James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962)
is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic
slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American
sketch comedy television series ''
In Living Color'' (1990–1994). He broke out as a star in motion pictures with ''
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', ''
The Mask The Mask may refer to:
Books and comics
* ''The Mask'' (comics), a comic book series by publisher Dark Horse Comics
* Mask (DC Comics), an opponent of Wonder Woman
* ''The Mask'' (novel), a 1981 novel written by Dean Koontz under the pseudonym ...
'' and ''
Dumb and Dumber'' (all 1994). This was followed up with ''
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'', ''
Batman Forever'' (both 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'', ''
Horton Hears a Who!'' (both 2008), and ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...
'' (2009). In the 2010s, Carrey appeared in the films ''
Mr. Popper's Penguins'' (2011), ''
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'', ''
Kick-Ass 2'' (both 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
its 2022 sequel and
Joe Biden in six episodes of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
'' 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
''Doing Time on Maple Drive'' is a 1992 American made-for-television drama film written by James Duff and directed by Ken Olin. The movie stars James Sikking, Bibi Besch, William McNamara, Jayne Brook, David Byron, Lori Loughlin and Jim Carrey ...
'' (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 the 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'' (2018, 2020), for which he was nominated for another
Golden Globe. Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited Carrey as one of the best actors never to have received an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nomination.
In 2006, Carrey received a
Grammy award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
nomination for
Best Spoken Word Album for Children
The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality "spoken ...
. In 2013, Carrey published his first book, a children's story titled ''How Roland Rolls'', which was awarded a 2013
Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award. In 2020, Carrey published his first novel, ''
Memoirs and Misinformation'', which he co-authored with Dana Vachon.
Early life
Carrey was born in the
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
suburb of
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada,
to Kathleen (
née Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, a musician and accountant. He was raised a Roman Catholic and has three older siblings, John, Patricia, and Rita. His mother was of French, Irish, and Scottish descent, and his father was of French-Canadian ancestry; the family's original surname was Carré''.
[ on '' Inside the Actors Studio''.]
At age eight, he began making faces before a mirror and discovered a talent for doing impressions. 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. A fan of
Monty Python, whose TV show ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus'' 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
"The Funniest Joke in the World" (also "Joke Warfare" and "Killer Joke") is a Monty Python comedy sketch revolving around a joke that is so funny that anyone who reads or hears it promptly dies from laughter. Ernest Scribbler ( Michael Palin ...
" sketch.
''Radio Times'' states, "You'll see why immediately: Palin's performance is uncannily Carreyesque."
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
Aldershot School is a grade 7–12 school located in Burlington, Ontario. Although the current school building was constructed in 1959-1960, the original Aldershot School was built in 1870, making the name the oldest in continual use for an educa ...
while there. 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
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
shore in
Lincoln, Ontario
Lincoln is a town on Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. The town's administrative and commercial centre is in the community of Beamsville.
Geography
Lincoln's location between the southern shore of Lake Ontario and the Niagara ...
.
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.
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 6 pm into the next morning.
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 Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilto ...
, 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."
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 him put together a stage act, driving him to
downtown Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
to debut at the recently-opened
Yuk Yuk's comedy club operating one-night-a-week out of community centre
The 519
The 519, formerly known as The 519 Church Street Community Centre, is an agency of the City of Toronto. A Canadian charitable, non-profit organization, it operates a community centre in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontari ...
's basement on
Church Street.
For the performance, Carrey had his attire—a polyester
leisure suit—chosen by his mother who reasoned "that's how they dress on ''
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast''".
Pubescent Carrey's conventional impersonations bombed, proving ill-suited for a club with a raunchy comedic sensibility and giving him doubts about his potential as a professional entertainer.
Decades later, recalling Carrey's stand-up debut, Yuk Yuk's owner
Mark Breslin
Mark Breslin, is a Canadian entrepreneur, producer, stand-up comedian and actor best known for being the co-founder (along with Joel Axler) of Yuk Yuk's, the largest chain of comedy clubs in Canada. On December 29, 2017, he was appointed a Me ...
described it as "bad
Rich Little".
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
Jackson's Point is a summer resort harbour located in the township of Georgina, on Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada. It was originally part of a naval land grant made to Captain William Bourchier (December 09, 1791-January 22, 1844) in 1819 (Bourch ...
.
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
Can$20 compensation on a bill with the Mother of Pearl performer from ''
The Pig and Whistle
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''.
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
Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James ...
