09/27/2026
was born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. He was raised Catholic and had three older siblings. His mother was of Irish and Scottish descent, and his father was of French-Canadian ancestry; the family's original surname was Carré.
At age eight, he began making faces before a mirror and discovered a talent for doing impressions. At age ten, Carrey wrote a letter to Carol Burnett of the Carol Burnett Show pointing out that he was already a master of impressions and should be considered for a role on the show; he was overjoyed when he received a form letter reply. A fan of Monty Python, whose television show Monty Python's Flying Circus aired in the 1970s, in 2014 Carrey appeared on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly) and recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Michael Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch.
Radio Times states, "You'll see why immediately: Palin's performance is uncannily Carreyesque."
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; Carrey attended Aldershot High School while there. Some time later, his family became homeless and lived together in a Volkswagen van while teenage Carrey 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 Carrey and his older brother—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 Carrey 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. In a 2007 Hamilton Spectator interview, Carrey said, "If my career in show business hadn't panned out I would probably be working today in Hamilton, Ontario, at the Dofasco steel mill." As a young man, he could see the steel mills across the Burlington Bay and often thought that was "where the great jobs were."
After spending the 1980s honing his comedy act and playing supporting roles in films, Carrey gained recognition when he was cast in the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color (1990–1994). He broke out as a film star after starring in a string of box office hits, such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber (all 1994), Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, and Batman Forever (both 1995). The success of these five films led to Carrey being the first comic actor to receive an upfront $20 million salary for performing in films, beginning with The Cable Guy (1996).
Carrey continued to have success as a leading actor in comedies such as Liar Liar (1997), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Bruce Almighty (2003), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), and Yes Man (2008). Since the 2010s, Carrey has appeared in fewer films, with notable works including Dumb and Dumber To (2014) and his role as Doctor Eggman in the Sonic the Hedgehog film series (2020–present).
Although largely typecast as a comedic actor, Carrey had success in dramatic roles. His critically acclaimed performances include the title role in The Truman Show (1998) and Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), winning Golden Globe Awards for each film. He starred in the romantic drama film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award and another Golden Globe. Carrey also starred in the Showtime tragicomedy series Kidding (2018–2020), for which he received his seventh Golden Globe nomination.
