Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey (born 17.1.1962)

Jim Carrey is a Canadian-American actor. Although Carrey started out playing largely comic roles, his career later progressed to taking roles in dramatic films such as Man on the Moon.

Jim Carrey: Childhood

Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket and raised in Ontario. He is the son of Maria and Mark. His mother was a housewife and his father was an accountant as well as a musician.

Carrey has previously remarked that if his acting career had not been successful, he would probably still be residing in Hamilton, Ontario.

Jim Carrey: His Fledging Career

Carrey started in out in comedy by doing stand-up routines at Yuk Yuk's club in Toronto. At the age of 19, Carrey was already a headline act at the club and was managed by Leatrice Spevack.

Eventually, Carrey moved to Los Angeles and began working at the Comedy Store. Rodney Dangerfield discovered Carrey there and invited him to open his tour dates. Carrey also auditioned for a slot on Saturday Night Live but was unsuccessful at the time. Ironically, Carrey was chosen to host the show in 1996, once he had established himself by other means.

Jim Carrey's film debut was in Rubberface, in 1983, though at the time, the film was known as Introducing. Janet. A few years later, he landed a few small roles, in films such as Peggy Sue Got Married and Earth Girls Are Easy.

Jim Carrey: Breakthrough

Jim Carrey's mainstream breakthrough role was the lead in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, released in 1994. Although the film has been a commercial success, most film critics hated it and Carrey was nominated for Worst New Star at the 1995 Golden Raspberry Awards. That same year, Carrey appeared in The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. Both of these films were hugely successful and Carrey's reputation as a talented off-the-wall comic began to blossom.

Carrey's next film, The Cable Guy, confirmed his status as one of Hollywood's big players; the film reportedly earned him more than $20 million. At the time, it was unheard of for comedy actors to earn such a fee for a film.

The Cable Guy was swiftly followed up by Liar, Liar, which was seen as a return to his usual comic style.

In 1998, Carrey seized the opportunity to avoid being typecast as the goofy, rubber-faced guy, and took the lead role in The Truman Show. The gamble paid off and the film was nominated for three Oscars, though none were for Carrey himself.

The next year, Jim was cast as Andy Kaufman in the biopic Man On the Moon. He won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award for his stunning portrayal of Kaufman and many were surprised when Carrey was, again, not nominated for an Academy Award.

In 2000, Carrey starred in Me, Myself and Irene, which was directed by the Farrelly Brothers (who were responsible for Dumb and Dumber). The film, which also starred Renee Zellweger, was a huge commercial success. Continuing in his run of successful films, Jim Carrey took the lead role in Bruce Almighty, in which he plays a man that is temporarily granted the powers of God.

Carrey's performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again left critics baffled when he failed to be nominated for an Oscar, though his co-star Kate Winslet did receive a nomination for her role.

2004 saw Carrey playing the role of Count Olaf in the film adaptation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Continuing his trend for playing more series roles, Carrey then reunited with Joel Schumacher to star in the psychological thriller, The Number 23.

Jim Carrey: Personal Life

Jim Carrey's first marriage was to Melissa Womer, a waitress at the Comedy Store. They have a daughter, Jane Erin Carrey (b. 1987). After separating from Womer in 1994, he dated and married Lauren Holly, his co-star on Dumb and Dumber. Their marriage lasted under a year. Carrey has also been romantically linked with Renée Zellweger, the model Annie Bing, musician Courtney Love (his co-star in Man On The Moon) and actress Jenny McCarthy.