Jamie Lee Curtis Reveals How Her Mom Janet Leigh Taught Her to Give Back

When she first found fame as a terrorized babysitter in 1978’s Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis was carrying on a grand family tradition. Her mother, Janet Leigh, had been one of Hollywood’s original scream queens in 1960’s Psycho. Offscreen, Janet also taught Jamie Lee to use her voice in another way: to help others.

“My mother was a great actress, but she was also a member of a wonderful organization here in LA called SHARE,” the actress exclusively tells Closer Weekly at Project Angel Food’s recent Angel Awards Gala. “It’s an exceptional children’s foundation — a group of Hollywood moms who dedicate months of their time to put on a [benefit] show every year.” The Golden Globes winner, 60, also says her mom — who died at 77 in 2004 — taught her the importance of using fame to give back.

“The amount of attention, money and adulation public figures get is obscene,” the True Lies costar says. “Something better has to come from it.”

The Hollywood star, who is hotter and busier than ever thanks to last year’s smash Halloween reboot, is grateful for the people who helped her kick an addiction to opioids 20 years ago. “I had the great good fortune of understanding there are recovery rooms all over LA that would welcome me,” she says — her dad, Tony Curtis, also battled addiction. “Without sobriety, none of this would’ve ever happened for me.”

This isn’t the first time that the A-lister has gushed about her late parents — she once revealed the pros of growing up with famous folks. “One of the great benefits of being the daughter of great film stars is I had the opportunity to watch them play the game,” Jamie Lee said at the ICG Publicists Awards in [Los Angeles]. “Their example was crucial.”

“My mother and stepfather [Robert Brandt] were married for 43 years, so I had a very good role model for that,” Jamie Lee said. It is so great seeing just how big of a positive impact Jamie Lee’s parents had on her.

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