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Jim Carrey

Birth name: James Eugene Carrey

Birth date: 17.01.1962

The youngest of four children born to Percy (an accountant and aspiring jazz saxophonist) and Kathleen, Jim Carrey was an incurable extrovert from day one. As a child he performed constantly, for anyone who would watch, and even mailed his résumé to "The Carol Burnett Show" (1967) at age 10. In junior high he was granted a few precious minutes at the end of each school day to do stand-up routines for his classmates (provided, of course, that he kept a lid on it the rest of the day). Carrey's early adolescence took a turn for the tragic, however, when the family was forced to relocate from their cozy town of Newmarket to Scarborough (a Toronto suburb). They all took security and janitorial jobs in the Titan Wheels factory, Jim working 8-hour shifts after school let out (not surprisingly, his grades and morale both suffered). When they finally deserted the factory, the family lived out of a Volkswagen camper van until they could return to Toronto. Back on firmer ground, Carrey decided to strike out into the comedy club scene. He made his (reportedly awful) professional stand-up debut at Yuk-Yuk's, one of the many local clubs that would serve as his training ground in the years to come. He dropped out of high school, worked on his celebrity impersonations (among them Michael Landon and James Stewart), and in 1979 worked up the nerve to move to Los Angeles. He finessed his way into a regular gig at The Comedy Store, where he impressed Rodney Dangerfield so much that the veteran comic signed him as an opening act for an entire season. During this period Carrey met and married waitress Melissa Womer, with whom he had a daughter (Jane). The couple would later go through a very messy divorce, freeing Carrey up for a brief second marriage to actress Lauren Holly. Wary of falling into the lounge act lifestyle, Carrey began to look around for other performance outlets. He landed a part as a novice cartoonist in the short-lived sitcom "The Duck Factory" (1984); while the show fell flat, the experience gave Carrey the confidence to pursue acting more vigorously. He scored the male lead in the ill-received Lauren Hutton vehicle Once Bitten (1985), and a supporting role in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), before making a modest splash with his appearance as the alien Wiploc in Earth Girls Are Easy (1988). Impressed with Carrey's lunacy, fellow extraterrestrial Damon Wayans made a call to his brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who was in the process of putting together the sketch comedy show "In Living Color" (1990). Carrey joined the cast and quickly made a name for himself with outrageous acts (one of his most popular characters, psychotic Fire Marshall Bill, was attacked by watchdog groups for dispensing ill-advised safety tips). Carrey's transformation from TV goofball to marquis headliner happened within the course of a single year. He opened 1994 with a starring turn in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), a film that cashed in on his extremely physical brand of humor (the character's trademark was talking out his derrière). Next up was the manic superhero movie The Mask (1994), which had audiences wondering just how far Carrey's features could stretch. Finally, in December, he hit theaters as a loveable dolt in the Farrelly brothers' Dumb & Dumber (1994) (his first multi-million dollar payday). Now a box-office staple, Carrey brought his manic antics onto the set of Batman Forever (1995), replacing Robin Williams as The Riddler. He also filmed the follow-up to his breakthrough, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), and inked a deal with Sony to star in The Cable Guy (1996) (replacing Chris Farley) for a cool $20 million--at the time, that was the biggest up-front sum that had been offered to any comic actor. The movie turned out to be a disappointment, both critically and financially, but Carrey bounced back the next year with the energetic hit Liar Liar (1997). Worried that his comic shtick would soon wear thin, Carrey decided to change course. In 1998, he traded in the megabucks and silly grins to star in Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998). Playing a naive salesman who discovers that his entire life is the subject of a TV show, Carrey demonstrated an uncharacteristic sincerity that took moviegoers by surprise. He won a Golden Globe for the performance, and fans anticipated an Oscar nomination as well--when it didn't materialize, Carrey lashed out at Academy members for their narrow-minded selection process. Perhaps inspired by the snub, Carrey threw himself into his next role with abandon. After edging out a handful of other hopefuls (including Edward Norton) to play eccentric funnyman Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), Carrey disappeared into the role, living as Kaufman -- and his blustery alter-ego Tony Clifton -- for months (Carrey even owned Kaufman's bongo drums, which he'd used during his audition for director Milos Forman). His sometimes uncanny impersonation was rewarded with another Golden Globe, but once again the Academy kept quiet. An indignant Carrey next reprised his bankable mania for the Farrelly brothers in Me, Myself & Irene (2000), playing a state trooper whose Jekyll and Hyde personalities both fall in love with the same woman (Renée Zellweger). Carrey's real-life persona wound up falling for her too--a few months after the film wrapped, the pair announced they were officially a couple. By then, Carrey had already slipped into a furry green suit to play the stingy antihero of Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). He plans to take a break from the limelight after the holiday flick (as he puts it, "I'm looking forward to getting out of America's face"). Is there another Carrey reinvention in the works? If so, he's not talking.

