James Eugene "Jim" Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. Carrey began stand-up comedy in 1979 while under the management of Leatrice Spevack, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario. After gaining prominence in 1981, he began working at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles where he was soon noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who immediately signed him to open his tour performances. Carrey, long interested in film and television, developed a close friendship with comedian Damon Wayans, which landed him a role in the sketch comedy hit In Living Color, in which he portrayed various characters during the show's 1990 season. Having had little success in television movies and several low-budget films, Carrey was cast as the title character in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective which premiered in February, 1994 making $159,537,178 domestically and over $400 million worldwide. The film spawned a sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), in which he reprised the role of Ventura. These higher-profile roles eventually led to his being cast as Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask (1994) for which he gained a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and as Lloyd Christmas in the comedy film, Dumb and Dumber (1994).
Between 1996 and 1999, Carrey continued his success after earning lead roles in several highly popular films including The Cable Guy (1996), Liar Liar (1997), in which he was nominated for another Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and in the critically acclaimed films The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Both films earned Carrey Golden Globe awards, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Since earning the two Golden Globe awards, the only two in his three decade career, Carrey continued to star in highly acclaimed comedy films, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) where he played the title character, Bruce Almighty (2003), where he portrayed the role of unlucky TV reporter Bruce Nolan, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) and Yes Man (2008). Carrey has also taken on more serious roles including Joel Barish in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) alongside Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst which earned him another Golden Globe nomination, and Steven Jay Russell in I Love You Phillip Morris (2010) alongside Ewan McGregor.Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Comedy 2.2 Film 3 Personal life 3.1 Celebrity Relationships 4 Filmography 4.1 Film 4.2 Television 5 Other accolades 6 References 7 External links
Early life
Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario, the son of Kathleen (née Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, a musician and accountant.[1][2] He has three older siblings, John, Patricia, and Rita. The family was Catholic[3] his mother was of Scottish descent [4][5] and father of part French Canadian ancestry (as the original surname was Carré).[6] After his family moved to Scarborough, Ontario when Carrey was 14 years old, he attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School,[7] in North York, for two years, enrolled at Agincourt Collegiate Institute for another year, then briefly attended Northview Heights Secondary School, for the remainder of his high school career (altogether, he spent three years in Grade 10).
Carrey lived in Burlington, Ontario, for eight years and attended Aldershot High School, where he once opened for 1980s new wave band Spoons. In a Hamilton Spectator interview (February 2007), Carrey remarked, "If my career in show business hadn't panned out I would probably be working today in Hamilton, Ontario at the Dofasco steel mill." When looking across the Burlington Bay toward Hamilton, he could see the mills and thought, "Those were where the great jobs were."[8] At this point, he already had experience working in a science testing facility in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Career Comedy
Carrey, in the Premios 40 Principales in Madrid, Spain, December 13, 2008
In 1979, under the management of Leatrice Spevack, Carrey started doing stand-up comedy at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, where he rose to become a headliner in February 1981, shortly after his 19th birthday. One reviewer in the Toronto Star raved that Carrey was "a genuine star coming to life."[9] In the early 1980s, Carrey moved to Los Angeles and started working at The Comedy Store, where he was noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who signed the young comedian to open Dangerfield's tour performances.
Carrey then turned his attention to the film and television industries, auditioning to be a cast member for 1980–1981 season of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Carrey was not selected for the position (although he did host the show in May 1996). Joel Schumacher had him audition for a role in D.C. Cab, though in the end, nothing ever came of it.[10] His first lead role on television was Skip Tarkenton, a young animation producer on NBC's short-lived The Duck Factory, airing from April 12, 1984, to July 11, 1984, and offering a behind-the-scenes look at the crew that produced a children's cartoon.[11]
Carrey continued working in smaller film and television roles, which led to a friendship with fellow comedian Damon Wayans, who co-starred with Carrey as an extraterrestrial in 1989's Earth Girls Are Easy. When Wayans' brother Keenen began developing a sketch comedy show for Fox called In Living Color, Carrey was hired as a cast member, whose unusual characters included masochistic, accident-prone safety inspector Fire Marshall Bill, and masculine female bodybuilder Vera de Milo. Film
Carrey made his film debut in Rubberface (1983), which was released as Introducing...Janet. Later that year, he won the leading role in Damian Lee's Canadian skiing comedy Copper Mountain, which included his impersonation of Sammy Davis Jr. Since the film had a less than one hour runtime consisting largely of musical performances by Rita Coolidge and Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, it was not considered a genuine feature film. Two years later, in 1985, Carrey saw his first major starring role in the dark comedy Once Bitten, in the role of Mark Kendall, a teen virgin pursued by a 400-year old female vampire (played by Lauren Hutton). After supporting roles in films such as Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), and The Dead Pool (1988), Carrey did not experience true stardom until starring in the 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which premiered only months before In Living Color ended.
