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James Eugene Carrey (born January 17,
1962), better known as Jim Carrey, is a Canadian-born comedian and film
actor. He is best-known for his manic, slapstick performances in comedy
films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb & Dumber, The Mask, Liar
Liar and Bruce Almighty. Carrey has also achieved critical success in
dramatic roles in films such as The Truman Show, The Majestic, Man on
the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
****
Biography
Early
life
Carrey was born in the town of Newmarket, Ontario
to Percy and Kathleen Carrey; he has three older siblings, John, Patricia and
Rita. His family is Catholic and had distant French Canadian roots (the original
surname was Carré).[1] A comedian in name only from an early age, Carrey mailed
his résumé to The Carol Burnett Show when he was 10 years old. The teachers in
Carrey's high school gave him a few minutes at the end of each school day to do
a stand-up comedy routine for his classmates.
Carrey's parents fell on hard times and were forced
to move to the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, where they took security and
janitorial jobs in the Titan Wheels factory at 1051 Tapscott Rd (now IPSCO
Ontario Inc). The Carrey's lived in a historical house located on site. Carrey
attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School in North York for two years, then began
at Agincourt Collegiate Institute, Scarborough's oldest high school. For a time
the family was in such financial straits that they lived in their Volkswagen van
on a relative's lawn. In order to help out, Carrey began working eight-hour
shifts each day after school.
Start
in comedy
Carrey dropped out of high school at the age of
sixteen and began to work in comedy clubs with an act that included
impersonations of celebrities such as Michael Landon and Jimmy Stewart. In 1979,
at the age of 17, he moved to Los Angeles and started working in The Comedy
Store, where he was noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Dangerfield liked
Carrey's act so much that he signed Carrey up to open Dangerfield's tour
performances.
Carrey turned his attention towards filmed
entertainment. He auditioned to be a castmember for NBC's Saturday Night Live
when the show was looking for new cast members for their 1980–1981 season.
Carrey was never chosen to be a cast member (although he finally hosted the show
in May 1996). His first lead role on television was Skip Tarkenton, a young
animation producer on NBC's The Duck Factory. The short-lived comedy, which
aired from April 12, 1984 to July 11, 1984, offered a behind-the-scenes look at
the crew that produced a children's cartoon.[2]
Carrey continued performing in small character
roles in film and television, which eventually led to a friendship with fellow
comedian Damon Wayans. The two co-starred as aliens in 1989's Earth Girls are
Easy. When Wayans' brother Keenen were putting together a sketch comedy show for
Fox called In Living Color, Carrey was hired as a token cast member. His unusual
characters, including mannish female bodybuilder Vera de Milo and the
masochistic safety inspector Fire Marshall Bill Burns (whose dangerous,
ill-advised "safety tips" were the target of censors and television watchdog
groups who saw Carrey's performance as Fire Marshall Bill as something that
younger viewers would see as harmless fun and try to imitate), as well his
on-screen behavior amazingly caught America's (and Hollywood's) attention.
Film
career
Carrey made his film debut in the short film
Rubberface (1981). Four years later, he had a starring role in the dark comedy
Once Bitten as Mark Kendall, a teen virgin who is pursued by a 400-year old
vampire (Lauren Hutton). Carrey did not experience box office success until
almost a decade later when he was cast in the starring role in the comedy Ace
Ventura, Pet Detective, which premiered only months before In Living Color
ended. The film was panned by critics, and helped earn him a 1994 Golden
Raspberry Award nomination as Worst New Star. However, the film was a huge
commercial success, as were Carrey's two other starring roles, in The Mask and
Dumb and Dumber, both released the same year.
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 made headlines when it was revealed that he
was paid twenty million dollars for his next film, The Cable Guy (directed by
Ben Stiller), a record sum for a comedy actor. The attention drawn to his
salary, coupled with negative reviews for the film and its character's dark mood
in contrast to his other performances, all contributed to the film's box office
failure. Carrey quickly rebounded with the successful and family-friendly Liar
Liar, a return to his trademark comedy style.
