Happy Birthday Jim Carrey!

Good Morning everyone, hope all is well! I mentioned in last weeks post that on Monday whilst we were out at our local supermarket, the shelves in the fridge and all the bottles fell on top of me and my mum, injuring us, more so me as I was directly underneath the impact. Well, we had to get X-rays done the next day as they were still no better, thankfully my mum showed that nothing was broken, they said that the bone was probably really bruised and that was why it was causing her so much pain, as for me – they found that I had an Acromio-Clavicular Joint (ACJ for short) disruption, but dismissed it and sent me home, only for me to have to get an emergency out of hours appointment 3 days later (Friday night) as it had gradually got worse in that time. The doctor there wanted me to have another X-ray done and phoned our nearest hospital to try and request it to be done quicker without having to go through A&E, only for them to get back to us 2 days later (Sunday night) to inform us we have an appointment for tomorrow (Thursday) at the Fracture Clinic, so I shall post an update in next weeks blog! In other news, something good did happen, we’ve been reconnecting again with my cousin who has always been like a sister to me, which has been really nice!

Anyway, on with this week’s post, which is a celebration of the iconic comedian that is Jim Carrey. Whether you know him as the bizarre pet detective from Ace Ventura, or as the ordinary Joe with unexplainable powers in Bruce Almighty or as the outspoken actor on Twitter, Jim Carrey has consistently shown his versatility, capturing poignancy in both touching dramas and the most ridiculous of comedies. No one can deny it is the latter that has made him such a famous figure. His physical comedy is one-of-a-kind, made up of a near-unrivaled combination of slapstick. Read on to find out more about Jim and how he became to be the comedy genius he is today as he celebrates his 62^nd birthday…

Jim Carrey

Biography:

James Eugene Carrey was born on January 17, 1962 in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, and is the youngest of four children of Kathleen (Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, an accountant and jazz musician. He was raised a Roman Catholic and has three older siblings, John, Patricia, and Rita. At age eight, he began making faces before a mirror and discovered a talent for doing impressions. 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 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 shore in Lincoln, Ontario. 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.

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 to debut at the recently-opened Yuk Yuk’s comedy club operating one-night-a-week out of community centre The 519’s basement on Church Street. 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. Unfortunately 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. 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 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.

In early 1983, Carrey decided to move to Hollywood where he began regularly performing at The Comedy Store. 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’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, 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. For his Tonight Show appearance that aired on American Thanksgiving, 21-year-old Carrey went through his most popular impressions—Elvis Presley, Leonid Brezhnev, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, Michael Landon, James Dean, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Charles Nelson Reilly, characters from My Three Sons, and Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy—in rapid succession. After being noticed doing stand-up by producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. 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 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. 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.

Carrey played the lead role in ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’ which was released in February 1994. Following its success and before the release of his next film, ‘The Mask’, which was anticipated to be another hit, New Line Cinema paid him $7 million to appear in ‘Dumb and Dumber’. Carrey received his first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor for his work in ‘The Mask’ and was voted second on Quigley’s Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, behind Tom Hanks. In ’95 portrayed the Batman villain the Riddler in the Joel Schumacher-directed superhero film ‘Batman Forever’. Followed by the mixed-reviewed ‘The Cable Guy’ in ’96. He soon bounced back with the critically acclaimed comedy ‘Liar Liar’ In 1997. Carrey was praised for his performance, earning a second Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. 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’. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama but did not receive an Academy Award nomination. 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 addition, he received his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actor.

From 2000 to ­2004 he would go onto star in highly praised movies such as ‘Me, Myself & Irene’, ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ (the second highest-grossing Christmas film of all time), ‘Bruce Almighty’, ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and, ‘Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events’, which was based on the children’s novels of the same name. In 2007, he starred in the psychological thriller ‘The Number 23’. The following year Carrey provided his voice for Horton in ‘Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!’. Carrey returned to live-action comedy, starring opposite Zooey Deschanel and Bradley Cooper in ‘Yes Man’. In 2009, Jim portrayed multiple characters in Disney’s 3D animated take on the classic Charles Dickens tale, ‘A Christmas Carol’, voicing Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. In June 2017, Showtime began airing the dramedy ‘I’m Dying Up Here’, 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 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, and returned for the sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2, released in April 2022.

Throughout his life in the spotlight, Carrey has been involved in several high profile relationships – including Linda Ronstadt in 1983, January Jones in 2002, and Ginger Gonzaga in 2019. He 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. Carrey and Womer divorced in 1995. A year later after their split, he married his Dumb and Dumber co-star Lauren Holly, which lasted less than a year. He was engaged to his Me, Myself and Irene co-star Renée Zellweger from 1999-2000 and dated makeup artist Cathriona White from 2012 up until her death in 2015. His other most significant relationship was with model and actress Jenny McCarthy, with the pair dating from 2005-10.

In addition to his acting career, Carrey is also an artist and has been known to create paintings and drawings, some of which have been exhibited in galleries. He has also been involved in various philanthropic endeavors, supporting various charitable causes and organizations. Carrey is considered one of the most successful comedians in the entertainment industry, known for his unique comedic style and versatility as an actor. He is widely recognized by audiences all over the world, and his films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide.

