Jim Carrey
Biography
Jim Carrey, Canadian-born and a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and producer famous for his rubbery body movements and flexible facial expressions. The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color (1990) but leading roles in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994) and The Mask (1994) established him as a bankable comedy actor.
James Eugene Carrey was born on January 17, 1962 in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, and is the youngest of four children of Kathleen (Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, an accountant and jazz musician. The family surname was originally "Carré", and he has French-Canadian, Scottish, and Irish ancestry. 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.
Carrey made his stand-up debut in Toronto after his parents and siblings got back on their feet. 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.
Family
Lauren Holly (23 September 1996 - 29 July 1997)
Trivia
Flexible body movements
Frequently plays a character who wears green or is green
Makes weird facial expressions in his more comical roles. A lot of times, the expression is accompanied by an equally weird voice or laugh.
In dramatic roles, often plays a character who discovers a bizarre truth about the foundations of his life
Wild erratic manner of speaking
His characters often have catchphrases
Characters lacking in manners or social awareness
Frequently imitates Clint Eastwood and Elvis Presley in his movies (The Mask (1994), Man on the Moon (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), etc).
Occasionally performs musical numbers in his movies (The Mask (1994), The Grinch (2000), Man on the Moon (1999), Yes Man (2008), Fun With Dick and Jane (2005), The Cable Guy (1996))
Personal Quotes
Dropped out of high school at 16.
(6/24/99) During the filming of Me, Myself & Irene (2000), he and the production crew attended a private music show Phish at the guitarist/vocalist house in Careystock, Vermont. There he sang two songs with Phish, "Hey You" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive and "Come Together" by The Beatles.
Ranked #54 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [1997]
At age 10, he sent his resume to Carol Burnett.
He appeared at the 20th anniversary special for The Comedy Store wearing nothing but a sock on his penis.
Hosted "YTV Awards Show" in the mid-1980s with Laurie Gelman, from Fox After Breakfast (1996). YTV is Canada's Youth Television station.
At one point his family lived out of their car/trailer.
Performed "Rocket Man" on stage with Elton John at one of John's concerts. [1998]
At one point he and his family all worked as janitors and security guards at a factory to make a living.
Relationship with Renée Zellweger ended while they were already engaged and had marriage plans. [2000]
Manager is Jimmy Miller, who is the younger brother of actor-comedian Dennis Miller.
Shares the same birthday with Andy Kaufman, who he played in Man on the Moon (1999).
December, 2001: Announces his intention to become a United States citizen.
As of 2001, his total of nine MTV movie awards is the most won by any person.
Received U.S. citizenship in October 2004 and maintains a dual citizen of both the United States and his native Canada.
He, Michael J. Fox and the late Raymond Burr head list of top Canadians in U.S. television compiled by Banff Television Festival, June 2002.
As a child, he used to wear his tap shoes to bed just in case his parents needed cheering up in the middle of the night.
Performed his first stand-up routine (with disastrous results) in a yellow suit and tails (made by his mother) similar to what he would later wear in The Mask (1994).