Ace Ventura was panned by critics, and earned Carrey a 1995 Golden Raspberry Award nomination as Worst New Star.[12] But the film was as embraced by fans as it was derided by critics. The Ventura character became a pop icon, and the film made Carrey a superstar. It was a huge commercial success, as were his two other starring roles from that year: The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. In 1995, Carrey appeared as the Riddler in Batman Forever and reprised his role as Ace Ventura in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Both films were successful at the box office and earned Carrey multi-million-dollar paychecks.
Carrey earned $20 million for his next film, The Cable Guy (directed by Ben Stiller), a record sum for a comedy actor. The film did not do well with critics, but Carrey quickly rebounded with the successful (and lighter) Liar Liar, a return to his trademark comedy style.
Carrey took a slight pay cut to play a more serious role to star in the critically-praised[13] science-fiction dramedy The Truman Show (1998), a change of pace that led to forecasts of Academy Award nominations. Although the movie was nominated for three other awards, Carrey did not personally receive a nomination, leading him to joke that "it's an honor just to be nominated...oh no," during his appearance on the Oscar telecast.[14] However, Carrey did win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama and an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance. That same year, Carrey appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on the final episode of Garry Shandling's The Larry Sanders Show, in which he deliberately ripped into Shandling's character.
In 1999, Carrey won the role of comedian Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. Despite critical acclaim, he was not nominated for an Academy Award, but again won a Best Actor Golden Globe award for the second consecutive year.
In 2000, Carrey reteamed with the Farrelly Brothers, who had directed him in Dumb and Dumber, in their comedy, Me, Myself & Irene, about a state trooper with multiple personalities who romances a woman played by Renée Zellweger. The film grossed $24 million on its opening weekend and $90 million by the end of its domestic run.
In 2003, Carrey reteamed with Tom Shadyac for the financially successful comedy Bruce Almighty. Earning over $242 million in the U.S. and over $484 million worldwide, this film became the second highest grossing live-action comedy of all time.
His performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2004 earned high praise from critics,[15][16][17] who again predicted that Carrey would receive an Oscar nomination; the film did win for Best Original Screenplay, and co-star Kate Winslet received an Oscar nomination for her performance. (Carrey was also nominated for a sixth Golden Globe for his performance).
In 2004, he played the villainous Count Olaf in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was based on the popular children's novels of the same name. In 2005, Carrey starred in a remake of Fun with Dick and Jane, playing Dick, a husband who becomes a bank robber after he loses his job.
In 2007, Carrey reunited with Joel Schumacher, director of Batman Forever, for The Number 23, a psychological thriller co-starring Virginia Madsen and Danny Huston. In the film, Carrey plays a man who becomes obsessed with the number 23, after finding a book about a man with the same obsession.
Carrey has stated that he finds the prospect of reprising a character to be considerably less enticing than taking on a new role.[18] The only time he has reprised a role was with Ace Ventura. (Sequels to Bruce Almighty, Dumb and Dumber, and The Mask have all been released without Carrey's involvement.) Personal life
He attended a Presbyterian Church with his family in the early 1990s.[19] He is a fan of death metal band Cannibal Corpse,[20][21] who made a cameo appearance in Ace Ventura, at his request for the band to be featured in the film.[20] Carrey received U.S. citizenship on October 7, 2004, and now maintains dual citizenship of both the U.S. and his native Canada, where he has had a star on Canada's Walk of Fame[22] in Toronto since 1998.
He went public about his bouts with depression in a November 2004 interview on 60 Minutes.[23] Carrey has also launched public awareness campaigns, by way of internet videos which shed light on the political repression in Burma; especially that of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, whom he describes as a personal hero.[24] Carrey is a great admirer and friend of Eckhart Tolle, and in June 2009, Carrey gave an introduction for Tolle when together they headlined the first conference of the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment.[25][26][27][28]
In Los Angeles on February 27, 2010, Carrey announced via his Twitter account[29] that he had become a grandfather when his daughter Jane gave birth to her first child with musician husband Alex Santana, who performs in the band Blood Money under the stage name Nitro. He announced that his grandson's name was Jackson Riley Santana. Celebrity Relationships
Carrey has been married twice, first to former actress and Comedy Store waitress Melissa Womer on March 28, 1987, and were officially divorced in late 1995. Their only child, a daughter named Jane Erin Carrey,[30] was born on September 6, 1987 in Los Angeles County. After his separation from Womer in 1994, Carrey began dating his Dumb and Dumber co-star Lauren Holly. They were married on September 23, 1996; the marriage lasted less than a year. Carrey dated actress Renée Zellweger, whom he met on the set of Me, Myself & Irene, but their relationship ended with a broken engagement in December 2000.