• As a child, he used to wear his tap shoes to bed just in case his parents needed cheering up in the middle of the night.
• Jim started making faces in front of a mirror when he was eight years old where he discovered his talent for doing impressions.
• At age 10, he sent his resume to Carol Burnett.
• At one point he and his family all worked as janitors and security guards at a factory to make a living.
• He is of French-Canadian ancestry on his father’s side, and has French, Irish, and Scottish ancestry on his mother’s side. His family’s surname was originally “Carré”.

• It was Percy (his father) who encouraged Carrey to try making a professional go of things to find an outlet for his creative energy. (In grade school, Carrey’s teachers bargained with him so he’d stop having outbursts in class by promising him 15 uninterrupted minutes at the end.)
• Shares the same birthday with Andy Kaufman, who he played in Man on the Moon (1999).
• Received U.S. citizenship in October 2004 and maintains a dual citizen of both the United States and his native Canada.
• Became a father for the 1st time at age 25 when his 1st ex-wife Melissa Carrey gave birth to their daughter Jane Carrey on September 6, 1987.
• Became a grandfather for the 1st time at age 48 when his daughter Jane Carrey gave birth to her son Jackson Riley Santana on February 26, 2010. Child’s father is singer Alex Santana.

• While filming Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), it took approximately two and a half hours for him and co-stars Jeff Goldblum and Damon Wayans to be suited up as the aliens.
• Was considered for the roles of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), both of which eventually went to Johnny Depp.
• For the dark comedy, The Cable Guy, in 1996, Carrey received the highest salary a male actor ever received for a film at the time, which stood at $20 million, an event that changed Hollywood forever.
• The banana-yellow suit that Jim Carrey wears in “The Mask” is based on a suit which his mother made for him for his first attempt at stand-up comedy.
• He improvised the talking from the butt scene in Ace Ventura; Pet Detective one day while on the set of In Living Color. He and Shadyac felt it would work in the scene where Ace is talking to Emilio at the police station. Shadyac doesn’t remember a lot of walk-outs during test screening, but this scene certainly caused one of them.

• Has received countless awards and nominations throughout his career. Some of the awards he obtained include the Best Actor award from the Golden Globe Awards in 1999, Best Comedic Performance from MTV Movie & TV Awards in 1995, and Favorite Comedy Star from People’s Choice awards in 2010.
• He has been nominated for 5 Golden Globes, but although more recognised for his comedic performances, the only two Globes he’s won were for dramatic performances. (The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999)).
• As of 2017, Jim Carrey is the only actor (male or female) to date to win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in both the drama and comedy/musical categories without being nominated for an Academy Award.
• He was friends with the late comedic actor Chris Farley, and remains friends with Farley’s frequent collaborator David Spade.
• Good friends with Jeff Daniels, Ewan McGregor, Steve Carell, and Steven Tyler.

• According to Biography and reinforced on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Carrey wrote himself a check for $10 million in 1983 with the hopes of cashing it 10 years later. The idea was to bet on himself while keeping his eye on the ultimate prize of Hollywood success. Of course, by 1994, Carrey had risen to become one of the most famous movie stars on the planet. By the time he made The Cable Guy in 1996, he would command a whopping $20 million movie, as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
• Has played the two most well known fictional characters who hated Christmas, The Grinch and Ebenezer.
• Dealt with depression, Carrey took Prozac, eventually deciding to get off medications. He has stated that he no longer takes medications or stimulants of any kind, not even coffee.
• Jack Nicholson has called him the “Jack Nicholson of the next generation”.
• In 2014, Carrey was one of several comedians to grace a special limited-edition set of postage stamps issued by the Canada Post. The Canadian post office issued a special set of stamps celebrating the “Great Canadian Comedians” and Jim Carrey was one of the five, The others were, Mike Myers, Catherine O’Hara, Olivier Guimond and Martin Short.

• Is a huge fan of the cartoons Dexter’s Laboratory (1996), Johnny Bravo (1997), SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) and Dave the Barbarian (2004).
• Performed “Rocket Man” on stage with Elton John at one of John’s concerts.
• He had never heard of Doctor Who (1963) until being offered the role of the Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who: The Movie (1996), which was the key factor into turning down the role, as he felt he would cause outrage amongst Doctor Who fans if the role wasn’t played by a Doctor Who fan.
• He donated a signed head-shot to Rocky Stone to be auctioned off to raise money to buy more toys for less fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign 2004.
•  In 2013, Carrey published his first book, a children’s story 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.” It was awarded a Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award.

• Started as a stand up comedian in Canadian clubs when 15.
• Wrote letters to Tupac Shakur when Tupac was in prison to help him laugh and smile. Tupac said that Carrey was his favorite actor.
• He appeared at the 20th anniversary special for The Comedy Store wearing nothing but a sock on his penis.
• 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.
• Jim has appeared in over 65 movies. His best-known and most successful movies are Bruce Almighty, The Mask, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Liar Liar, The Truman Show, and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

Jim Carrey is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood – and rightly so, thanks to all of the comedic genius he has gifted us over the years. Carrey has managed to make us laugh, cry and sob, which is certainly the sign of a well rounded actor. 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”. As we celebrate Jim Carrey’s birthday, let’s take a moment to appreciate all of the laughter and joy he has brought into our lives, and join me in wishing him a Happy birthday!

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading today’s post, I hope you all have a lovely week and I shall see you next Wednesday!