Jim Carrey

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January 17, 1962

James Eugene Carrey

Actor

Mr. Poppers Penguins (2011)

Presidential Reunion (2010)

A Christmas Carol (2009)

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

Yes Man (2008)

Horton Hears a Who! (2008) (voice)

The Number 23 (2007)

Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Pecan Pie (2003)

The Majestic (2001)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

Man on the Moon (1999)

Simon Birch (1998)

The Truman Show (1998)

Liar Liar (1997)

The Cable Guy (1996)

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

Batman Forever (1995)

Dumb & Dumber (1994)

The Mask (1994)

In Living Color (68 episodes, 1990-1994)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (1992) (voice)

Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992) (TV)

High Strung (1991) (uncredited)

Pink Cadillac (1989)

Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (1989) (TV)

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
The Dead Pool (1988)

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

Once Bitten (1985)

"The Duck Factory" (13 episodes, 1984)

Finders Keepers (1984)

"Buffalo Bill" (1 episode, 1984)

All in Good Taste (1983)

Copper Mountain (1983)

Introducing... Janet (1983) (TV)

The Sex and Violence Family Hour (1983)

"The All-Night Show" (1980) TV series

Producer

Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) (producer)

Bruce Almighty (2003) (producer)

Jim Carrey: The Un-Natural Act (1991) (TV) (producer)

Writer

Laughing Out Loud: America's Funniest Comedians (2001) (writer)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) (screenplay)

Jim Carrey: The Un-Natural Act (1991) (TV) (writer)

In Living Color (1990) TV series (unknown episodes)

Appearances:

"Frontline" (1 episode, 2010)

Toxic Soup (2009) (uncredited)

Entertainment Tonight (23 episodes, 2005-2010)

"Le grand journal de Canal+" (1 episode, 2010)

"Chelsea Lately" (1 episode, 2009)

"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" (1 episode, 2009)

Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (4 episodes, 2004-2009)

2009 MTV Movie Awards 2009 (TV)

Larry King Live" (7 episodes, 1999-2009)

Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man (2009)

Downtime on the Set of Yes Man with Jim Carrey (2009)

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2009 (2009) (TV)

Under the Sea 3D (2009) Narrator

Access Hollywood (1 episode, 2008)

"Cartelera" (2 episodes, 2008)

"Cinema 3" (1 episode, 2008)

Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1 episode, 2008)

Late Show with David Letterman (10 episodes, 1994-2008)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (4 episodes, 1995-2008)

"Up Close with Carrie Keagan" (2 episodes, 2007-2008)

Premios Principales 2008 (2008) (TV)

"Xposé" (1 episode, 2008)

American Idol (1 episode, 2008)

"Getaway" (1 episode, 2008)

Live with Regis and Kelly (2 episodes, 2004-2008)

The Oprah Winfrey Show (8 episodes, 1998-2008)

Super Bowl XLII (2008) (TV)

Biography (2 episodes, 2000-2008)

Happy Birthday Elton! From Madison Square Garden, New York (2007) (TV)

Deep Inside the Kid's Choice Awards (2007) (TV)

"God kveld Norge" (1 episode, 2007)

Certifiably Jonathan (2007)

Late Night with Conan O'Brien (5 episodes, 1999-2007)

Forbes Celebrity 100: Who Made Bank? (2006) (TV)

2006 MTV Movie Awards 2006 (TV)

"GMTV" (5 episodes, 2004-2006)

"Film '72" (2 episodes, 2005-2006)

Moving Image Salutes Ron Howard (2006) (TV)

"The Early Show" (1 episode, 2005)

Today (1 episode, 2005)

Extra (1 episode, 2005)

"The Insider" (1 episode, 2005)

Une américaine à Paris (2005) (TV)

The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards 2005 (TV)

Inside the Mind of Michel Gondry (2005)

"Only in LA" (1 episode, 2005)

Total Request Live (1 episode, 2004)

