Jamie Foxxs real name is Eric Marlon Bishop. He was born on December 13, 1967, in Terrell, Texas, and was abandoned seven months after birth. He was subsequently adopted and raised in Terrell by his mothers adoptive parents, Estelle and Mark Talley. Foxx had a strict Baptist upbringing and began piano lessons at the age of five by his grandmothers orders. When he found that female comedians were often called first to perform, he changed his name to Jamie Foxx, feeling that it was an ambiguous enough name to disallow any biases. He chose his surname as a tribute to comedian Redd Foxx.