Peter Farrelly
Born: 17th December 1956
Where: Cumberland, Rhode Island
The comedy team of brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly have made their name as the kings of gross-out comedy.
The infamous double act have been behind such bad taste efforts as Dumb & Dumber, There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal.
Growing up in a Rhode Island town without a cinema, the Farrelly's developed their brand of humour at the family dinner table 'just trying to crack each other up all of our lives.'
Peter went to Providence College in Rhode Island, where he majored in accounting and went on to bar tending in Boston and sales work.
After writing screenplays with Bennett Yellin, it wasn't long before he was joined by brother Bobby.
In 1988, Peter's first novel, Outside Providence, was published.
In the 90s, he wrote two episodes with his brother for the sitcom Seinfeld, then made his feature directorial debut with Dumb and Dumber, co-scripted with Yellin and Bobby.
Peter credits Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, John Landis' Animal House and Airplane! as inspirations.
The brothers did less well with 1996's Kingpin, which they co-directed. Peter claimed the fault was with MGM's lacklustre marketing.
The Farrellys truly came into their own in 1998 with their third film - There's Something About Mary - which Peter executive produced and co-directed with Bobby.
The film struck box office gold, delivering some truly outrageous gags including Cameron Diaz's infamous "hair gel" scene.
Peter appeared in Brad Kane's feature directing debut, Say You'll Be Mine, and then the brothers co-produced the screen adaptation of Peter's first novel, the coming of age story Outside Providence.
Peter and Bobby returned behind the camera for Me, Myself and Irene, which they also wrote and produced.
The brothers similarly produced and directed Osmosis Jones, and followed with the comedy Shallow Hal starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow.
In 2003, they paired Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon for the conjoined twins comedy Stuck on You.
Recent work includes their American adaptation of Nick Hornby's football novel Fever Pitch with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon.