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
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
''. Carrey ended up not being selected by the show's new executive producer
Jean Doumanian who picked thirty-one-year-old
Charles Rocket instead. Decades later, after establishing himself as a Hollywood film star, Carrey would host the show in
May 1996,
January 2011, and
October 2014. After not getting ''Saturday Night Live'', Carrey took a
voice acting
Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talen ...
job performing ''
Clutch Cargo''-inspired bits on ''
The All-Night Show
''The All-Night Show'' is a television series starring Chas Lawther and produced by Jeff Silverman which ran from September 19, 1980 to August 29, 1981 on CFMT-TV in Toronto. The show was created and written by Errol Bruce, Chas Lawther, Michae ...
'', an overnight program airing locally on the
CFMT-TV channel branded as Multilingual Television (MTV).
Continuing to perform his stand-up act of
contortion
Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other liv ...
ist 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
Goddo was a Canadian rock band formed in Scarborough, Ontario in 1975. Goddo had mixed major label success from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. After reforming in 1989, they revived their career with several new studio and 'best of' packages. ...
at The Roxy Theatre in
Barrie
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politicall ...
for two shows on consecutive nights; the rock crowd booed him offstage and he refused to return for the second night. 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
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...
'' on the front page of its entertainment section with the writer Bruce Blackadar raving about "a genuine star coming to life".
Save for a brief mention in the ''
Barrie Examiner'', it was the 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.
In April 1981, he appeared in an episode of the televised stand-up show ''
An Evening at the Improv''. 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 a million viewers for its first airing in Canada.
Playing a struggling
impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...
comic Tony Maroni, it was Carrey's 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.
Making more comedy club appearances in the United States, Carrey was noticed by comedian
Rodney Dangerfield who signed Carrey to open his tour performances. By December 1981, a well-known comic in Canada, ''Toronto Star'' reported about Carrey waiting for a
United States work permit having received interest from
Johnny Carson's ''Tonight Show'', largely off his reputation from Canada.
In the early part of 1982, Carrey reportedly performed for ''The Tonight Show'' bookers Jim McCauley and Bud Robinson as part of the program's audition process for stand-up comic spots.
However, rather than being booked on the show, Carrey got advised to further hone his act, so he went back home to the Toronto area where he had already built a significant following.
Touring venues throughout North America as the opening act for Rodney Dangerfield, Carrey made a stop at home in Toronto on 19 June 1982, performing two sold-out shows at
Massey Hall.
1983–1994: Move to Hollywood
In early 1983, Carrey decided to move to Hollywood where he began regularly performing at
The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California.
History
The Comedy ...
. Getting on ''The Tonight Show'' became his immediate career goal, and, by spring 1983, he appeared to have achieved it after getting booked for a stand-up set on the highly-rated late night show.
However, a lukewarm club set at The Improv got him unbooked.
Though struggling to replicate his success in Los Angeles, Carrey continued being a big hit in his hometown Toronto where he returned during late April 1983 to perform at the short-lived B.B. Magoon's theatrical venue on
Bloor Street on three consecutive nights. While in town,
CTV
CTV may refer to:
Television
* Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet
North America and South America
* CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media
** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
's flagship newsmagazine program ''
W5'' did a feature on Carrey that aired nationally in Canada. Back in L.A., within months, he landed the main role on ''
The Duck Factory
''The Duck Factory'' is an American sitcom produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on NBC from April 12 until July 11, 1984. It was Jim Carrey's first lead role in a Hollywood production. It was also the only time when Don Messick appeared in li ...
'', a sitcom being developed for NBC, and, in late November 1983, still got to debut his impressionist act on ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' via a promotional appearance for the sitcom about to start airing nationally in the United States on the same network.
In the meantime, he was cast for a supporting role in the
Warner Bros. comedy production ''
Finders Keepers'', shot in the Canadian province of
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
during late summer 1983. For his ''Tonight Show''
appearance that aired on
American Thanksgiving, 21-year-old Carrey went through his most popular impressions—
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
,
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1 ...
,
Jack Nicholson,
Bruce Dern,
Clint Eastwood,
Charles Bronson,
Michael Landon,
James Dean,
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, d ...
,
Charles Nelson Reilly, characters from ''
My Three Sons'', and
Kermit the Frog and
Miss Piggy—in rapid succession.
After completing his set, though getting the
OK gesture
The OK gesture or OK sign or ring gesture (symbol/emoji: "👌") is performed by connecting the thumb and index into a circle, and holding the other fingers straight or relaxed away from the palm. Commonly used by divers, it signifies "I am OK" ...
from Carson, the impressionist comic was notably not waved over by the host to join him on the couch—a usual indication that while sufficiently pleased, the powerful host was probably not ecstatic about the performance. The end of 1983 saw Carrey go back home to Toronto once more for a publicized New Years' Eve performance at the
Royal York Hotel's
Imperial Room.
