Canadian History for Kids: Jim Carrey

Allll-righty then!

Canadian actor/comedian Jim Carrey appears in the film, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, opening on November 22nd, 1995. This Canadian History for Kids, Sketches of our Canada, looks at life of Canadian canucklehead Jim Carrey.

Actor and comedian James Eugene Carrey was born on January 17, 1962, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Carrey got his start with a spot doing stand-up at a Toronto comedy club when he was just 15 years old. By 1979, he had left the factory job as a janitor he had taken in 1978 to help support his family and was making his living as the opening act for successful comics Buddy Hackett and Rodney Dangerfield.

This Canadian History for Kids article continues in 1983 when, at age 19, Carrey headed west to Hollywood where he starred in a made-for-television movie called Introducing…Janet. Carrey’s appearances on TV in programs such as The Duck Factory and Jim Carrey’s Unnatural Act (1991) led to a regular role on the hit comedy In Living Color.

Carrey’s big screen debut came with 1984’s Finders Keepers, but he didn’t find success until he played the staring role in the 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
From there, Carrey’s animated face, expert imitation skills and physical brand of comedy kept the hits coming. He followed with The Mask (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), Batman Forever (1995), The Cable Guy (1996) and Liar Liar (1997).

He teamed up with legendary director Milos Forman for the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon (1999), co-starring Courtney Love. For his dead-on portrayal of Kaufman, Carrey took home his second Golden Globe. Despite his Golden Globe success, Carrey has never been nominated for an Academy Award.

This Canadian History for Kids article continues in the fall of 2000 when, wearing pounds of green fur and makeup, he starred in the long-awaited big budget film version of Dr. Seuss’ holiday classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, directed by Ron Howard.

This Canadian funny man continues to wow movie audiences with his comedy.

And that’s this weeks Canadian History for Kids, Sketches of our Canada.
 

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