Jim Carrey (real name: James Eugene Carrey - originally Carré) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his manic, slapstick performances in comedy films such as Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (1994), The Mask (1994), Liar Liar (1997), and Bruce Almighty (2003).

Carrey was born and grew up in the Toronto suburb of Newmarket, Ontario. A comedian from an early age, Carrey mailed his résumé to The Carol Burnett Show when he was 10 years old. The teachers in Carrey's high school gave him a few minutes at the end of each school day to do a stand-up comedy routine for his classmates.

The Carrey family fell on hard times and were forced to move to the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, where they took security and janitorial jobs in the Titan Wheels factory. Carrey began working eight-hour shifts each day after school. Eventually, the Carrey family adjusted by living on a relative's lawn out of the family Volkswagen van until they could move back into town.

Carrey dropped out of high school, and began to work in comedy clubs with an act that included impersonations of celebrities such as Michael Landon and Jimmy Stewart. In 1979, he moved to Los Angeles and started working in The Comedy Store, where he was noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Dangerfield liked Carrey's act so much that he signed Carrey up to open Dangerfield's tour performances.

Carrey began to work occasionally in television and in small parts in movies, which eventually led to a friendship with Damon Wayans. When Wayans' brother Keenen was putting together a sketch comedy show for Fox called In Living Color, Carrey was hired as a cast member. Carrey's unusual characters and on-screen behavior caught America's attention.

Carrey has been married twice, first to Melissa Womer with whom he had a daughter, Jane, then to actress Lauren Holly in a marriage that lasted less than a year.