Steven Brent Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961)
is an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with actor and comedian
Jim Carrey and director
Tom Shadyac
Thomas Peter Shadyac (born December 11, 1958) is an American director, screenwriter, producer, and author. The youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, Shadyac is widely known for writing and directing the comedy films '' Ace Ventura: P ...
(particularly the ''
Ace Ventura'' franchise), his series of "
Thumbmation" shorts and his film ''
Kung Pow! Enter the Fist'' (2002), along with his films ''
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', ''
Santa vs. the Snowman 3D'', ''
Barnyard'' and ''
The Nutty Professor'' remake.
Early life
Oedekerk was raised in
Huntington Beach, California, by his mother Rena Borlandeli and father Martin Oedekerk. He attended
Mater Dei High School in
Santa Ana, California and
Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He is of Dutch Frisian, Irish, Hungarian and Italian (
Lombard) descent. His mother is an emigrant from
Magnago
Magnago ( Legnanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan.
Magnago borders the following municipalities: Samarate, Busto Arsizio, Vanzaghello, Dairago, Cast ...
, Italy. His paternal grandfather was an
Afrikaner born in South Africa to Dutch parents. On February 15, 2019, Oedekerk's father Martin died.
Career
Throughout his career, Oedekerk has appeared in and created several television specials for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
,
ABC, and
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
. He also contributed his writing talents to
FOX during the late 1980s and through the early 1990s. It was during this time that Oedekerk befriended fellow comic/actor
Jim Carrey while working on the television series ''
In Living Color
''In Living Color'' is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in ...
'' during its 1990–1994 run; this was the first of numerous collaborations between the two.
Prior to his successful contributions to several unknown episodes in the ''Color'' TV series, he wrote and starred in his first independent/directorial film, ''Smart Alex'' (1987). It wasn't until 1991 that Oedekerk was attached not only as a writer, but also as the protagonist, as Thane Furrows in the film ''
High Strung''. Jim Carrey also starred opposite him in the role of
Death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
, although he went uncredited. They eventually developed a strong friendship, which still exists today. Shortly afterward, Oedekerk again worked alongside Carrey as the project consultant for
Tom Shadyac
Thomas Peter Shadyac (born December 11, 1958) is an American director, screenwriter, producer, and author. The youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, Shadyac is widely known for writing and directing the comedy films '' Ace Ventura: P ...
's first film ''
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' (1994). The film became a break-out success and he was given the opportunity to both direct and write its sequel, ''
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'' (1995). This time Oedekerk directed and wrote the movie after Shadyac left before filming. The sequel proved to be more successful, surpassing the box office gross of the original. Despite this, both Oedekerk and Carrey wanted to pursue other projects, but still remained friends.
Following the ''Ace Ventura'' franchise, Oedekerk co-wrote ''
The Nutty Professor'' (1996), which was also directed by Shadyac for
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
; it became one of the highest-grossing films of that year. He soon wrote, directed and also had a cameo appearance in ''
Nothing to Lose'' (1997), starring
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his rol ...
and
Martin Lawrence
Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American comedian and actor. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playin ...
. Oedekerk took a hiatus from directing major film productions for the rest of the 1990s, but continued to write screenplays, including ''
Patch Adams'' (1998), ''
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' (2000), ''
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'' (2001), ''
Kung Pow! Enter the Fist'' (2002) (which he directed, wrote and starred in), ''
Bruce Almighty'' (2003) and ''
Barnyard'' (2006) (which he directed, wrote, produced, and voiced various characters). In 2003, he signed a first look deal with Universal.
In 2007, Oedekerk produced the screenplay and story for the ''Bruce Almighty'' sequel, ''
Evan Almighty
''Evan Almighty'' is a 2007 American comedy film, and a spin-off of ''Bruce Almighty'' (2003). The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Oedekerk, based on the characters created by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe from the original fi ...
;'' again, Shadyac directed both films. He has also been commissioned to write the screenplay for the ''
Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' film adaptation; Jim Carrey has since been cast in the title role. No news involving the project has been reported since.
In February 2009, Universal Pictures announced that Steve Oedekerk would be penning a film adaptation of the
Stretch Armstrong superhero doll. As of 2016, the film is left in
development hell with an animated series currently in the works.
In 2015, it was announced that a sequel to ''Kung Pow'' is currently in the works with him returning to write and direct.
O Entertainment
O Entertainment is a production company founded by Steve Oedekerk in 1990. O Entertainment's productions include the Thumbmation series (''Thumb Wars'', ''Bat Thumb'', ''Thumbtanic'', etc.), ''Santa vs. the Snowman 3D'', ''Jimmy Neutron: The Boy Genius'', ''The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'', ''Back at the Barnyard'', ''Planet Sheen'', and the movie ''The Super Mouse''. The animation division, Omation Animation Studio, was founded by Oedekerk himself and hired animators who previously worked in
DNA Productions
DNA Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio and production company founded in 1987 by John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn, which is best known for its comedy films. It also provided directing, script writing, and production to its client ...
after the studio closed down in 2006.
In 1990, Oedekerk founded an entertainment company, O Entertainment. In 1997, he created and starred in a variety special for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, featuring computer animation, entitled ''
The O Show'' (also known as ''steve.oedekerk.com''). He is also executive producer of the
computer animated series ''
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
''The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'' (sometimes shortened to ''Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'' or commonly ''Jimmy Neutron'') is an American CGI-animated television series. The second installment in the '' Jimmy Neutron'' franchise, it ...
'' on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
.
Omation Animation Studio
Omation Animation Studio (commonly known as Omation) is an animation studio founded by the same founder who founded O Entertainment, Steve Oedekerk. In 2002, he founded the animation division of O Entertainment, Omation Animation Studio (better known as Omation),
whose first animation project was the feature film ''
Barnyard'' (which Oedekerk wrote, directed, produced, and voice acted in). Around 2006–2007, the studio began production on a Nicktoon based on the film titled ''
Back at the Barnyard''. The series premiered on Nickelodeon on September 29, 2007. A second season followed, and six additional episodes airing on Nickelodeon's sister channel Nicktoons from September 12, 2011, until November 12, 2011.
Oedekerk also gained popularity with his series of "
Thumbmation" shorts: ''
Thumb Wars'', ''
Bat Thumb'', ''
The Godthumb'', ''
Frankenthumb'', ''The Blair Thumb'' and ''Thumbtanic''.
Filmography
Film
Executive consultant
* ''
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' (1994)
Acting roles
Television
Acting roles
References
External links
Steve Oedekerkon
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
O Entertainmenton
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
*https://www.oedework.com/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oedekerk, Steve
1961 births
Living people
American people of Afrikaner descent
American people of Dutch descent
American people of Frisian descent
American people of Hungarian descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Lombard descent
American people of South African descent
American male comedians
American male film actors
Film producers from California
American male screenwriters
American male voice actors
American television writers
American writers of Italian descent
Comedians from California
Film directors from California
Male actors from Los Angeles
American male television writers
Nickelodeon people
Showrunners
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American screenwriters
21st-century American male writers
American film directors of Italian descent