Originally scheduled to start airing in January 1984, ''The Duck Factory'' sitcom debut in April, airing Thursdays at 9:30pm between ''
Cheers'' and ''
Hill Street Blues''. The same month, Carrey took a job hosting the 1984
U-Know Awards ceremony held in Toronto at the Royal York Hotel's Ballroom. By the time he made his debut appearance on NBC's ''
Late Night with David Letterman
''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production compa ...
'' in late July 1984, the network had already cancelled ''The Duck Factory''; Carrey went back to touring with his impressionist act, including often opening for Rodney Dangerfield.
After being noticed doing stand-up by producer
Samuel Goldwyn Jr.
Samuel John Goldwyn Jr. (September 7, 1926 – January 9, 2015) was an American film producer.
Early life
Samuel Goldwyn Jr. was born on September 7, 1926, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Frances Howard (born Frances Howard McL ...
and contacted to audition for a teen horror
sex comedy being developed by
The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Carrey landed a starring role in ''
Once Bitten
Once Bitten may refer to:
Music
* ''Once Bitten'' (Annabel Lamb album) (1983)
* ''Once Bitten'' (The Snakes album) (1998)
* ''Once Bitten'' (Great White album)
* " Once Bitten, Twice Shy", an Ian Hunter song from the 1975 album ''Ian Hunter'', ...
'' shot in early 1985.
Carrey would continue getting film roles; throughout late summer and early fall 1985, he shot a supporting part in
Francis Ford Coppola's ''
Peggy Sue Got Married'' which went into a long post-production process.
In parallel, he decided to try out for ''Saturday Night Live'' again, this time ahead of the show's
1985-86 season being prepared by returning executive producer
Lorne Michaels who was looking to hire an all-new cast. Five years removed from his previous ''SNL'' audition, twenty-three-year-old Carrey was rejected again, reportedly never even getting the chance to audition his material—'
post-nuclear Elvis' hybrid impression and impersonation of
Henry Fonda from ''
On Golden Pond''—in front of executive producer Michaels due to the show's producers and senior writers
Al Franken,
Tom Davis, and
Jim Downey deciding that Michaels would not like it.
Unlike his previous ''SNL'' rejection, Carrey now had a bit of a film career to fall back on in addition to his impressionist stand-up act; ''Once Bitten'' was released in mid November 1985 and turned out to be a modest box-office hit despite drawing poor reviews.
Back on the comedy club circuit with impressions, in fall 1986, Carrey auditioned for ''SNL''s
upcoming season, his third attempt at getting on the ensemble sketch comedy show. Finally managing to perform for the show's executive producer Lorne Michaels at a
Burbank studio, with returning cast members
Dennis Miller
Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian.
He was a cast member of '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a str ...
,
Jon Lovitz, and
Nora Dunn also watching the audition, Carrey was rejected again.
Among the group of hopefuls auditioning alongside Carrey on this occasion were
Dana Carvey and
Phil Hartman, both of whom were hired.
Sensing that doing only impressions was turning into a career dead-end, Carrey set out to develop a new live comedy act.
Much to the dismay of comedy club owners booking him, he began abandoning trademark celebrity impressions, opting instead to try adding
observational and
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
humour to his comedic repertoire, a process that often involved forcing himself to improvise and scramble in front of dissatisfied live audiences that came to see him do impressions.
From 1990 to 1994, Carrey was a regular cast member of the ensemble comedy television series ''
In Living Color''. While short-lived, the popularity of this series helped him to land his first few major film roles.
1994–1998: Rise to fame
Carrey played the lead role in ''
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' which was released in February 1994 and went on to gross $72 million in the United States and Canada. Following its success and before the release of his next film, ''
The Mask The Mask may refer to:
Books and comics
* ''The Mask'' (comics), a comic book series by publisher Dark Horse Comics
* Mask (DC Comics), an opponent of Wonder Woman
* ''The Mask'' (novel), a 1981 novel written by Dean Koontz under the pseudonym ...
'', which was anticipated to be another hit,
Morgan Creek Productions paid him $5 million to reprise his role as Ace Ventura and
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
offered him $7 million to make a sequel to ''The Mask'' and paid him $7 million to appear in ''
Dumb and Dumber'', a nearly tenfold increase on his salary for ''Ace Ventura''. ''The Mask'', released in July 1994, grossed $351 million worldwide, and ''Dumb and Dumber'', released in December 1994, was another commercial success, grossing over $270 million worldwide. Carrey received his first
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
nomination for
Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
for his work in ''The Mask'' and was voted second on
Quigley's
Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, behind
Tom Hanks.
