Steve Carell

Steve Carell

Carell at the 2014 Montclair Film Festival
Born Steven John Carell
(1962-08-16) August 16, 1962
Concord, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater Denison University
Occupation
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • director
  • producer
  • writer
Years active 1989–present
Spouse(s) Nancy Carell (m. 1995)[1]
Children 2

Steven John "Steve" Carell (/kəˈrɛl/; born August 16, 1962)[2] is an American actor, comedian, director, producer and writer. After a five-year stint on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Carell found greater fame for playing Michael Scott on the American version of The Office, on which he also worked as an occasional writer and director.

He has also starred in lead roles in the films, The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Evan Almighty (2007), Get Smart (2008), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and The Way, Way Back (both 2013). He has also voiced characters in the animated films, Over the Hedge (2006), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Despicable Me (2010), Despicable Me 2 (2013) and Minions (2015).

Carell was nominated as "America's funniest man" in Life magazine,[3] and received a Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Television Series for his work on The Office. His dramatic role as wrestling coach and convicted murderer John Eleuthère du Pont in the 2014 film Foxcatcher earned him several awards and nominations, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also received acclaim for his roles in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and The Big Short (2015), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Early life

The youngest of four brothers, Carell was born at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts, and raised in nearby Acton, Massachusetts. His father, Edwin A. Carell, was an electrical engineer,[4][5] and his mother, Harriet Theresa (née Koch; 1925-2016),[6][7] was a psychiatric nurse. His maternal uncle, Stanley Koch, worked with scientist Allen B. DuMont to create cathode ray tubes.[8] His father is of Italian and German descent, and his mother was of Polish ancestry.[9] His father, born under the surname "Caroselli", later changed it to "Carell".[5]

Carell was raised Roman Catholic,[10] and was educated at Nashoba Brooks School, The Fenn School and Middlesex School. He also played ice hockey and lacrosse while in high school.[11] He played the fife, performing with other members of his family, and later joined a reenacting group portraying the 10th (North Lincoln) Regiment of Foot. He attributed his interest in history to this,[12] earning a degree in the subject from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, in 1984.[13][14]

While at Denison, Carell was a member of Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company, a student-run improvisational comedy troupe and was a goalie on Big Red hockey team for four years.[15][16] He also spent time as a disc jockey under the name "Sapphire Steve Carell" at WDUB, the campus radio station.[17]

Career

Early work

Carell states that he worked as a mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts. He later recounted that he quit after six months because his boss told him he was not very good as a mail carrier and needed to be faster.[18] Early in his performing career, Carell acted on the stage in a touring children's theater company, later in the comedy musical, Knat Scatt Private Eye and in a television commercial for Brown's Chicken in 1989.[19] In 1991, Carell performed with Chicago troupe The Second City where Stephen Colbert was his understudy for a time. Carell made his film debut in a minor role in Curly Sue. In spring 1996, he was a cast member of The Dana Carvey Show, a small, short-lived sketch comedy program on ABC. Along with fellow cast member Stephen Colbert, Carell provided the voice of Gary, half of The Ambiguously Gay Duo, the Robert Smigel-produced animated short which continued on Saturday Night Live later that year. While the program lasted only seven episodes, The Dana Carvey Show has since been credited with forging Carell's career.[20] He starred in a few short-lived television series, including Come to Papa and Over the Top. He has made numerous guest appearances, including on an episode of Just Shoot Me! titled "Funny Girl." Carell's other early screen credits includes Brad Hall's short-lived situation comedy Watching Ellie (2002–2003) and Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda. Carell was a correspondent for The Daily Show from 1999 to 2005, with a number of regular segments including "Even Stevphen" with Stephen Colbert[21] and on the Daily Show.[22][23]

The Office

In 2005, Carell signed a deal with NBC to star in The Office, a mockumentary about life at a mid-sized paper supply company, which was a remake of a successful British TV series. He played the role of Michael Scott, the idiosyncratic regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Inc, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Although the first season of the adaptation suffered mediocre ratings, NBC renewed it for another season due to the anticipated success of Carell's film The 40-Year-Old Virgin,[24] and the series subsequently became a ratings success. Carell won a Golden Globe Award and Television Critics Association Award during 2006 for his Office role. He also received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations[25] for his work in the series (2006–2011). Carell earned approximately US$175,000 per episode of the third season of The Office, twice his salary for the previous two seasons. In an Entertainment Weekly interview, he commented on his salary, saying, "You don't want people to think you're a pampered jerk. Salaries can be ridiculous. On the other hand, a lot of people are making a lot of money off of these shows."[26]

