James Eugene Carrey 

(born 17 January 1962)[1] is a Canadian-American actor, comedian,

writer, producer, and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances,[2] Carrey first gained
recognition in 1990, after landing a recurring role in the American sketch comedy television
series In Living Color (1990–1994). He broke out as star in motion pictures with Ace Ventura: Pet
Detective, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber (all 1994). This was followed up with Ace Ventura:
When Nature Calls (1995), Batman Forever (1995), and Liar Liar (1997).
In the 2000s, he gained further notice for his portrayal of the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole
Christmas and for the comedy Me, Myself & Irene (both in 2000), as well as Bruce
Almighty (2003), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and
Jane (2005), Yes Man (2008), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), and A Christmas Carol (2009). In the
2010s, Carrey appeared in the films Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), The Incredible Burt
Wonderstone (2013), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), Dumb and Dumber To (2014) and portrayed Leap Day
William in the sitcom 30 Rock (2012). In 2020, he portrayed Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the
Hedgehog and Joe Biden in six episodes of Saturday Night Live in the leadup to the 2020 United
States presidential election.
Although largely typecast as a comedic actor, Carrey has had success in dramatic roles. His first
dramatic success was for starring in the Emmy-nominated made-for-television film Doing Time
on Maple Drive (1992). Carrey gained attention for his leading roles in The Truman Show (1998)
and Man on the Moon (1999), earning Golden Globe Awards for each film. He later starred in the
psychological science fiction romantic drama film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004),
this performance is repeatedly lauded as one of the most important and seminal in Carrey's
career and for which he was nominated for both the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading
Role and another Golden Globe Award. He was also praised for his dramatic role of Jeff Piccirillo
in the Showtime tragicomedy series Kidding, for which he was nominated for another Golden
Globe. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy
Award nomination.[3]
In 2013, Carrey published his first book, a children's story, entitled How Roland Rolls; the book
was awarded a 2013 Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award.[4] In 2020, Carrey published his first
novel, Memoirs and Misinformation, which he co-authored with Dana Vachon.[5][6]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Career
o 2.11977–1983: Early impressionist work in Toronto
o 2.21983–1994: Move to Hollywood
o 2.31994–1998: Rise to fame
o 2.41998–2007: Critical acclaim
o 2.52007–2018: Change in pace
o 2.62018–present: Comeback
 3Personal life
o 3.1Relationships
o 3.2Wrongful death lawsuits
o 3.3Vaccine skepticism
o 3.4Political and spiritual views
 4Awards and nominations
 5Selected filmography
 6Discography
o 6.1Singles
o 6.2Other
 7Bibliography
 o 7.1Books
o 7.2Forewords
 8See also
 9References
 10Further reading
 11External links

Early life
Carrey was born in the Toronto suburb of Newmarket, Ontario, Canada,[1] to Kathleen
(née Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, a musician and accountant.[7][8] He was raised a
Roman Catholic and has three older siblings, John, Patricia, and Rita.[9][10] His mother was of
French, Irish, and Scottish descent, and his father was of French-Canadian ancestry (the family's
original surname was Carré).[11][12][13]
At age eight he began making faces before a mirror and discovered a talent for doing
impressions.[14] At age ten, Carrey wrote a letter to Carol Burnett of the Carol Burnett
Show pointing out that he was already a master of impressions and should be considered for a
role on the show; he was overjoyed when he received a form letter reply.[15] A fan of Monty
Python whose TV show aired in the 1970s, in 2014 Carrey appeared on Monty Python's Best
Bits (Mostly) and recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Michael Palin) laughing
himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch.[16] Radio Times states, "You’ll see
why immediately: Palin’s performance is uncannily Carreyesque.”[16]
Carrey spent his early years in the borough of Scarborough, Ontario, part of Metropolitan
Toronto, where he attended Blessed Trinity Catholic Elementary School in North York. His family
later moved to Burlington, Ontario, where they would spend eight years; Jim attended Aldershot
High School while there.[17] Some time later, his family became homeless and lived together in a
Volkswagen van while teenage Jim and his brother spent months living in a tent in Charles Daley
Park on the Lake Ontario shore in Lincoln, Ontario.[18][19] The family struggled financially, however,
their situation started improving once his father found employment in the accounting department
at the Titan Wheels tire factory in Scarborough.[19] Furthermore, in return for living in the house
across the street from the factory, the family—primarily teenage sons Jim and John—would work
as janitors and security guards at the tire factory, doing eight-hour shifts from 6p.m. into the next
morning.[19] Moving back to Scarborough, teenage Jim started attending Agincourt Collegiate
Institute before dropping out of school on his sixteenth birthday. He began to perform comedy in
downtown Toronto while continuing to work at the factory.
In a 2007 Hamilton Spectator interview, Carrey said, "If my career in show business hadn't
panned out I would probably be working today in Hamilton, Ontario, at the Dofasco steel mill." As
a young man, he could see the steel mills across the Burlington Bay and often thought that was
"where the great jobs were."[20]