Carrey portrayed the
Batman villain the
Riddler in the
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. H ...
-directed
superhero film ''
Batman Forever'' (1995). The film received mixed reviews, but was a box office success. He reprised his role as
Ace Ventura
Ace Ventura is a title character created by screenwriter Jack Bernstein. Ace was performed by Jim Carrey in the films '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', released in 1994, and '' Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'', released in 1995, and was voiced by ...
in ''
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'' which was also released in 1995. Like the original film, it was well received by the public, but poorly received by critics. It was a huge box-office success, earning $212 million worldwide in addition to breaking records, with a $40 million opening weekend.
Carrey became the first actor to be paid $20 million for his next film, ''
The Cable Guy
''The Cable Guy'' is a 1996 American black comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, written by Lou Holtz Jr. and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. The film co-stars Leslie Mann, Jack B ...
'' (1996). Directed by
Ben Stiller, the film was a
satirical black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...
, in which Carrey played a lonely, menacing cable TV installer who infiltrates the life of one of his customers (played by
Matthew Broderick). The role was a departure from the "hapless, hyper, overconfident" characters he had been known for. However, it did not fare well with most critics, many reacting to Carrey's change of tone from previous films. Carrey also starred in the music video of the film's closing song, "
Leave Me Alone" by
Jerry Cantrell. Despite the reviews, ''The Cable Guy'' grossed $102 million worldwide.
He soon bounced back with the critically acclaimed comedy ''
Liar Liar'' (1997), playing Fletcher Reede, an unethical lawyer rendered unable to lie by his young son's birthday wish. Carrey was praised for his performance, earning a second Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor.
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said: "Well into his tumultuous career, Mr. Carrey finally turns up in a straightforward comic vehicle, and the results are much wilder and funnier than this mundane material should have allowed."
1998–2007: Critical acclaim
The following year he decided to take a pay cut to play the seriocomic role of Truman Burbank in the satirical
comedy-drama film ''
The Truman Show'' (1998). The film was highly praised and brought Carrey further international acclaim, leading many to believe he would be nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
.
For ''The Truman Show'', he was nominated Golden Globe Award for
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. ''The Truman Show'' was a commercial success, earning $264 million worldwide against a budget of $60 million. A
Film4
Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms ...
critic stated that the film "allows Carrey to edge away from broad comedy," adding that it was "a hilarious and breathtakingly conceived satire."
That same year, Carrey appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on the final episode of
Garry Shandling's ''
The Larry Sanders Show'', in which he deliberately ripped into
Shandling's character. In 1999, Carrey had the lead role in ''
Man on the Moon''. He portrayed comedian
Andy Kaufman to critical acclaim and received his second Golden Globe in a row. In addition, he received his first
Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for
Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
.
In 2000, Carrey reteamed with 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 ...
, who had previously directed him in ''Dumb and Dumber'', for the black comedy film ''
Me, Myself & Irene'', a film that received mixed reviews but enjoyed box office success. Carrey played the role of state trooper Charlie Baileygates, who has
multiple personalities and romances a woman portrayed by
Renée Zellweger. That same year, Carrey starred in the second highest-grossing Christmas film of all time, ''
How the Grinch Stole Christmas'', playing the
title character
The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...
, for which he received both praise and criticism from critics alongside a Golden Globe nomination.
For his next feature film, Carrey starred opposite
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
and
Morgan Freeman in
Tom Shadyac's international hit comedy ''
Bruce Almighty'' (2003). Carrey played a television newsman who unexpectedly receives God's
omnipotent abilities when the deity decides to take a vacation. The film received mixed reviews upon release but still became a financial success, earning over $484 million worldwide, and going on to become the seventeenth highest-grossing live action comedy of all time.
In 2004, Carrey starred in ''
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind''. The film received critical acclaim upon release. Critics highly praised Carrey's portrayal of Joel Barish, in addition to the performance of his co-star
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films, particularly period dramas, and for her portrayals of headstrong and complicated women, she has received numerous accolades, inc ...
, who was nominated for an Oscar. According to
CNN's reviewer
Paul Clinton, Carrey's performance was the actor's "best, most mature and sharply focused performance ever." Carrey received another Golden Globe nomination and his first BAFTA Award nomination for
Best Actor
Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play.
The term most often refers to the ...
.
Carrey's next appearance was in the 2004 black comedy fantasy film ''
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which was based on the children's novels
of the same name. The film was positively received;
Desson Thomson
Desson Patrick Thomson is a former speechwriter for the Obama administration and former film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reuniting with his birth father.