"The Greatest Canadian" (2004) TV mini-series

AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Meryl Streep (2004) (TV)

"T4" (1 episode, 2004)

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards '04 (2004) (TV)

"On-Air with Ryan Seacrest" (1 episode, 2004)

The 76th Annual Academy Awards 2004 (TV)

"Tinseltown TV" (1 episode, 2004)

"The Wayne Brady Show" (1 episode, 2004)

The 30th Annual People's Choice Awards 2004 (TV)

A Terrible Tragedy: Alarming Evidence from the Making of the Film - A Woeful World (2004) (uncredited)

"Jessica's Crush" (2004) TV series

A Terrible Tragedy: Alarming Evidence from the Making of the Film - Costumes and Other Suspicious Disguises (2004) (uncredited)

A Look Inside 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004) (TV)

The Teen Choice Awards 2003 (2003) (TV)

"Ruby Wax with..." (1 episode, 2003)

Richard & Judy (1 episode, 2003)

"Enough Rope with Andrew Denton" (1 episode, 2003)

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (1 episode, 2003)

"Howard Stern" (3 episodes, 1994-2003)

"Revealed with Jules Asner" (1 episode, 2003)

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards '03 (2003) (TV)

Saturday Night Live (2 episodes, 1996-2003)

"Supermarket Sweep" (1 episode, 2002)

Hollywood Salutes Nicolas Cage: An American Cinematheque Tribute (2002) (TV)

Playboy: Inside the Playboy Mansion (2002) (TV)

"Exclusif" (1 episode, 2002)

The Rosie O'Donnell Show (2 episodes, 2000-2001)

The Charlie Rose Show (1 episode, 2001)

"HBO First Look" (2 episodes, 1996-2001)

The Concert for New York City (2001) (TV)

America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001) (TV)

"E! True Hollywood Story" (1 episode, 2001)

Jim Carrey Uncensored (2000) (TV)

The Teen Choice Awards 2000 (2000) (TV)

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (2000) (TV)

Man on the Moon: Behind the Moonlight (2000)

2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000) (TV)

"Life and Times" (1 episode, 2000)

MTV Video Music Awards 2000 (2000) (TV)

Andy Kaufman's Really Big Show (1999) (TV)

Liar Liar: Bridging the Comedy Chasm (1999)

The 71st Annual Academy Awards 1999 (TV)

"The Directors" (2 episodes)

"Celebrity Profile" (1999) TV series

1999 MTV Movie Awards 1999 (TV)

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars: America's Greatest Legends (1999) (TV)

In My Life (1998) (TV)

Junket Whore (1998)

"Bravo Profiles: The Entertainment Business" (1998) TV mini-series

The Larry Sanders Show (1 episode, 1998)

The 24th Annual People's Choice Awards 1998 (TV)

The 69th Annual Academy Awards 1997 (TV)

"The Mask" (1 episode, 1996)

The American Film Institute Salute to Clint Eastwood (1996) (TV)

The 68th Annual Academy Awards 1996 (TV)

1996 MTV Movie Awards 1996 (TV)

The Diversity Awards (1996) (TV)

"Showbiz Today" (3 episodes, 1995)

Jim Carrey Spotlight (1995) (TV)

This Morning (1 episode, 1995)

Riddle Me This: Why Is Batman Forever? (1995) (TV)

"Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (2 episodes, 1994-1995)

A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman (1995) (TV)

The American Film Institute Salute to Steven Spielberg (1995) (TV)

1995 MTV Movie Awards 1995 (TV)

Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects (1994) (TV)

Dennis Miller Live (1 episode, 1994)

A Tribute to Sam Kinison (1993) (TV)

Comic Relief V (1992) (TV)

The Comedy Store's 20th Birthday (1992) (TV)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (3 episodes, 1991)

Late Night with David Letterman (1 episode, 1991)

Comic Relief IV (1991) (TV)

Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth (1991) (TV)

Jim Carrey: The Un-Natural Act (1991) (TV)

"The Bob Monkhouse Show" (1 episode, 1986)

"An Evening at the Improv" (1982) TV series

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films

2005 Nominated Saturn Award Best Actor for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

2001 Nominated Saturn Award Best Actor for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

1999 Nominated Saturn Award Best Actor for: The Truman Show (1998)

American Comedy Awards

2000 Nominated American Comedy Award Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) for: Man on the Moon (1999)

1999 Nominated American Comedy Award Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) for: The Truman Show (1998)

1999 Nominated American Comedy Award Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series for: "The Larry Sanders Show" (1992)

1996 Nominated American Comedy Award Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) for: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

BAFTA Awards

2005 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

2001 Won Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actor - Comedy for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

2001 Nominated Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actor - Comedy/Romance for: Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

1999 Nominated Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actor - Drama for: The Truman Show (1998)

1998 Won Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actor - Comedy for: Liar Liar (1997)

1995 Won Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actor - Comedy, On Video for: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

1995 Won Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Male Newcomer, On Video for: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

1999 Won BSFC Award Best Actor for: Man on the Moon (1999)

Canadian Comedy Awards

2001 Nominated Canadian Comedy Award Film - Pretty Funny Male Performance for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

2000 Nominated Canadian Comedy Award Film - Performance - Male for: Man on the Moon (1999)

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

1999 Nominated CFCA Award Best Actor for: The Truman Show (1998)

Empire Awards, UK

2005 Nominated Empire Award Best Actor for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

2001 Nominated Empire Award Best Actor for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Golden Globes

2005 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

2001 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

2000 Won Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for: Man on the Moon (1999)

1999 Won Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for: The Truman Show (1998)

1998 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for: Liar Liar (1997)

1995 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for: The Mask (1994)

Kids' Choice Awards

2009 Nominated Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: Yes Man (2008)

2009 Nominated Blimp Award Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie for: Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

2006 Nominated Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)

2005 Nominated Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

2004 Won Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: Bruce Almighty (2003)

2001 Won Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

1999 Nominated Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: The Truman Show (1998)

1998 Nominated Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: Liar Liar (1997)

1997 Won Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: The Cable Guy (1996)

1996 Won Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

1995 Won Blimp Award Favorite Movie Actor for: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

London Critics Circle Film Awards

2001 Nominated ALFS Award Actor of the Year for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) Also for Man on the Moon (1999).

1995 Won ALFS Award Newcomer of the Year for: The Mask (1994) Also for Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994).

MTV Movie Awards

2009 Won MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: Yes Man (2008)

2006 MTV Generation Award

2005 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Villain for: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

2004 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: Bruce Almighty (2003)

2004 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Kiss for: Bruce Almighty (2003) Shared with: Jennifer Aniston

2001 Won MTV Movie Award Best Villain for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

2001 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

2000 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance for: Man on the Moon (1999)

1999 Won MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance for: The Truman Show (1998)

1998 Won MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: Liar Liar (1997)

1997 Won MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: The Cable Guy (1996)

1997 Won MTV Movie Award Best Villain for: The Cable Guy (1996)

1997 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Fight for: The Cable Guy (1996). Shared with: Matthew Broderick for: the medieval time fight between Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick

1996 Won MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

1996 Won MTV Movie Award Best Male Performance for: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

1996 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Kiss for: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) Shared with: Sophie Okonedo

1996 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Villain for: Batman Forever (1995)

1995 Won MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: Dumb & Dumber (1994)

1995 Won MTV Movie Award Best Kiss for: Dumb & Dumber (1994). Shared with: Lauren Holly

1995 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: The Mask (1994)

1995 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Dance Sequence for: The Mask (1994). Shared with: Cameron Diaz

1995 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best On-Screen Duo for: Dumb & Dumber (1994). Shared with: Jeff Daniels

1994 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best Comedic Performance for: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