Despite the regular comedy successes, Carrey took a
chance and a slight paycut to star in The Truman Show (1998), a change of pace
that led to forecasts of an Academy Award nomination. 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. However, Carrey did win a
Golden Globe (Best Actor in a Drama) and an MTV Movie Award (Best Male
Performance). The same year, Carrey appeared as a fictionalized version of
himself on the final episode of Garry Shandling's The Larry Sanders Show, making
an impression by ripping deliberately into Shandling's character.
In 1999, Carrey won the role of comedian Andy
Kaufman in Man on the Moon. Several actors, including Edward Norton, were
interested in the role, but Carrey's audition, including an act with the bongo
drums Kaufman used in his performances, helped him be cast. Coincidentally,
Carrey was born thirteen years to the day after Kaufman. Despite critical
acclaim, he was not nominated for an Academy Award (though again, won a
consecutive Best Actor Golden Globe award.)
In 2000, Carrey re-teamed with the Farrelly
Brothers (who had directed him in Dumb & Dumber) in their comedy, Me, Myself and
Irene, about a state trooper with multiple personalities who romances a woman
played by Renée Zellweger. The film grossed $24 million dollars on its opening
weekend and $90 million by the end of its domestic run. Carrey has since
continued to appear in successful comedies as well as more dramatic roles. His
performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) earned high praise
from critics, who once again incorrectly predicted that Carrey would receive an
Oscar nomination, although the film won an Academy Award for Best Original
Screenplay, and co-star Kate Winslet received a nomination for her performance.
(Again, Carrey was nominated for a Golden Globe for this performance, his
sixth.)
In 2003, Carrey re-teamed 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.
Carrey has stated that he finds the prospect of
reprising a character to be less enticing than taking on a new role,[3] and fans
say he rarely turns down roles because he enjoys trying new things.
Personal life
Carrey has been married twice, first to Melissa
Womer, with whom he has a daughter, Jane Erin Carrey (b. September 1987), then
to Dumb & Dumber co-star Lauren Holly, in a marriage that lasted less than a
year. Carrey dated actress Renée Zellweger, whom he met on the set of Me, Myself
and Irene, although their relationship ended in December 2000. In 2006, Carrey
began dating actress/model Jenny McCarthy.[4]
Jim really does have a chipped tooth; for his role
in Dumb & Dumber, he simply removed the cap.[citation needed]
Jim Carrey is a fan of professional wrestling, with
his favorite confirmed to be Kurt Angle, as at the Glamour Miramax Golden Globes
Party (January 25, 2004), he appeared with a shaved head and told interviewers
he shaved it to support Kurt Angle in the Royal Rumble that night.
Carrey owns a Gulfstream Aerospace Gulfstream V
with tail number N162JC and also owns a Saleen S7 car (the car Bruce got after
he became God in Bruce Almighty). He received a U.S. citizenship on October 7,
2004 and now has a dual citizenship between the U.S. and his native Canada. He
went public about his bouts with depression in a November 2004 60 Minutes
interview.
Trivia
In his movie Liar Liar the scene where he beats
himself up, the bang was his head actually hitting the ground.
He is the celebrity to win the most MTV popcorn
awards and also the 2006 MTV Generation Award.
He is a fan of heavy/death metal music and
personally requested Cannibal Corpse's appearance in Ace Ventura: Pet
Detective[5]
He was going to play Willy Wonka but they took
about 14 months to tell him he got the part, then it was too late as he was
doing Fun with Dick and Jane.