Biography
...
from ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' said of Carrey's approach to the character of
Count Olaf,
Olaf is a humorless villain in the book. He's not amusing like Carrey at all. To which I would counter: If you can't let Carrey be Carrey, put someone boring and less expensive in the role. In his various disguises he's rubbery, inventive and improvisationally inspired. I particularly liked his passing imitation of a dinosaur.
That same year, Carrey was inducted into the
Canadian Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame (french: link=no, Allée des célébrités canadiennes) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a ...
. In 2005, Carrey starred in the remake of ''
Fun with Dick and Jane'' with
Tea Leoni
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and norther ...
, which grossed $200 million with a profit of $100 million.
2007–2018: Change in pace
Carrey reunited with
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. H ...
, director of ''
Batman Forever'', for ''
The Number 23'' (2007), a psychological thriller co-starring
Virginia Madsen and
Danny Huston
Daniel Sallis Huston (born May 14, 1962) is an Italian-born American actor and film director. A member of the Huston family of filmmakers, he is the son of director John Huston and the half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston.
He is known for h ...
. In the film, Carrey plays a man who becomes obsessed with the
number 23, after finding a book about a man with the same obsession. The film was panned by critics. The following year Carrey provided his voice for
Dr. Seuss' ''
Horton Hears a Who!'' (2008). Carrey voiced
Horton the Elephant
Horton the Elephant is a fictional character from the 1940 book ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' and 1954 book ''Horton Hears a Who!'', both by Dr. Seuss. In both books and subsequent media, Horton is characterized as a kind, sweet-natured and naïve e ...
for the
CGI-animated feature, which was a box office success, grossing over $290 million worldwide.
Carrey returned to live-action comedy, starring opposite
Zooey Deschanel and
Bradley Cooper in ''
Yes Man'' (also 2008). Carrey played a man who signs up for a self-help program that teaches him to say yes to everything. Despite reviews being mixed, Rene Rodriquez of ''
The Miami Herald'' stated, "''Yes Man'' is fine as far as Jim Carrey comedies go, but it's even better as a love story that just happens to make you laugh." The film had a decent performance at the box office, earning $225 million worldwide.
Since 2009, Carrey's work has included a leading role in
Glenn Ficarra and
John Requa's ''
I Love You Phillip Morris'', premiering in January 2009 at the
Sundance Film Festival before receiving a wide release in February 2010. Carrey portrayed
Steven Jay Russell
Steven Jay Russell (born December 31, 1957) is an American con artist, known for escaping from prison multiple times. ''I Love You Phillip Morris'', a film about his life and crimes, was produced in 2009. In 2011, his crimes were featured on ...
, a
con artist, imposter, and multiple prison escapee who falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris (played by
Ewan McGregor). The film received largely positive reviews, with Damon Wise of ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' giving the film four stars out of five, stating, "''I Love You Phillip Morris'' is an extraordinary film that serves as a reminder of just how good Carrey can be when he's not tied into a generic Hollywood crowd-pleaser. His comic timing remains as exquisite as ever."
For the first time in his career, Carrey portrayed multiple characters in
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's 3D animated take on the classic
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
tale, ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...
'' (2009), voicing
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge () is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella '' A Christmas Carol''. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghos ...
and the
Ghosts of Christmas Past,
Present, and
Future. Directed by
Robert Zemeckis, the film also starred
Robin Wright Penn,
Bob Hoskins
Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...
,
Colin Firth,
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy F ...
, and
Cary Elwes. The film received decent reviews and was a financial success. Carrey landed the lead role in ''
Mr. Popper's Penguins'' (2011), playing Tom Popper Jr., a realtor who becomes the caretaker of a family of penguins. The film received a mixed reception upon release.
He starred alongside former co-star
Steve Carell in the
Don Scardino-directed comedy film ''
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'' (2013). Carrey played Steve Gray, a dangerous street magician who overshadows the formerly successful magician Burt Wonderstone (played by Carell). The film was released in March 2013 to mixed reviews and underperformed significantly at the box office, grossing just over $27 million on a $30 million budget.
Around the same time, he appeared in ''
Kick-Ass 2'' (also 2013) as Colonel Stars and Stripes. He retracted support for the film two months prior to its release. He issued a statement via his
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account that, in light of the
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...
, "Now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence."
Peter Farrelly said in April 2012 that Carrey and
Jeff Daniels would return for a ''Dumb and Dumber'' sequel, ''
Dumb and Dumber To'', with the Farrelly brothers writing and directing and a planned September 2012 production start.
