictable,” at the end of 2005.

Despite starring roles in big-budget movies such as “Miami Vice” and “Dreamgirls,” Foxx pops into comedy clubs and keeps his colleagues laughing on movie sets.

“When Jamie is on, there’s nothing more fun in the world,” says Jennifer Garner, his co-star in “The Kingdom.” “Nobody works, nothing gets done on set.”

“The Kingdom” opened on Friday. His new album will be out next year. Then in 2009, he’ll have “The Soloist,” another film in which he plays a troubled musician.

Though music was his first love, Foxx has a new appreciation for the freedom of comedy.

“The art of standup comedy is completely pure,” he says. “It’s you, a crowd, a microphone and your thoughts, just you observing life and letting people feel it.”

The birthday bunch

Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 72. Actor Ian McShane is 65. Jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty is 65. Broadcaster Bryant Gumbel is 59. Comedian Andrew “Dice” Clay is 50. Bassist Brad Smith of Blind Melon is 39. Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner is 37. Actress Rachel Cronin is 36.