Career
1977–1983: Early impressionist work in Toronto
Carrey's first stand-up comedy experience took place in 1977 at the age of 15 with his father
trying to help the youngster put together a stage act, driving him to downtown Toronto to debut at
the recently-opened Yuk Yuk's comedy club operating one-night-a-week out of a community
centre's basement on Church Street.[19][21] For the performance, the teenager had his attire—a
polyester leisure suit—chosen by his mother who reasoned "that's how they dress on The Dean
Martin Celebrity Roast".[22][19] Pubescent Carrey's conventional impersonations bombed, proving
ill-suited for a club with a raunchy Belushiesque comedic sensibility and giving the youngster
doubts about his potential as a professional entertainer.[19] Decades later, recalling young
Carrey's stand-up debut, Yuk Yuk's owner Mark Breslin described it as "bad Rich Little".[19] His
family's financial struggles made it difficult for them to support Carrey's show business ambitions.
Eventually, the family's financial situation improved and they moved into a new home
in Jackson's Point.[21][23] With more domestic stability, Carrey returned to the stage in 1979 with a
more polished act that led to his first paid gig: a 20-minute spot at the Hay Loft club on Highway
48 in Scarborough for a reported C$20 compensation on a bill with the Mother of Pearl performer
from The Pig and Whistle.[24] He soon faced his fears and went back downtown to the site of his
debacle from two years earlier—Yuk Yuk's that had in the meantime moved into a permanent
location on Bay Street in the fashionable Yorkville district. In a short period of time, the
seventeen-year-old went from open-mic nights at the club to regular paid shows, building his
reputation in the process.
Parallel to his increasing local Toronto-area popularity as an impressionist stand-up comic,
Carrey tried to break into sketch comedy, auditioning to be a cast member for the 1980–81
season of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Teenage Carrey ended up not being selected by the
show's new executive producer Jean Doumanian who picked thirty-one-year-old Charles
Rocket instead.[25] Decades later, after establishing himself as a Hollywood movie star, Carrey
would host the show in May 1996, January 2011, and October 2014.[26][27] After not
getting Saturday Night Live, Carrey took a voice acting job performing Clutch Cargo-inspired bits
on The All-Night Show, an overnight program airing locally on the CFMT-TV channel branded as
Multilingual Television (MTV).[28]
Continuing to perform his stand-up act of contortionist impressions in the city of Toronto and
surrounding towns, in February 1981, nineteen-year-old Carrey was booked as the opening act
for the rock band Goddo at The Roxy Theatre in Barrie for two shows on consecutive nights; the
rock crowd booed him offstage and he refused to return for the second night.[29] Two weeks later,
however, a review of one of Carrey's spots at Yuk Yuk's—alongside a sizeable photo of him
doing a stage impression of Sammy Davis Jr.—appeared in the Toronto Star on the front page of
its entertainment section with the writer Bruce Blackadar raving about "a genuine star coming to
life".[30][31] Save for a brief mention in the Barrie Examiner, it was the very first time Carrey received
significant mainstream corporate media coverage and the glowing praise in one of Canada's
highest-circulation dailies created demand for his impressionist stand-up act throughout the
country.[31][24] In April 1981, he appeared in an episode of the televised stand-up show An Evening
at the Improv.[32] That summer, he landed one of the main roles in Introducing... Janet, a made-
for-TV movie that premiered in September 1981 on the CBC drawing more than million viewers
for its first airing in Canada.[33] Playing a struggling impressionist comic Tony Maroni, it was
Carrey's very first acting role. The CBC promotion the movie had received as well its subsequent
high nationwide viewership further solidified the youngster's comedic status in the country; by the
time the movie finished its CBC run of repeats several years later, its title for the home video
release on VHS was changed to Rubberface in order to take advantage of the comic's by then
established prominence for doing elaborate contortionist impressions.[33] Making more comedy
club appearances in the United States, Carrey was soon noticed by comedian Rodney
Dangerfield who signed the young comic to open his tour performances. By December 1981, a
well-known comic in Canada, Toronto Star reported about the youngster waiting for a United
States work permit having received interest from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, largely off his
reputation from Canada.[34][35]