MTV Movie Awards, Mexico

2004 Won MTV Movie Award Most Divine Miracle in a Movie (Milagro más Divino en una Película) for: Bruce Almighty (2003) for: the chest of Grace (Bruce grows the breasts of his wife)

MovieGuide Awards

1999 Won Grace Award for: The Truman Show (1998)

Online Film Critics Society Awards

2005 Nominated OFCS Award Best Actor for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

2000 Nominated OFCS Award Best Actor for: Man on the Moon (1999)

People's Choice Awards

2010 Won People's Choice Award Favorite Comedy Star

2009 Nominated People's Choice Award Favorite Funny Male Star

2005 Won People's Choice Award Favorite Funny Male Star

2005 Nominated People's Choice Award Favorite Leading Man

2005 Nominated People's Choice Award Favorite On-Screen Chemistry for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Shared with:Kate Winslet

2001 Won People's Choice Award Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy

1996 Won People's Choice Award Favorite Actor in a Comedy Motion Picture

San Diego Film Critics Society Awards

2004 Won SDFCS Award Best Actor for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Satellite Awards

2005 Nominated Golden Satellite Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

2000 Nominated Golden Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical for: Man on the Moon (1999)

Screen Actors Guild Awards

2000 Nominated Actor Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for: Man on the Moon (1999)

ShoWest Convention, USA

2000 ShoWest Award Male Star of the Year

1995 Special Award Comedy Star of the Year

TV Land Awards

2004 Nominated TV Land Award Big Star/Little Screen Favorite

Teen Choice Awards

2009 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Comedy for: Yes Man (2008)

2009 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Hissy Fit for: Yes Man (2008)

2009 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Rockstar Moment for: Yes Man (2008)

2007 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Horror/Thriller for: The Number 23 (2007)

2006 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Comedian

2006 Nominated Teen Choice Award Movies - Choice Actor: Comedy for: Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)

2005 Won Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Bad Guy for: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

2005 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Comedian

2005 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure/Thriller for: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

2005 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Liar for: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

2004 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Comedian

2003 Won Teen Choice Award Choice Comedian

2003 Won Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor - Comedy for: Bruce Almighty (2003)

2003 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Chemistry for: Bruce Almighty (2003) Shared with: Morgan Freeman

2001 Won Teen Choice Award Film - Choice Hissy Fit for: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

2000 Won Teen Choice Award Film - Wipeout Scene of the Summer for: Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

2005 AFI Star Award

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From that timeless moment early on in 1994's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective when Ace (Carrey) bends over and conducts a conversation by manipulating his rear end, he instantly became an idol to 12-year-old boys and their parents. Everywhere there were kids, his signature line could be heard: "Allllrighty-then!"

1994 was a magical year for Carrey, with an unexpected and most unholy trinity of smash hits that transformed the troubled, struggling young comic to superstar.

He has been accused of dumbing down the medium of film, if not the entire Western World with his lowbrow humour that seemed to straddle the line of sanity. His salary, per film reads like the area code for Saturn. But he had endured a lot to get there.

His is a true rags-to-riches story, but unlike any other you've heard. It poses difficult questions. How can childlike funniness with mass appeal come from a young life of poverty, shame and adversity? How can traumas and demons contribute to the making of a comic legend?

Carrey's father Percy was a frustrated musician who had trouble finding and keeping enough work to raise a family. Always broke or close to it, they once had to live for a spell in a Volkswagen bus. ("I'm Canadian. I thought we were camping," he later joked.)

Young Jimmy was a goofy, skinny kid who just knew how to get laughs. When a class at school got boring, his pals would plead with teachers to let him get up and perform. By the time he became a teenager, he was saddled with the almost unthinkable pressure of being the family's salvation. Not only did he have to keep them laughing, he was going to be a star, make them respectable and more.

