Canadian-born Jim Carrey, a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and producer famous for his lithe body movements and flexible facial expressions. The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox sitcom In Living Color (1990) but leading roles in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), A Couple of Idiots (1994), and The Mask (1994) established him as a bankable comedy actor. 

Born to make people laugh

James Eugene Carrey was born on January 17, 1962, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, and is the youngest of four children of Kathleen, a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, an accountant and jazz musician. The family surname was originally "Carré" and he has French-Canadian, Scottish and Irish ancestry. Carrey was an incurable extrovert from day one. As a child, he performed constantly, for anyone who would see him, and even mailed his resume to The Carol Burnett Show (1967) at age 10. In high school, he was given a few precious minutes at the end of each school day to do stand-up routines for his classmates (provided, of course, he kept it a secret for the rest of the day).

An actor like no other

Few actors have as impressive a debut as Carrey who, after years of doing stand-up, was part of the variety show In Living Color before he "exploded" in Hollywood in 1994 with three films that are now considered comedy classics. There was no actor as popular as him during the '90s and he continued until a good part of the '00s. He ventured into drama with The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Man on the Moon, which demonstrated his ability to change genres at will.