Childhood & Early Life
Carell was born on August 16, 1962, at ‘Emerson Hospital’ in Concord, Massachusetts, USA, to Edwin A. Carell, an electrical engineer, and Harriet Theresa, a psychiatric nurse. His father is of Italian and German descent, and his mother was of Polish ancestry. The youngest of four siblings, Carell grew up in Acton, Massachusetts.
He was raised as Roman Catholic, and attended various schools, such as ‘Nashoba Brooks School,’ ‘The Fenn School,’ and ‘Middlesex School.’ He played ice hockey while in high school and played the fife with his family members.
He earned his degree from ‘Denison University’ in Granville, Ohio in 1984. Here, he was a member of ‘Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company,’ a student-run improvisational comedy troupe.
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Career
Starting with a touring children's theater company, he went on to perform with the Chicago troupe ‘The Second City.’ In 1991, he made his film debut in a minor role as ‘Tesio’ in ‘Curly Sue.’
‘The Dana Carvey Show’ is credited with building his career as he became part of the 1996 short-lived sketch comedy program which was aired on ‘ABC.’ In the show, Carell voiced ‘Gary’ along with fellow cast member Colbert.
Between 1997 and 2005, he played supporting characters in several series, such as ‘Come to Papa,’ ‘Tim Curry,’ ‘Over the Top,’ ‘Just Shoot Me!,’ and ‘Watching Ellie.’
He was a correspondent for ‘The Daily Show’ from 1999 to 2005.
In 2003, he acted in the film ‘Bruce Almighty’ which starred Jim Carrey as ‘Bruce’ and Morgan Freeman as ‘God.’ He played ‘Evan Baxter,’ the coworker rival of Bruce.
‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,’ a 2004 comedy film starred Will Ferrell while Carell played ‘Brick Tamland,’ the weatherman for the news team who has a habit of providing unrequested or irrelevant information.
‘Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie’ (2004) was a sequel to ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,’ in which he reprised his role as ‘Brick Tamland.’
In ‘Evan Almighty,’ a 2007 sequel to ‘Bruce Almighty,’ he played Congressman and former local television news anchorman ‘Evan Baxter’ who promises to change the world during his election campaign.
He starred in ‘Dan in Real Life,’ a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Peter Hedges. In the film, he played ‘Dan Burns,’ a newspaper advice columnist, a widower, and a controlling father to his children.
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In ‘Get Smart,’ a 2008 American spy-fi comedy, he starred as ‘Maxwell ‘Max’ Smart’ who wants to become a real field agent, and successfully fends off plans of killing the United States president.
‘Date Night,’ a 2010 romantic comedy crime film, starred him alongside Tina Fey. It was about a married couple with two children from New Jersey whose domestic life becomes boring and monotonous.
He voiced ‘Gru,’ a super-villain who adopts three girls from an orphanage, in the computer-animated 3D comedy 2010 film ‘Despicable Me.’ In the film, Gru finds it difficult to nurture the girls.
‘Crazy, Stupid, Love,’ a 2011 romantic comedy-drama film, saw him playing ‘Cal Weaver,’ a middle-aged man who learns that his wife Emily (played by Julianne Moore) cheated on him with a co-worker.
‘Hope Springs,’ a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel, starred Carell alongside Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. Carell received praise for his performance as ‘Dr. Bernard 'Bernie' Feld.’
‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,’ a 2013 comedy film follows Las Vegas magician Burt Wonderstone, played by Steve Carell, taking on dangerous street magician Steve Gray, played by Jim Carrey.
From 2014 to 2018, he was cast in films like ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,’ ‘The Big Short,’ ‘Café Society,’ ‘Despicable Me 3,’ ‘Welcome to Marwen,’ ‘Last Flag Flying,’ and many more.
In 2018, he was cast to play ‘Gary Zimmer’ in the Jon Stewart-directed comedy film ‘Irresistible.’ Apart from Carell, the film also stars Rose Byrne, Chris Cooper, and Mackenzie Davis among many other actors.
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