Jim Carrey Biography - Jim Carrey Childhood, Jim Carey Profile

Born on: January 17, 1962

Born in: Newmarket, Ontario

Nationality: Canadian-American

Career: Actor

Jim Carrey is one of the notable Hollywood actors, mainly known for his slapstick performances. He is a Canadian-American and has worn two Golden Globes till date, for his performances. He made his acting debut with television series and went on to become one of the most notable stars in Hollywood. Amongst his most successful comedy films are ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’, ‘Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls’, ‘The Mask’, ‘Dumb and Dumber’, ‘Me, Myself & Irene’, ‘Fun with Dick and Jane’, ‘Liar Liar’ and ‘Bruce Almighty’. Apart from that, he also received critical acclaim for movies like ‘The Truman Show’, ‘Man on the Moon’ and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’.

Childhood and Early Life

Jim Carry was born as ‘James Eugene Carrey’ on 17^th January 1962, in Newmarket, Ontario. He is the son of Percy Carrey, a musician and accountant, and his wife Kathleen, a housewife. He was the youngest child of his parents and has three older siblings - John, Patricia and Rita. Carrey was raised in a Catholic household. His family moved to Scarborough in 1974, when he was 14 years old. Thereafter, he attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School in North York for two years. Carrey then enrolled at Agincourt Collegiate Institute. His family remained in Burlington, Ontario, for 8 years and there, he attended Aldershot High School.

Entry in Comedy

Carrey became involved with stand-up comedy in the year 1979, when he was hardly 17 years old. He started performing at ‘Yuk Yuk's’ in Toronto, under the management of Leatrice Spevack. Within a period of less than 2 years, he rose to become a headliner there. In the early 1980s, he moved to Los Angeles and started working at ‘The Comedy Store’. It was here that Carrey got the attention of comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Dangerfield was so much impressed by Carrey’s performance that he signed him to open his tour performances.

Start of Acting Career

With time, Carrey initiated efforts to get into the film and television industries. He gave unsuccessful auditions for 1980-81 season of ‘NBC's Saturday Night Live’ as well as ‘D.C. Cab’. He made his debut in movies in 1891, with the film ‘Introducing…Janet’, which was later renamed as ‘Rubberface’. He was next seen in a comedy film ‘Copper Mountain’, followed by ‘All in Good Taste’ Carrey landed his first lead role in a television series with NBC's ‘The Duck Factory’, in the year 1984. The same year, he starred in ‘Finders Keepers’.

Success

Till early 1990s, Carrey was seen in a number of inconsequential films, like ‘Once Bitten’, ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’, ‘The Dead Pool’, ‘Pink Cadillac’ (film), ‘Earth Girls Are Easy’, etc. He also appeared in a few television series, including ‘Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All’ and 'In Living Color’. It was only in the year 1994 that Carrey achieved major recognition, when he starred in the comedy ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’. Though the film was bashed by critics and also made him end up with Golden Raspberry Award nomination as ‘Worst New Star’, it was a commercial success and made people notice him.

The very next year, Carrey was seen in two more senseless comedies - ‘The Mask’ and ‘Dumb and Dumber’. In 1995, he was seen in a sequel of Ace Ventura i.e. ‘Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls’, followed by the film ‘Batman Forever’. Both the films were major commercial successes. He made a record in 1996 when he was paid twenty million dollars for ‘The Cable Guy’, a record sum for a comedy actor. Though the film achieved moderate success, Carrey soon came back with the successful ‘Liar Liar’.

Carrey ventured towards serious roles in 1998, with ‘The Truman Show’, which won him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama and an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance. The next year, he was seen in ‘Man on the Moon’, which won major critical acclaim as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actor. He turned back to comedy in 2000, with ‘Me, Myself & Irene’, a box-office hit. Carrey continued with his forte in ‘Bruce Almighty’, the second highest grossing live-action comedy of all time.

His next critical success came with ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, winning him his sixth Golden Globe nomination. In 2004, Carrey played a villain in ‘Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events’. The next year, he starred in a remake of ‘Fun with Dick and Jane’. Next, Carrey was seen after 2 years i.e. in 2007, in ‘The Number 23’, a psychological thriller co-starring Virginia Madsen and Danny Huston. Though he has received commercial success as well as critical acclaim, he has remained devoid of Academy Award nominations till date.

Personal Life

Carry had his first marriage with Melissa Womer, former actress and Comedy Store waitress. The couple had a daughter - Jane Erin Carrey, on 6^th September 1987. The alliance came to an end with a divorce, in 1995. Around this time, Carrey was dating Lauren Holly, his Dumb and Dumber co-star. They got married in 1996, but unfortunately the matrimony lasted even less than a year. Thereafter, Carrey became involved with actress Renée Zellweger and even got engaged to her.

The engagement was broken in December 2000. Since then, Carrey has been involved with a number of females, including Tiffany O. Silver - his massage therapist, Jenny McCarthy - actress/model, and Anine Bing - model (rumored). He is a vegetarian and attended a Presbyterian Church in the early 1990s. He received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame, in Toronto, in 1998. Carrey received U.S. citizenship in 2004 and presently, holds dual citizenship of U.S. and Canada. He owns a Gulfstream V and drives a Saleen S7.

Awards

1999 - Won Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama’ (The Truman Show)

2000 - Won Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy’ (Man on the Moon)

2001 - People's Choice Award for ‘Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy’

2005 - People's Choice Award for ‘Favorite Funny Male Star’

Filmography

1980 - The Family Violence and Sex Hour (various personalities), The All-Night Show (various voices)

1981 - Introducing...Janet (later renamed Rubberface)

1983 - Copper Mountain, All in Good Taste

1984 - Finders Keepers, The Duck Factory (TV-series)

1985 - Once Bitten

1986 - Peggy Sue Got Married