Jim Carrey

Arguably the top screen comedian of the 1990s, Canadian-born entertainer Jim Carrey (1962) has combined equal parts of his idol Jerry Lewis, his spiritual ancestor Harry Ritz, and the loose-limbed Ray Bolger into a gleefully uninhibited screen image that is uniquely his own. He rose to fame in the sketch comedy series In Living Color (1990) and leading roles in the comedies Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), and The Mask (1994) established him as a bankable film star.


British postcard by A Bigger Splash, Manchester, no. X619. Photo: New Line Productions. Jim Carrey in The Mask (Chuck Russell, 1994).

An incurable extrovert

James Eugene Carrey was born in 1962, in the Toronto suburb of Newmarket in Canada. He is the youngest of four children of Kathleen (Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, an accountant and jazz musician.

Carrey was an incurable extrovert from day one. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "[Born] into a peripatetic household that regularly ran the gamut from middle-class comfort to abject poverty. Not surprisingly, Carrey became a classic overachiever, excelling in academics while keeping his classmates in stitches with his wild improvisations and elastic facial expressions. His comedy club debut at age 16 was a dismal failure, but Carrey had already resolved not to be beaten down by life's disappointments."

By December 1981, a well-known comic in Canada, he received interest from Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Touring venues throughout North America as the opening act for Rodney Dangerfield, Carrey made a triumphant return home to Toronto in 1982, performing two sold-out shows at Massey Hall.

He decided to permanently move to Hollywood. 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. By age 22, he was making a good living as a standup comic and was starring as a novice cartoonist on the short-lived sitcom The Duck Factory (1984).

Throughout the 1980s, Carrey appeared in supporting roles in such films as Peggy Sue Got Married (Francis Coppola, 1986) starring Kathleen Turner, and Earth Girls are Easy (Julien Temple, 1990) as the alien Wiploc.

Impressed with Carrey's lunacy, fellow extraterrestrial in this film, Damon Wayans made a call to his brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who was in the process of putting together the sketch comedy show In Living Color (1990-1994). Carrey joined the cast and quickly made a name for himself with outrageous acts such as the grotesquely disfigured Fire Marshal Bill, whose dubious safety tips brought down the wrath of real-life fire prevention groups.


Vintage postcard by Boomerang Media ltd. Photo: New Line Productions. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in (1994) Dumb and Dumber (Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, 1994). Caption: Dumb happens. For Harry and Lloyd every day is a no-brainer.

The Riddler

1994 proved to be a good year for Jim Carrey with the release of three top-grossing comedy films to his credit: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (Tom Shadyac, 1994), the manic superhero movie The Mask (Chuck Russell, 1994) with Cameron Diaz, and Dumb and Dumber (Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, 1994) with Jeff Daniels.

The Mask, released in July 1994, grossed $351 million worldwide, and Dumb and Dumber, released in December 1994, grossed over $270 million worldwide. By the end of the year, Carrey was commanding seven to ten million dollars per picture.

The actor/comedian took over for Robin Williams as The Riddler in the blockbuster Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, 1995). The film received mixed reviews but was a box office success. He tried his hand at a darker and more menacing role as a maniacal cable repairman in The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller, 1996). The film, and Carrey's at-times frightening performance, received decidedly mixed reviews from critics and audiences.

He returned to all-out comedy in the energetic hit Liar, Liar (Tom Shadyac, 1997) as a chronically dishonest attorney. Carrey explored new territory with his lead role in the highly acclaimed The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998). He played a naive salesman who discovers that his entire life is the subject of a TV show. Carrey demonstrated an uncharacteristic sincerity and won a Golden Globe for his performance.

Critical respect in hand, Carrey played legendary comedian Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (Milos Forman, 1999). Carrey disappeared into the role, living as Kaufman - and his blustery alter-ego Tony Clifton - for months. He won another Golden Globe for his powerhouse performance, but the film earned less than stellar reviews and did poor business at the box office. Such was the strength of the actor's portrayal, however, that his exclusion from the Best Actor nominations at that year's Academy Awards was a source of protest for a number of industry members.


French postcard by Editions Mercuri, no. 1619. Photo: Warner Bros. Jim Carrey as Riddler in Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, 1995).


Belgian postcard by Boomerang Free Cards. Photo: Warner Bros. Jim Carrey as Riddler in Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, 1995).

A natural fit for the kids' movies

Jim Carrey returned to straight comedy the following year with the Farrelly brothers' Me, Myself & Irene (Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, 2000), in which he starred as a cop a state trooper whose Jekyll and Hyde personalities both fall in love with the same woman (Renée Zellweger). Hal Erickson: "Though that film fared the least successful of the Farrellys' efforts to that point, Carrey's anarchic persona was given seemingly free-range and the result was his most unhinged role since The Mask."

Carrey slipped into a furry green suit to play the stingy antihero of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Ron Howard, 2000). The film raked in the money at the box office and received a Golden Globe nomination despite widespread critical contempt. Continuing to seek acceptance as a skilled dramatist, Carrey next appeared in the box-office bomb The Majestic (Frank Darabont, 2001) with Martin Landau.

Carrey returned again to both comedy and box-office success with Bruce Almighty (Tom Shadyac, 2003). After handily proving that his power as a big-screen star was very much intact, Carrey wasted no time switching gears once again as he embarked on his most ambitious project to date, the mind-bending romantic-dramedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004). Scripted by Charlie Kaufman, the film garnered rave reviews and featured what was arguably Carrey's most subtly complex and subdued performance to date.

Carrey's cartooney presence on the screen would make him a natural fit for the kids' movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Brad Silberling, 2004), based on the popular children's novels of the same name. More family films followed over the coming years like A Christmas Carol (Robert Zemeckis, 2009) and Mr. Popper's Penguins (Mark Waters, 2011).

Carrey would also continue to explore dramatic roles, however, such as the dark thriller The Number 23 (Joel Schumacher, 2007) and the critically acclaimed biographical black comedy I Love You, Phillip Morris (John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, 2009) with Ewan McGregor.

Carrey published a children's story, 'How Roland Rolls' (2013), and with Dana Vachon, a novel, 'Memoirs and Misinformation' (2020). Jim Carrey has one child with his first wife, Melissa Carrey, Jane Carrey (1987), and a grandson, Jackson Riley Santana (2010).


Dutch postcard by Imagine / United International Pictures (UIP). Photo: Universal. Jim Carrey as The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Ron Howard, 2000). Caption: De groene griezel die de kerst verpest (The green creep that crushes Christmas).


Belgian postcard by Boomerang. Jim Carrey in The Number 23 (Joel Schumacher, 2007). Caption: the truth will catch up with you.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.