In the May 2006 issue of Playboy Magazine (p. 48), it was mentioned that he was dating model Anine Bing. In December 2005, Carrey began dating actress/model Jenny McCarthy. The pair have since denied engagement rumors.[31] They did not make their relationship public until June 2006. She announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 2, 2008 that the two were then living together, but had no plans to marry; as they do not need a "piece of paper." In April 2010, Carrey confirmed that he and McCarthy had ended their near five-year relationship.[32][33] Filmography FilmYear Film Role Notes 1980 The Sex and Violence Family Hour Various roles 1981 All in Good Taste Ralph Parker 1983 Copper Mountain Bobby Todd 1984 Finders Keepers Lane Bidlekoff 1985 Once Bitten Mark Kendall 1986 Peggy Sue Got Married Walter Getz 1988 The Dead Pool Johnny Squares 1989 Pink Cadillac Comedian Earth Girls Are Easy Wiploc 1991 High Strung Death 1992 The Itsy Bitsy Spider The Exterminator (voice only) 1994 Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Ace Ventura Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Comedy, On Video Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Male Newcomer, On Video Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor London Critics Circle Film Award for Newcomer of the Year (also for The Mask) Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance The Mask Stanley Ipkiss London Critics Circle Film Award for Newcomer of the Year (also for Ace Ventura: Pet Detective) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence (shared with Cameron Diaz) Dumb and Dumber Lloyd Christmas MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Lauren Holly) Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Jeff Daniels) 1995 Batman Forever Riddler/Edward Nygma Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls Ace Ventura Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance People's Choice Award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy Movie Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Sophie Okonedo) Nominated - American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor (Leading Role) 1996 The Cable Guy Ernie "Chip" Douglas Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Matthew Broderick) 1997 Liar Liar Fletcher Reede Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Comedy MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor 1998 The Truman Show Truman Burbank Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance MovieGuide Award: Grace Award Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated - American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor (Leading Role) Nominated - Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Drama Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Simon Birch Adult Joe Wenteworth 1999 Man on the Moon Andy Kaufman/Tony Clifton Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy Film Nominated - American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor (Leading Role) Nominated - Canadian Comedy Award for Film - Male Performance Nominated - London Critics Circle Film Award for Actor of the Year (also for How the Grinch Stole Christmas) Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor 2000 Me, Myself & Irene Officer Charlie Baileygates/Hank Teen Choice Award for Wipeout Scene of the Summer Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated - Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Comedy/Romance How the Grinch Stole Christmas The Grinch MTV Movie Award for Best Villain People's Choice Award for Favorite Star in a Motion Picture Comedy Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Comedy Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated - Canadian Comedy Award for Film - Pretty Funny Male Performance Nominated - Empire Award for Best Actor Nominated - London Critics Circle Film Award for Actor of the Year (also for Man on the Moon) 2001 The Majestic Peter Appleton 2003 Bruce Almighty Bruce Nolan Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor - Comedy MTV Movie Award, Mexico, for Most Divine Miracle in a Movie Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Jennifer Aniston) Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Chemistry (shared with Morgan Freeman) Pecan Pie Man on Bed Short film 2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Joel Barish San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Nominated - People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man Nominated - People's Choice Award for Favorite On-Screen Chemistry (shared with Kate Winslet) Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy Film Nominated - Empire Award for Best Actor Nominated - Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Count Olaf Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Bad Guy People's Choice Award for Favorite Funny Male Star Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure/Thriller Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liar 2005 Fun with Dick and Jane Dick Harper Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor: Comedy 2007 The Number 23 Walter Sparrow/Det. Fingerling Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Horror/ Thriller Nominated - Razzie Award for Worst Actor 2008 Horton Hears a Who! Horton (voice only) Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie Yes Man Carl Allen MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance People's Choice Award for Favorite Funny Male Star Nominated - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Hissy Fit Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rockstar Moment 2009 A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge Ghost of Christmas Past Ghost of Christmas Present Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (voice only) Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie 2010 I Love You Phillip Morris Steven Jay Russell Where's Waldo? Waldo in development 2011 Damn Yankees Mr. Applegate in development Me Time Unknown in development Pierre Pierre Unknown in development 2012 Ripley's Believe It or Not! Robert Ripley in development Sober Buddies Unknown in development
TelevisionYear Film Role Notes 1980 The All-Night Show Various voices (voice only) 1981 Rubberface Tony Moroni Television movie 1984 Buffalo Bill Jerry Lewis Impersonator Television series (uncredited) 1984 The Duck Factory Skip Tarkenton Television series 1989 Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All Brad Peters Television movie 1990 In Living Color Various roles Television series 1992 Doing Time on Maple Drive Tim Carter Television movie
Other accoladesYear Organization Award Result 2001 People's Choice Awards Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy Won 2003 Teen Choice Awards Choice Comedian Won 2004 Teen Choice Awards Choice Comedian Nominated 2005 People's Choice Awards Favourite Funny Male Star Won Teen Choice Awards Choice Comedian Nominated 2006 MTV Movie Awards MTV Generation Award Won 2009 People's Choice Awards Favourite Funny Male Star Nominated