In June, however, Carrey's representative said Carrey had left the project because the comedian felt New Line and Warner Bros. were unenthusiastic toward it. However, on 1 October 2012,
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Mana ...
's ''The Yo Show'' carried the news item that the script was complete and that the original actors, Carrey and Daniels, would be reprising their roles. The plot involved one of the characters having sired a child and needing to find them to obtain a kidney.
''Dumb and Dumber To'' was released in November 2014.
In March 2013, Carrey announced that he had written a children's book titled ''How Roland Rolls'', about a scared wave named Roland. He described it as "kind of a metaphysical children's story, which deals with a lot of heavy stuff in a really childish way." Carrey self-published the book, which was released in September 2013.
On March 25, 2013, Carrey released a parody music video with
Eels through
Funny or Die, with Carrey replacing
Mark Oliver Everett on vocals. The song and video, titled "
Cold Dead Hand" and set as a musical act during the variety program ''
Hee Haw'', lampoons American
gun culture, and specifically former
NRA
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while contin ...
spokesperson
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten ...
.
Carrey delivered the commencement address at
Maharishi University of Management in
Fairfield, Iowa, in May 2014 and received an honorary doctorate for his achievements as a comedian, artist, author, and philanthropist.
Carrey was a producer on ''
Rubble Kings
''Rubble Kings'' is a 2015 documentary film directed by Shan Nicholson that depicts gang violence in The Bronx in the 1970s, specifically the events leading up to and following the Hoe Avenue peace meeting.
The film premiered at the DOC NYC fi ...
'', a 2015 documentary film that depicts events preceding and following the
Hoe Avenue peace meeting The Hoe Avenue peace meeting was an important gathering of New York City gangs on December 8, 1971, in the Bronx. It was called to propose a general truce and an unprecedented inter-gang alliance. The impetus for the meeting was the murder of "Black ...
.
On 29 August 2014, Carrey was honoured by
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operat ...
with a limited-edition postage stamp with his portrait on it.
In June 2017,
Showtime began airing the dramedy ''
I'm Dying Up Here
''I'm Dying Up Here'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by David Flebotte. The pilot was written by Flebotte and directed by Jonathan Levine. It premiered on Showtime on June 4, 2017. The series is executive produced by Fleb ...
'', for which Carrey served as the executive producer. The show, which chronicles a group of stand-up comics in 1970s Los Angeles, incorporates aspects of Carrey's own experience. In September of that year, that same network announced that he would be starring in a comedy series titled ''
Kidding'', which will reunite Carrey and director
Michel Gondry. By the end of 2017, it was announced that
Catherine Keener would star opposite Carrey in ''Kidding''.
Carrey was also the subject of two documentaries in 2017. The first, a short subject entitled ''I Needed Color'' about his lifelong passion for art, was released online in the summer. Later that year another documentary, ''
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond—Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton'', premiered at The
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
and was later picked up by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
. The film chronicles the behind-the-scenes drama during the shooting of ''Man on the Moon'', when he
never broke character as Andy Kaufman.
It incorporates footage that was shot for the film's
electronic press kit but ultimately pulled by Universal as they felt that it was too damaging.
2018–present: Comeback
In June 2018, Carrey was cast as
Dr. Robotnik, the main
antagonist of the ''
Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series, in a film adaptation of the franchise. The
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
was released in February 2020 to positive reviews. Carrey's portrayal of Robotnik was praised, with some considering it one of his best performances in years. Carrey returned for ''
Sonic the Hedgehog 2'', released in April 2022, which grossed $72 million at the US box office in its opening weekend to give Carrey the best opening of his career to date.
In 2020, Carrey published ''
Memoirs and Misinformation''. In September, during the final stages of the
2020 U.S. Presidential Election, it was announced that Carrey would portray Presidential nominee
Joe Biden on the
46th season of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
'', taking over the role from
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 200 ...
,
Woody Harrelson and
John Mulaney.
[Itzkoff, Dave, interviewing Lorne Michaels]
"Lorne Michaels Isn’t Sure 'S.N.L.' Can Pull This Off: 'Saturday Night Live' returns Oct. 3 with Chris Rock as host. In an interview, Michaels, the show’s creator, talks about pandemic preparations and why 'a little danger' can be good for comedy."
September 24, 2020 - updated October 6, 2020, ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' retrieved November 28, 2020 However, Carrey's high-energy comedy style clashed with real-life Biden's low-key persona, producing an imitation that lacked authenticity, and failed to impress viewers and critics.
