Jim Carrey
Born: 17th January, 1962
Where: Ontario, Canada
The one-time security guard and stand-up comedian, once regarded as a versatile clown is now claiming more serious roles.
After his tour de force breakthrough in The Mask, he went on to triumph in roles in the likes of Dumb & Dumber, Liar Liar and The Cable Guy that played on his cartoonish capabilities.
However, first with The Truman Show and more recently Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he displayed a subtler, more considered side.
Always the extrovert classroom joker, Carrey emailed his CV to TV bosses when he was just ten.
In 1994, he attracted attention opposite Courtney Cox as Ace Ventura in the comedy box office smash Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
However, it was as bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss in 1994's The Mask that catapulted him onto the A-list with the movie earning £14m in its first weekend.
Next up the Farrelly Brothers cast him in Dumb & Dumber - his first multi-million pay cheque - and he replaced Robin Williams as The Riddler in Batman Forever.
Liar, Liar was up next only for Carrey to switch styles as a sober salesman for Peter Weir's disturbing reality TV satire The Trueman Show.
In 2004, Carrey impressed even his sternest critics as Joel Barrish in Michael Gondry's surreal comedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
He went on to play evil Count Olaf in the rewarding big screen adaptation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Recent work includes the remake of the George Segal/Jane Fonda comedy Fun With Dick and Jane opposite Tea Leoni.
