Jim Carrney Research Paper

Jim Carrey is a successful comedian and actor, who has been a part of many award-winning films, and is world renowned for his talents. He did not start out this prosperous; he overcame many obstacles, and encountered many choices from a very young age that affected his path to infamy. He kept trying diligently to reach his goal of making people laugh, and through trial and error, he succeeded.

Jim Carrey’s childhood did not begin as challenging as it developed to be. Born January 17, 1962, to parents Kathleen and Percy Carrey, he was the youngest of four siblings (). The household was teeming with laughter, Jim Carrey’s parents were prone to ill health, and he would make it his exclusive purpose to keep them smiling. Carrey’s father worked as an accountant, the job paid well, and Percy supported the family for most of Carrey’s young life, but His father lost his job. Forcing the family into some tight situations, the laughter stopped. Carrey, his elder siblings, and his parents became homeless, and to provide themselves with shelter; began working as Caretakers and Janitors in a factory. Carrey, himself, had an 8-hour night shift,

and he found himself struggling to balance that with his schoolwork; inevitably causing his Straight A’s to plummet. In the eighth grade, He made the decision to drop out of school to help support his family, they eventually moved into a Vw camper van, and Morals were higher, though they had very limited space.
When he was 15, Carrey and his father began exploring his comedic talents.

Not long after, did he make his first stand-up appearance, on Toronto’s Yuk Yuk’s. His first performance did not go well, but he never gave up, and began preforming regularly on the Toronto club circuit, all while supporting his family. () With positive feedback from his regular audiences, Jim Carrey decided to take the risk, and move to LA in 1979. Although, he didn’t start out with movies right from the get-go, he was becoming a big hit in Comedy Store, and soon found himself spotted by Rodney Dangerfield, who booked him to be his supporting act, and opened the gateway to The begging on Jim Carrey’s professional career in Stage-Comedy. () Soon, Carrey began to believe his career was not advancing at the pace he had wanted, so he began acting in low-budget

films.
While Carrey’s presence in the industry grew, these learning experiences just fueled his growing disillusionment with impressionism. His first real acting job arose in 1984 he starred in the grossing comedy, “The Duck Factory” and it seem that he had finally reached stardom, But Jim played a straight character; meaning rather than making the jokes, he had to be completely serious, and even act a little over dramatic when jokes were made. He grew unhappy with his stage persona soon after the show was cancelled, and he knew things had to change, his dream was to make people laugh, So he headed back to The Comedy store, and began exploring new material – often bombing in front of crowds – but, never giving up. Sadly, though he may not have given up, the money soon did. Thus, enters a new bleak period in his life, where he became tight on money, and struggled with living situations. During this time, He wrote his Famed $10 million check, which he subsequently placed in his father’s pocket during his funeral. () In 1886, Carrey met and married Melissa Womer, and in 1867 became the father of a baby girl. Now having a family to provide for, Carrey began getting serious about his career, Movies started filtering through again; such as, “Finder’s Keepers”, “Once Bitten”, and “Mike Hammer. Murder Takes Air.” Then came “Earth Girls are Easy” and though it was an unimpressive movie in itself, Carrey had certainly made an impression on co-star Damon Waynes, who recommended Carrey for a role in a new show, “Living in Color”. This was Jim’s big break. “Living in Color” led to 1991- “Jim Carrey’s unnatural act” and a role in Fox’s Emmy nominated TV film, “Doing Time on Maple Drive”, though it was a serious role, it portrayed Carrey’s Straight acting skills. () “Living In Color” was the center of Carrey’s career until 1994, finding himself attention and acclaim a crossed the industry, Leading to his first successful block buster, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” Made for just $12 million, the movie brought in $72 million dollars in the box office. Carrey had more of a hand in this than usual; he rewrote it around his sense of humor, and both the public and the industry loved it. This led to many successful block busters such as “The Mask”, and “Dumb and Dumber” both well received smash hits in the box office, and Because of these two movies, in 1994, his movies generated $550 million dollar profits. A few movies later, then came “The Truman Show” was Groundbreaking for Jim, it earned a golden globe, and forced critics to admit that Jim was a talented actor, as well as being a comedian. () “Man on the Moon” earned another golden globe and the respect of co-stars and peers— Demonstrating how dedicated Carrey could be at his craft, while emerging himself in the method-acting technique. In 2000, If the first few blockbusters didn’t confirm it, the next film sealed his success and fame in stone; Dr. Suess’ “How the Grinch stole Christmas” Earned him a place in the hearts of children, and a place in everyone’s Christmas traditions. The film sold the most tickets out of any other in 2000.
Jim Carrey faced many hardships and complications in his path to not only fame, but also his happiness. He never gave up, pursued his goals, and in return, became a worldwide icon, well known, and loved in the homes and hearts of many.