BY DANIELLA KALACH @dk1__
You may know him as Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. Or maybe Harry and Lloyd rings a bell? You know, that funny bloke with a bowl haircut and gapped tooth that sets off on a road trip to Aspen to chase the girl of his dreams in a van that looks like a large shaggy puppy.
James Eugene Carrey is his name and acting is his game. Born in Ontario, Canada on January 17, 1962 he is the youngest of four kids raised by parents Percy and Kathleen. Percy lost his “safe” job as an accountant at the age of 52, which blew his mind considering he gave up his dream of being a musician, which he considered a not stable job, to provide financial security for his family. Carrey was only 14 at the time, and to help his family with the financial strain he picked up eight-hour shifts after school, causing his grades to slowly suffer. At the age of 15 he got a gig at Toronto comedy club Yuk Yuk. It took him a couple tries for the crowd to applaud Mr Carrey on his stand up acts, but before he knew it he was getting hired regularly to perform at comedy clubs. By then, he was 16 and ready to pursue his career as a successful comedian, so he dropped out of school.
His love life was on track in 1986 when he met Melissa Womer, an actress at the comedy store. They fell in love and about a year later married. Not long after came the birth of their daughter, Jane.
After working between two industries – comedy acts and landing roles in films – Carrey’s first major break was in 1994, when Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was released, starring Jim Carrey as the leading actor. Producers handed over the script to Carrey after his ultimatum was he would only take the role if he could re-write the whole script to suit his comedic ways. That same year is when he landed his roles in The Mask and the all time favourite ‘Dumb and Dumber’.
His career hit sky high, Jim Carrey was now getting the recognition he deserved for his outstanding performances. The humble man was now an icon, a true inspiration to kids all over the world everyone wanted to be as funny as Jim Carrey.
Many leading roles continued to come his way over the years some including, Me, Myself and Irene and Liar Liar. And while his career was up and running, his love life was in the dumps. His marriage with Melissa Womer collapsed in 1995 leading to a very messy divorce.
The comedic genius will return to the screen to star in crime thriller True Crimes, and The Bad Batch, a comedy romance also starring Keanu Reeves. Both are due to be released in 2016.
Featured image: Jim Carrey. Photo by Nuemi Nunez/CC/Wikimedia Commons