In 1998, Jim Carrey sang a cover of The Beatles
song "I Am The Walrus" on George Martin's album In My Life (album)
Selected filmography
Year Title Role U.S. Box Office
2009 Believe It or Not Robert Ripley
2007 The Number 23 Walter Sparrow/Fingerling
2005 Fun with Dick and Jane Dick Harper
$110,332,737
2004 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate
Events Count Olaf $118,634,549
2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Joel
Barish $34,400,301
2003 Bruce Almighty Bruce Nolan $242,829,261
2001 The Majestic Peter Appleton $27,807,266
2000 Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas The
Grinch $260,044,825
2000 Me, Myself and Irene Officer Charlie
Baileygates/Hank Evans $90,570,999
1999 Man on the Moon Andy Kaufman/Tony Clifton
$34,607,430
1998 Simon Birch Adult Joe Wenteworth $18,253,415
1998 The Truman Show Truman Burbank $125,618,201
1997 Liar Liar Fletcher Reede $181,410,615
1996 The Cable Guy The Cable Guy $60,240,295
1995 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls Ace Ventura
$108,385,533
1995 Batman Forever Riddler/Edward Nygma
$184,031,112
1994 Dumb & Dumber Lloyd Christmas $127,175,374
1994 The Mask Stanley Ipkiss $119,938,730
1994 Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Ace Ventura
$72,217,396
1992 The Itsy Bitsy Spider The Exterminator (voice)
1992 Doing Time On Maple Drive (TV) Tim Carter
1991 High Strung Death
1990 In Living Color (TV-Series) Various
1989 Earth Girls Are Easy Wiploc $3,916,303
1989 Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (TV) Brad Peters
1989 Pink Cadillac Comedian $12,143,484
1988 The Dead Pool Johnny Squares $37,903,295
1986 Peggy Sue Got Married Walter Getz $41,382,841
1985 Once Bitten Mark Kendall $1,212,601
1984 The Duck Factory (TV-Series) Skip Tarkenton
1984 Finders Keepers Lane Bidlekoff $1,467,396
1983 All in Good Taste Ralph Parker
1982 Copper Mountain (TV) Bobby Todd
1981 Rubberface (TV) Tony Moroni
Awards
& Nominations
Golden
Globe Awards
2005 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion
Picture - Musical or Comedy, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Nominated)
2001 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion
Picture - Musical or Comedy, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Nominated)
2000 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion
Picture - Musical or Comedy, Man on the Moon (Won)
1999 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion
Picture - Drama, The Truman Show (Won)
1998 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion
Picture - Musical or Comedy, Liar Liar (Nominated)
1995 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion
Picture - Musical or Comedy, The Mask (Nominated)
People's Choice Awards
2005 - Favorite Funny Male Star (Won)
2001 - Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy
(Won)
MTV
Movie Awards
2006 - MTV Generation Award
2005 - Best Villain (Lemony Snicket's A Series of
Unfortunate Events) (Nominated)
2004 - Best Comedic Performance (Bruce Almighty)
(Nominated)
2004 - Best Kiss with Jennifer Aniston (Bruce
Almighty) (Nominated)
2001 - Best Villain (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch
Stole Christmas) (Won)
2001 - Best Comedic Performance (Me, Myself, &
Irene) (Nominated)
2000 - Best Male Performance (Man on the Moon)
(Nominated)
1999 - Best Male Performance (The Truman Show)
(Won)
1998 - Best Comedic Performance (Liar Liar) (Won)
1997 - Best Comedic Performance (The Cable Guy)
(Won)
1997 - Best Villain (The Cable Guy) (Won)
1997 - Best Fight with Matthew Broderick (The Cable
Guy) (Nominated)
1996 - Best Male Performance (Ace Ventura: When
Nature Calls) (Won)
1996 - Best Comedic Performance (Ace Ventura: When
Nature Calls) (Won)
1996 - Best Kiss with Sophie Okonedo (Ace Ventura:
When Nature Calls) (Nominated)
1996 - Best Villain (Batman Forever) (Nominated)
1995 - Best Comedic Performance (Dumb & Dumber)
(Won)
1995 - Best Kiss with Lauren Holly (Dumb & Dumber)
(Won)
1995 - Best Comedic Performance (The Mask)
(Nominated)
1995 - Best Dance Sequence ((The Mask) (Nominated)
1995 - Best On-Screen Duo (Dumb & Dumber)
(Nominated)
1994 - Best Comedic Performance (Ace Ventura: Pet
Detective) (Nominated)
References
Footnotes
1 Jim Carrey: The Joker Is Wild (2000). Knelman,
Martin. U.S.: Firefly Books Ltd. p. 8. ISBN 1552095355 (U.S.).. Retrieved on
March 24, 2006.
2 TV.com. The Duck Factory. Retrieved on March 24,
2006.
3 JimCarreyOnline.com : "I'm getting the
opportunity to do all these new and wonderful things. Why waste my life being
repetitive? A lot of people do sequels. I think it's not as enticing as doing
something new."
4 [1] "Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey Couple Up."
Retrieved on 22 June 2006.
5 IMDb.com Carrey's Biography, Trivia section.
Retrieved on 20 June 2006.
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