On December 19, 2020, Carrey announced that he would step down from playing Biden on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
'', stating that he had a six-week deal. Cast member
Alex Moffat
Alexander Everett Moffat (; born March 25, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live''. He started as a featured player in 2016 and became a main cast member in 2018. Moffat left ''SNL'' in 2022, aft ...
succeeded Carrey in portraying Biden during the cold open of the episode hosted by
Kristen Wiig at the same day.
Carrey appeared as the narrator of
The Weeknd album ''
Dawn FM
''Dawn FM'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on January 7, 2022, through XO and Republic Records. The album features narration by Jim Carrey, guest vocals from Tyler, the Creator and Lil Wayne ...
'', released on 7 January 2022.
In April 2022, Carrey announced that he was considering retirement from the film industry, explaining, "I have enough. I've done enough. I am enough." When asked if he would ever come back, his response was, "It depends. If the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I'm taking a break".
Personal life
Carrey suffers from
depression and has taken
Prozac
Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...
to combat the symptoms. He has stated that he no longer takes medications or stimulants of any kind, including coffee.
He received
U.S. citizenship in October 2004 and remains a
dual citizen of the United States and his native Canada.
Relationships
In 1983, Jim Carrey dated singer
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
for eight months. Carrey has been married twice. His first marriage was to former actress and
Comedy Store waitress Melissa Womer, whom he married on 28 March 1987. Their daughter, Jane Erin Carrey, was born 6 September 1987. Jane was a 2012 contestant on ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...
''. Carrey and Womer divorced in 1995.
On 23 September 1996, Carrey married his ''
Dumb and Dumber'' co-star
Lauren Holly; the marriage lasted less than a year. From 1999 to 2000, Carrey was engaged to his ''
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 ...
'' co-star
Renée Zellweger.
January Jones was in a relationship with Carrey in 2002. Carrey met model and actress
Jenny McCarthy in 2005 and made their relationship public in June 2006. In April 2010, the two ended their relationship. In October 2010, McCarthy said they remained good friends.
Carrey met Cathriona White in 2012, a makeup artist from
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after ...
, Ireland. They dated between 2012 and 2015. On 28 September 2015, White was found dead from a prescription
drug overdose; the death was ruled a suicide by the LA County Medical Examiner. Carrey was a
pallbearer at her funeral in
Cappawhite
Cappawhite, also Cappaghwhite (), is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland and is located on the R505 regional road from Cashel to County Limerick. Close major towns near the village include Tipperary Town which is 12 kilometres south of the v ...
, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Carrey attended the
Golden Globes 2019 Party with his girlfriend
Ginger Gonzaga
Ginger Gonzaga (born May 17, 1983) is an American comedian and actress. She plays Nikki Ramos, best friend of Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk in the Disney+ series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law''.
Early life
Gonzaga grew up in Modesto, California, ...
in January 2019. The couple split after less than a year of dating.
Wrongful death lawsuits
Carrey's girlfriend Cathriona White married Mark Burton in 2013, in Las Vegas. She had been dating Carrey on and off since 2012, and was still married but dating Carrey when she died in 2015. On 19 September 2016, Burton filed a
wrongful death lawsuit against Carrey, claiming that he had used his "immense wealth and celebrity status" to illegally obtain and distribute prescription drugs involved in White's death. Carrey released a statement the following day:
In October 2016, White's mother, Brigid Sweetman, also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Carrey. In this suit, Sweetman's attorney states that Carrey underwent a test for
sexually transmitted infections, tested positive for
hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is an infectious disease of the liver caused by ''Hepatovirus A'' (HAV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Many cases have few or no symptoms, especially in the young. The time between infection and symptoms, in those who develop the ...
, HSV (
Herpes) I and II, and
chlamydia, and hid the results from White and had unprotected sex with her.
Sweetman later issued a statement: "These documents show that Jim Carrey has lied to the media, the public and the court. Carrey has now been shown for what he is—a dishonest Hollywood celebrity who thinks he can say anything and fool people just because he is famous."
Both lawsuits were dismissed on January 25, 2018, and attorneys for both sides confirmed there would be no further legal proceedings.
Vaccine skepticism
In 2009, Carrey wrote an article
questioning the merits of vaccination for ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''. With former partner
Jenny McCarthy, Carrey led a "Green Our Vaccines" march in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the removal of "toxic substances" from children's vaccines, out of a belief that children had received "too many vaccines, too soon, many of which are toxic". The rally was criticized by
David Gorski, an American
surgical oncologist
Surgical oncology is the branch of surgery applied to oncology; it focuses on the surgical management of tumors, especially cancerous tumors.
