'''James Eugene Carrey''' (born January 17, 1962), better known as '''Jim Carrey''', is a Canadian-American comedian and film actor. He is best-known for his manic, slapstick performances in comedy films such as ''
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', ''
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'', ''
Dumb & Dumber'', ''
The Mask'', ''
Liar Liar'', and ''
Bruce Almighty''. Carrey has also achieved critical success in dramatic roles in films such as ''
The Truman Show'', ''
The Majestic'', ''
Man on the Moon'', and ''
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind''.
Biography
Early life
Carrey was born in the town of Newmarket, Ontario to Percy and Kathleen Carrey; he has three older siblings, John, Patricia and Rita. His family is Catholic and had distant French Canadian roots (the original surname was ''Carré'').
A comedian in name only from an early age, Carrey mailed his résumé to ''The Carol Burnett Show'' when he was 10 years old. The teachers in Carrey's high school gave him a few minutes at the end of each school day to do a stand-up comedy routine for his classmates. He was also formerly enrolled in Royal Canadian Air Cadets
Carrey's parents fell on hard times and were forced to move to the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, where they took security and janitorial jobs in the Titan Wheels factory at 1051 Tapscott Rd (now IPSCO Ontario Inc). The Carreys lived in a historical house located on site. Carrey attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School in North York for two years, then began at Agincourt Collegiate Institute, Scarborough's oldest high school. For a time the family was in such financial straits that they lived in their Volkswagen van on a relative's lawn. In order to help out, Carrey began working eight-hour shifts each day after school.
Start in comedy
Carrey dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen and began to work in comedy clubs with an act that included impersonations of celebrities such as Michael Landon and Jimmy Stewart. In 1979, at the age of 17, he moved to Los Angeles and started working in The Comedy Store, where he was noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Dangerfield liked Carrey's act so much that he signed Carrey up to open Dangerfield's tour performances.
Carrey turned his attention towards filmed entertainment. He auditioned to be a castmember for NBC's ''
Saturday Night Live'' when the show was looking for new cast members for their 1980–1981 season. Carrey was never chosen to