He dropped out of school after Grade 9 and started hanging out at comedy clubs. Everyone saw the natural talent, but his material, including Jimmy Stewart impersonations, seemed tame and lacking any edge. Once he was so bad they actually gave him the hook. It was humiliating and suddenly scary to contemplate life with a Grade 9 education and no skills. But he regrouped and at just 19 hit the comeback trail with a well-received performance before a tony Yorkville, Toronto audience. One critic gushed that the world "saw a genuine star coming to life."

In comedy as in life, timing is everything. He ventured to New York, going from club to club just looking for his ten minutes of stage time. It was a break in more ways than one when he got a paying gig at Dangerfield's, the comedy dinner club of the legendary Rodney "I-get-no-respect" Dangerfiled (as in "I know I'm ugly. When I was born, the doctor took one look at me and slapped my mother."). He liked the young Carrey's stuff.

In his biography of Carrey, The Joker is Wild, Martin Knelman writes that this was more than a professional break. Though the great veteran would give the young beginner a huge leg up by taking him on tour, he also became a mentor, almost a father figure. His income bumped up as well. He could afford to move his parents into the lavish luxury of a basement apartment in Toronto.

By the fall of 1981, he was in Los Angeles, full of promise and with the tremendous good fortune to have Linda Ronstadt as a girlfriend. He did some small stuff on TV and in film and got the lead in a new, much-heralded NBC-TV series The Duck Factory. If you've never heard of it, no worries. Millions haven't. It crashed and burned and with it, it seemed, Carrey's career and self-esteem.

His parents had moved to LA and in with him. They drove him crazy and he actually ordered them to go home. He was at loose ends, trying to reinvent himself away from the impersonations he'd relied on.

He tried new material that could only be described as "experimental," stuff that mystified his friends and appeared to be the product of an unstable creative mind. His "from-another-planet" reputation took hold.

In the mid 1980s he lucked into two good movies and, as Knelman notes, made two more important friends. In Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) he had just a small role as Walter Getz, the future geeky, substance-abusing dentist. The legendary Francis Ford Coppola directed, and Carrey befriended the legend's nephew who starred in the movie, Nicholas Cage.

Clint Eastwood also took a liking to Carrey and cast him in The Dead Pool (1988). Both Cage and Eastwood would be there years later when Carrey got his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Given his otherworldly reputation, it made perfect sense to audition as an actual alien for Earth Girls are Easy (1988). A slight but amusing sci-fi comedy, it stars Geena Davis as a manicurist with a swimming pool in her back yard, into which plunges the out-of-control spacecraft from the planet Jhazzala with its zany trio of astronauts Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans and Jim Carrey as Wiploc. Regarded by many as a spaceman in real life, Carrey spoke fluent Jhazzalian throughout almost the entire movie. More important, Wayans found him crazy, in a good way. Wayans and his brother Keenen, still huge on the African-American film and comedy scene, were developing the groundbreaking TV series In Living Color. Its mission was to be a Black Saturday Night Live, but it did have room for a "token" white guy and the virtuoso of craziness, Jim Carrey, won the part.

His second comeback was complete. It was the breakthrough he'd hung in for. He grew in stature, range and celebrity as his watershed year of 1994 arrived. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was the surprise hit of that year. More by luck than design the wacky yet charming movie was perfectly positioned against acclaimed and much heavier fare such as Schindler's List and Philadelphia. The plot, such as it was, featured a pet-friendly private eye called in to solve the disappearance of the National Football League's Miami Dolphin's mascot, Snowflake. It was also Carrey's good fortune to work with a gorgeous, then-little-known future 1990s icon, Friends' star Courteney Cox.

Critics seemed to try hard not to like it. The famous critic pair Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs down. Others were blown away by Carrey's irrepressible performance:

As Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the comic actor Jim Carrey gives one of the most hyperactive performances ever brought to the screen. With his hair swept into a precarious leaning tower, his eyes wide as saucers, moving in spasms, he suggests Desi Arnaz as Don Knotts on speed.