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Filmography

Riple's Believe It or Not! (2009) .... Robert Ripley A Christmas Carol (2009) .... Ebenezer Scrooge / Ghost of Christmas Past / Ghost of Christmas Present / Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come I Love You Phillip Morris (2009) .... Steven Russell Yes Man (2008) .... Carl Allen Horton Hears a Who! (2008) (voice) .... Horton ... aka Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (USA: complete title) ... aka Horton Hears a Who! (Singapore: English title) The Number 23 (2007) .... Walter Sparrow / Fingerling Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) .... Dick Harper ... aka Alternative Career (Philippines: English title) ... aka Fun with Dick & Jane (USA: poster title) Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) .... Count Olaf ... aka Lemony Snicket - Rätselhafte Ereignisse (Germany) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) .... Joel Barish Bruce Almighty (2003) .... Bruce Nolan Pecan Pie (2003) .... The driver The Majestic (2001) .... Peter Appleton How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) .... Grinch ... aka The Grinch (Australia) (UK) (USA: promotional title) ... aka Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (USA: complete title) ... aka Grinch, Der (Germany) Me, Myself & Irene (2000) .... Officer Charlie Baileygates / Hank Evans Man on the Moon (1999) (also as Tony Clifton) .... Andy Kaufman ... aka Mondmann, Der (Germany) Simon Birch (1998) .... Adult Joe Wenteworth ... aka Angels and Armadillos The Truman Show (1998) .... Truman Burbank Liar Liar (1997) .... Fletcher Reede The Cable Guy (1996) .... The Cable Guy Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) .... Ace Ventura ... aka Ace Ventura Goes to Africa Batman Forever (1995) .... Riddler / Dr. Edward Nygma Dumb & Dumber (1994) .... Lloyd Christmas ... aka Dumb Happens ... aka Dumb and Dumber (USA: video box title) The Mask (1994) .... Stanley Ipkiss "In Living Color" .... Various (44 episodes, 1990-1994) - Episode #5.19 (1994) TV episode (as James Carrey) .... Various - The Ugly Woman Meets the Ugly Man (1994) TV episode .... Various - Episode #5.3 (1993) TV episode (as James Carrey) .... Various - Episode #4.15 (1993) TV episode (as James Carrey) .... Various - Episode #4.16 (1993) TV episode .... Various (39 more) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) .... Ace Ventura Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992) (TV) .... Tim Carter ... aka Faces in the Mirror (USA: bootleg title) The Itsy Bitsy Spider (1992) (voice) (as James Carrey) .... The Exterminator High Strung (1991) (uncredited) .... Death ... aka Pissed Off (USA: alternative title) Pink Cadillac (1989) (as James Carrey) .... Lounge Entertainer Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (1989) (TV) .... Brad Peters Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) .... Wiploc The Dead Pool (1988) (as James Carrey) .... Johnny Squares ... aka Dirty Harry in The Dead Pool (USA: poster title) Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) .... Walter Getz Once Bitten (1985) .... Mark Kendall Finders Keepers (1984) .... Lane Bidlekoff "The Duck Factory" (1984) TV series .... Skip Tarkenton (unknown episodes) "Buffalo Bill" .... Jerry Lewis Impersonator (1 episode, 1984) - Jerry Lewis Week (1984) TV episode (uncredited) .... Jerry Lewis Impersonator All in Good Taste (1983) .... Ralph Copper Mountain (1983) .... Bobby Todd ... aka Club Med ... aka Copper Mountain: A Club Med Experience Introducing... Janet (1983) (TV) .... Tony Moroni ... aka Rubberface The Sex and Violence Family Hour (1983) (V) .... Various Personalities "The All-Night Show" (1980) TV series .... Additional Voices