Jim Carrey

From the stand-up stages of Canada to the breakout sketch-comedy hit "In Living Color" (Fox, 1990-96), award-winning actor Jim Carrey became of Hollywood's most bankable comedic stars during the 1990s, thanks to a string of zany blockbusters that began with "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994). His Golden Globe-winning performance in the eerily promontory "The Truman Show" (1998) proved that there was also significant depth and substance beneath his hyperkinetic antics, after which point, Carrey divided his efforts between broad comedies such as "Me, Myself and Irene" (2000) and more esoteric indie dramas such as Milos Forman's "Man on the Moon" (1999) and Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004). Carrey's unique sensibility and characterizations also proved a perfect match for big-screen adaptations of Dr. Seuss' fanciful classics, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) and "Horton Hears a Who!" (2008), and he stayed atop the heap with comedies like "Bruce Almighty" (2003). Though his box-office clout diminished as he turned to uncharacteristic movies such as "The Number 23" (2007) and "I Love You Phillip Morris" (2009) - as evidenced by the muted response to "Mr. Popper's Penguins" (2011) and "Dumb & Dumber To" (2014) - Carrey nonetheless remained one of Hollywood's biggest and more beloved stars. Jim Carrey was born on Jan. 17, 1962, in Newmarket, Ontario. He was the youngest of four children to mother, Kathleen, and father, Percy; both performers themselves. Prior to starting a family, Percy was a saxophonist with a Toronto big band and his mother had been a singer, but when the couple settled down, Percy sought financial stability by landing a job as an accountant with a large company. From a young age, it was apparent that Carrey took after his father, then the notorious comedian of the family. Around the age of seven, while trying to cheer up his sick, bedridden mother, Carrey discovered the power of pratfalls and his wacky impersonations of animals. This led to a lifelong affair with the mirror, where he would practice morphing into well known figures like John Wayne, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jack Nicholson, which he would unleash on his classmates at school. But as an early teen, Carrey's father was unexpectedly downsized and the class clown was forced to grow up quickly when the Carrey family accepted an offer to live onsite at a factory, in exchange for the labor of the entire family. Carrey attended high school during the day and worked eight-hour cleaning shifts every night until he could no longer keep up his grades or his energy, leading to the unfortunate choice of dropping out of high school. After a year, the family had had enough of the miserable situation and headed to the home of eldest sister Pat, where they lived in a tent on her front lawn and their VW bus in the driveway. While living the gypsy lifestyle, Carrey's supportive and reliably funny father helped him put together a stage act, driving him to Toronto to debut at an open mic night at a comedy club. Unfortunately, the teen's impersonations tanked and gave him doubts about his potential as a professional entertainer. The family eventually got back on their feet financially and into another home. Now with more domestic stability, Carrey worked up the nerve to return to the stage with a more polished act. In a short period of time, the 17-year-old went from open mic nights to regular paid shows and a growing local reputation. Legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield caught Carrey's act and invited him to open half a dozen local dates. H eventually brought Carrey to Las Vegas, after which the 19-year-old took a leap of faith and moved to Hollywood. The wide-eyed kid from Canada began taking the stage regularly at the famed Comedy Store and his career was ignited. In 1982, he appeared on the televised stand-up show "An Evening at the Improv" and the following year, debuted his act on "The Tonight Show." He was tapped for a couple