Jim Carrey, born in 1962, is a Canadian actor, best known for his starring roles in a string of wacky motion-picture comedies. He also achieved success with a more serious part in The Truman Show (1998), for which he won the 1999 Golden Globe Award for best actor in a drama.
James Eugene Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. The youngest of four children, Carrey started entertaining siblings and classmates at a young age, making funny faces and doing impersonations. When Carrey was in his early teens, his father lost his accounting job, forcing the entire family to go to work in a wheel factory.
To help support his family, Carrey began to work as a stand-up comic in Toronto, and after early failures, he found success. By the age of 19, Carrey decided to move to the United States, settling in Los Angeles, California. There his stand-up act caught the attention of television executives, who cast him in a situation comedy called The Duck Factory. The show failed, but Carrey then landed several small roles in Hollywood films, including Once Bitten (1985), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), and Dead Pool (1988).
Carrey’s breakthrough job came on television, when he joined the cast of the hip comedy series In Living Color in 1990. The show, which consisted of a series of short comedy skits, allowed Carrey to develop outlandish characters that took advantage of his skills in physical comedy. Notable character inventions included the accident-prone Fire Marshall Bill and the female bodybuilder Vera de Milo.
Carrey left In Living Color after four years for another try at a movie career, this time as a lead actor. In 1994, three comedies starring Carrey and his brand of outrageous physical humor found commercial success: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber. Carrey was suddenly a movie star. The following year, he enhanced his star reputation and box-office appeal with his portrayal of the villain the Riddler in Batman Forever (1995). Carrey also starred in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) and Liar, Liar (1997).
Carrey next appeared in The Truman Show, by Australian director Peter Weir. The movie examines the power of the media, especially television, by telling the story of Truman Burbank, whose entire life is captured on hidden cameras and watched by millions of people without his knowledge. When Carrey’s starring role in the movie was announced, many critics doubted he could succeed in a serious part. However, Carrey’s performance earned him the Golden Globe Award for best actor in a drama.
His next major role came in Man on the Moon (1999), in which he portrayed American comedian Andy Kaufman. For his performance Carrey won the 2000 Golden Globe Award for best actor in a comedy picture. Other Carrey movies include How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), The Majestic (2001), Bruce Almighty (2003), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). The latest works of Carrey are the movies Yes Man and A Christmas Carol.
PREPARED BY: IBRAHIM T. IBRAHIM
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