As one of several modalities in the management of cancer, the specialty of surgical oncology has evo ...
on ''
Science-Based Medicine
''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website and blog with articles covering issues in science and medicine, especially medical scams and practices. Founded in 2008, it is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society and run by Steven N ...
'' blog, for being anti-vaccine and not "pro-safe vaccine", and by Steven Parker on the
WebMD website for being "irresponsible".
On July 1, 2015, after the signing of a
new vaccination law, Carrey called
California Governor Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
a "corporate fascist" who was "poisoning" children by enacting the vaccination requirements.
The law disallowed religious and philosophical reasons for exemption from vaccination. Carrey was criticized for being "ignorant when it comes to vaccines" by
Arthur Caplan, head of the Division of Medical Ethics, at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
, and by
Jeffrey Kluger
Jeffrey Kluger (born 1954) is a senior writer at ''Time'' magazine and author of nine books on various topics, such as ''The Narcissist Next Door'' (2014); ''Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio'' (2005); ''The Sibling Effect' ...
, senior writer at ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'', who described his anti-vaccination statements as "angry, dense and immune to reason".
Political and spiritual views
Carrey believes in and advocates for the so-called "
law of attraction". In an interview with
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...
on 17 February 1997, he revealed that as a struggling actor he would use
visualization techniques to get work. He also stated that he visualized a $10 million check given to him for "acting services rendered", placed the check in his pocket, and seven years later received a $10 million check for his role in ''Dumb and Dumber.''
Carrey practices
Transcendental Meditation.
Carrey has shared his own
political cartoon
A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combin ...
drawings since August 2017, including controversial renderings of then-White House Press Secretary
Sarah Huckabee Sanders and then-President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. He sparked an international event on 31 March 2019, posting a drawing criticising
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...
by depicting
Benito Mussolini's
infamous death with
Clara Petacci
Clara Petacci, known as Claretta Petacci (; 28 February 1912 – 28 April 1945), was a mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. She was killed during Mussolini's execution by Italian partisans.
Early life
Daughter of Giuseppina Persic ...
; this irked Mussolini's granddaughter
Alessandra who chided him on Twitter calling him "a bastard" and his artworks "dirty paper."
His drawing repertoire culminated in an exhibition titled ''IndigNation'', which opened on 23 October 2018 at the Maccarone Gallery in Los Angeles and featured 108 pen-and-ink drawings from Carrey's Twitter feed from 2016 to 2018.
Artwork and NFTs
In 2017, Carrey revealed that he had been painting for the past six years. In 2011, he exhibited the painting ''Nothing to See Here'' in an art show in Palm Springs at the Heather James Fine Art Gallery.
In 2017, Carrey released a six-minute documentary entitled, ''I Needed Color'', which showed him working in his studio.
In April 2022, Carrey announced that he had minted his first art NFT via the NFT platform SuperRare. The NFT is based on a painting entitled ''Sunflower'', and is accompanied by original voiceover.
In November 2022, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs banned Jim Carrey from entering Russia as well as 100 other Canadians in response to Western sanctions.
Awards and nominations
Selected filmography
Discography
Singles
* "Cuban Pete" (1995) –
AUS ,
[Australian (ARIA) chart peaks:
*
* "Cuban Pete": ] UK
* "Somebody to Love" (1996) – AUS
* "
Cold Dead Hand" (2013) (as ''Lonesome Earl and the Clutterbusters'')
Other
*
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...
"
I Am the Walrus" (1998)
*
The Weeknd "Dawn FM", "Out of Time" and "Phantom Regret by Jim" (2022)
Bibliography
Books
*
*
Forewords
*
See also
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrey, Jim
1962 births
Living people
20th-century Canadian comedians
20th-century Canadian male actors
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American screenwriters
21st-century Canadian comedians
21st-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian novelists
21st-century Canadian screenwriters
American anti-vaccination activists
American cartoonists
American film producers
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male comedians
American male comedy actors
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male television writers
American male voice actors
American people of French descent
American people of French-Canadian descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Scottish descent
American sketch comedians
American stand-up comedians
American television writers
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Canadian cartoonists
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian film producers
Canadian impressionists (entertainers)
Canadian male comedians
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male screenwriters
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male television writers
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian people of French descent
Canadian people of Irish descent
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Canadian sketch comedians
Canadian stand-up comedians
Canadian television writers
Canadian anti-vaccination activists
Comedians from Toronto
Male actors from Toronto
Method actors
Naturalized citizens of the United States
People from Burlington, Ontario
People from Newmarket, Ontario
People with acquired American citizenship
Writers from Scarborough, Toronto