Robert Leo Farrelly Jr. (born June 17, 1958) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is one of the

Farrelly brothers Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, collectively referred to as the Farrelly brothers, are American screenwriters and directors. They have made eleven films together, including ''Dumb and Dumber'', '' Outside Providence'', and ''There's Something ...

, alongside his brother

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, and together are known directing and producing quirky, slightly offensive comedy films such as ''

Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and ...

'', ''

Shallow Hal ''Shallow Hal'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black about a shallow man who falls in love with a 300-pound woman after being hypnotized into only seeing a person's inner beauty. Directed by the Farrelly ...

'', ''

Me, Myself and Irene ''Me, Myself & Irene'' is a 2000 American slapstick black comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, and starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins, Daniel Greene, Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon ...

'', ''

There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. It stars Cameron Diaz as the title character with Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, Lee Evans, and Chris Elliott all playing men who ...

'', and the 2007 remake of ''The Heartbreak Kid''.

Life and career

Farrelly was raised in

Cumberland, Rhode Island Cumberland is the northeasternmost town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 36,405 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh-largest municipality and the largest t ...

, to Mariann, a nurse practitioner, and Dr. Robert Leo Farrelly. His grandparents were Irish immigrants, and he also has Polish ancestry. He is a graduate of

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

, where he entered the school on a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

scholarship. Bobby and his brother

Peter Farrelly Peter John Farrelly (born December 17, 1956) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. Along with his brother Bobby, the Farrelly brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing quirky comedy and romantic comedy fi ...

are known as the

. They have written, directed and produced several comedy films including ''

'', ''

'', '' Kingpin'', ''

'', ''

Me, Myself & Irene ''Me, Myself & Irene'' is a 2000 American slapstick black comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, and starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins, Daniel Greene, Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon an ...

'' and '' Stuck on You'', as well as ''Fever Pitch'', and ''The Lost Son of Havana''. They conceived the ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'' episode " The Virgin" (4.10) In 2014, Bobby and Peter directed ''

Dumb and Dumber To ''Dumb and Dumber To'' is a 2014 American buddy comedy film co-written and directed by the Farrelly brothers. It is the third installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise and a sequel to the 1994 film ''Dumb and Dumber''. The film stars Ji ...

'', the sequel to their 1994 blockbuster hit ''

''. In 2016, Bobby directed two episodes of Season 10 of the Canadian cult mockumentary TV series ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer pa ...

''. In 2020, Bobby and Peter directed the

Quibi Quibi ( ) was a short-lived American short-form streaming platform that generated content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman, its CEO. The servic ...

comedy series ''

The Now The Now are an English punk rock group from Peterborough, England. Whilst never officially disbanding, they ceased recording and performing in 1979. In 2004, The Now recorded all of their original material and released as the ''Fuzztone Fizza ...

''.

Personal life

Farrelly has been married to his wife Nancy since 1990; they have two sons and a daughter. One of Farrelly's sons is transgender comedian A.B. Farrelly.

References

External links

* * 1958 births American film producers American male screenwriters American television directors American television producers American people of Irish descent Comedy film directors Living people Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni RPI Engineers men's ice hockey players People from Providence County, Rhode Island People from Cumberland, Rhode Island Film directors from Rhode Island Screenwriters from Rhode Island {{US-screen-writer-stub it:Bobby Farrelly