Only a child could love Mr. Carrey's character, but that may be the point. The movie has the metabolism, logic and attention span of a peevish 6-year-old. It's not the story that matters, but the silly asides, like the way Ace starts doing impersonations of Star Trek characters at odd moments or singing the theme from Mission Impossible.

The money it made on opening was stupendous.

He got $7 million to sign on for Dumb and Dumber, and the bouts of poverty were behind him for good. It was the kind of movie you hoped your kids wouldn't like. But resistance was futile. They loved it. His co-star, Lauren Holly, wouldn't become an icon, but she would become his second wife. Carrey endured a messy, public divorce from his first wife, Melissa Womer. But he'd acquired the quality that Hollywood loves above all: he was money in the bank.

In The Mask (1994), he redeemed himself in the eyes of Thinking People everywhere. In it, he plays the mild-mannered likable loser of a bank clerk, Stanley Ilkiss. Fate intrudes as a magical mask that when put on, transforms poor old Stanley into a manic, frog-green being with superhero powers and great comic timing. Carrey's energy and the special effects are a memorable combo. Martin Knelman wrote that Carrey's father was fond of saying things like his son wasn't just a ham he was the whole pig. And The Mask was a showboater's dream.

Moviegoers who were still skeptical about this Next Big Thing saw the light. Even if they didn't realize it, they were won over by the gifted, broad physical comedy to which Carrey had become heir, passed on from Chaplin to Keaton to Skelton to Lewis. The law of averages dictates that even money in the bank can be fallible. The critics savaged his 1996 effort in The Cable Guy, with Matthew Broderick, but kids still loved it and him.

At this point in his career Carrey settled into the usual pattern of an established star. Some movies were good (The Truman Show; Man on the Moon); some were OK (Liar,Liar; How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and some not so great (The Majestic; Me,Myself and Irene). True, he could and did command salaries in excess of US $20 million per film, plus a percentage of the merchandise sales. But had he really endured all that he did to grow old making 12-year-old boys squeal with laughter?

In 2004, he starred with Kate Winslet in The Eternal sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a substantive drama so quirky it would take less time to watch the film than explain the plot. It impressed enough that the New York Times put it on their "Critic's List." Maybe there was more to life than huge paydays.

Legend has it that when Carrey was at one of his lowest ebbs, he followed the advice of a motivational expert and made himself out a cheque for $10 million to cash when he was rich and famous. When his father died in 1994, Carrey was rich and famous. He quietly slipped the uncashed cheque into Percy's pocket in the casket. A King's Ransom to ensure his hard-luck Dad a better break wherever he was bound.

I tend to stay up late, not because I'm partying but because it's the only time of day when I'm alone and I don't have to be on, performing.

That's the trouble with being me. At this point, nobody gives a damn what my problem is. I could literally have a tumor on the side of my head and they'd be like, 'Yeah, big deal. I'd eat a tumor every morning for the kinda money you're pulling down.

At age 10, he sent his resume to Carol Burnett.

Auditioned for the role of Farmer Ted in the film Sixteen Candles (1984). Eventually, actor Anthony Michael Hall won the part.

Wrote letters to Tupac Shakur when Tupac was in prison to help him laugh and smile. Tupac said that Carrey was his favorite actor.

Was originally offered the lead role in the movie The Master of Disguise (2002).

Salary

Yes Man (2008) 36.2% of gross

Bruce Almighty (2003) $25,000,000

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) $20,000,000 + merchandising

Me, Myself & Irene (2000) $20,000,000

Man on the Moon (1999) $12,000,000

The Truman Show (1998) $12,000,000

Liar Liar (1997) $20,000,000

The Cable Guy (1996) $20,000,000

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) $5,000,000

Batman Forever (1995) $5,000,000

Dumb & Dumber (1994) $7,000,000

The Mask (1994) $540,000

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) $350,000

"In Living Color" (1990) $25,000/episode

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