Carell was allowed "flex time" during filming to work on theatrical films. Carell worked on Evan Almighty during a production hiatus during the second season of The Office.[27] Production ended during the middle of the fourth season of The Office because of Carell's and others' refusal to cross the picket line of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. Carell, a WGA member,[28] has written two episodes of The Office: "Casino Night" and "Survivor Man". Both episodes were praised, and Carell won a Writers Guild of America Award for "Casino Night".[29] On April 29, 2010, Carell stated he would be leaving the show when his contract expired at the conclusion of the 2010–2011 season because he wanted to focus on his film career.[30] His last episode as a main character, "Goodbye, Michael", aired April 28, 2011 with his final shot showing Carell walking to a Colorado-bound plane to join his fiancée, Holly Flax, in Boulder, Colorado. Although he was invited back for the series finale in 2013, Carell originally declined believing that it would go against his character's arc.[31] Ultimately in the final version of the finale Carell reprised the role.[32][33]

Film career

Carell at the Academy Awards in 2007

Carell's first major film role was as weatherman Brick Tamland in the 2004 hit comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Struck by Carell's performance in the film, Anchorman producer Judd Apatow approached Carell about creating a film together, and Carell told him about an idea he had involving a middle-aged man who is still a virgin.[34] The result was the 2005 film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which Carell and Apatow developed and wrote together, starring Carell as the title character. The film made $109 million in domestic box office sales[35] and established him as a leading man. It also earned Carell an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance and a WGA Award nomination, along with Apatow, for Best Original Screenplay.

Carell played Uncle Arthur, imitating the camp mannerisms of Paul Lynde's original character, in Bewitched, a TV adaptation co-starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. He also voiced Hammy the Squirrel in the 2006 computer-animated film, Over the Hedge and Ned McDodd, the mayor of Whoville, in the 2008 animated film Horton Hears a Who!. He starred in Little Miss Sunshine during 2006, as Uncle Frank.[36]

His work in the films Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Bewitched established Carell as a member of Hollywood's so-called "Frat Pack", a group of actors who often appear in films together, that also includes Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson. Carell acted as the title character of Evan Almighty, a sequel to Bruce Almighty, reprising his role as Evan Baxter, now a U.S. Congressman. The film received mostly negative reviews. Carell starred in the 2007 film Dan in Real Life, co-starring Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche.

Co-star Miranda Cosgrove and Carell at a premiere for Despicable Me 2, June 2013

Carell played Maxwell Smart in the 2008 film Get Smart, an adaptation of the TV series starring Don Adams. It was successful, grossing over $200 million worldwide.[37] During 2007, Carell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[38][39] Carell starred with Tina Fey in Date Night during late 2008 and was released on April 9, 2010 in the U.S. He voiced Gru, the main character in the Universal CGI film, Despicable Me along with Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, and Kristen Wiig, The film was Carell's other 2010 film. He reprised the role in the 2013 sequel Despicable Me 2. He has several other projects in the works, including a remake of the 1967 Peter Sellers film The Bobo. He is currently doing voice-over work in commercials for Wrigley's Extra gum. Carell has launched a television division of his Carousel Prods., which has contracted a three-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios, the studio behind his NBC comedy series. Thom Hinkle and Campbell Smith of North South Prods., former producers on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, were hired to manage Carousel's TV operations.[40]

Carell played millionaire E.I. du Pont family heir and convicted murderer John Eleuthère du Pont in the 2014 true crime drama film Foxcatcher. Since the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it has received widespread acclaim[41] and Carell was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and for the Academy Award for Best Actor, both of which he lost to Eddie Redmayne.[42]

Carell played activist Steven Goldstein in the gay rights drama Freeheld, replacing Zach Galifianakis, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.[43] The film co-stars Julianne Moore, Ellen Page and Michael Shannon, and was released in October 2015. He followed this with another biographical drama, The Big Short, in which he portrayed banker Steve Eisman, whose name was changed in the film to Mark Baum. Directed by Adam McKay, the film stars Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, and it was released in December 2015,[44] The film also received widespread critical acclaim, earning Carell a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, making it the second film starring Carell to be nominated for the award, with Little Miss Sunshine being the first. He next starred in Woody Allen's Café Society (2016), alongside Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg.

Carell will headline the biographical comedy-drama Battle of the Sexes, portraying tennis star Bobby Riggs and co-starring with Emma Stone as Billie Jean King.

Personal life

Carell and wife Nancy at the 82nd Academy Awards in March 2010

On August 5, 1995, Carell married Saturday Night Live alumna Nancy Carell (née Walls), whom he met when she was a student in an improvisation class he was teaching at Second City.[45]

In addition to working with Steve as a fellow correspondent on The Daily Show, Nancy acted with him on The Office as his realtor and short lived girlfriend Carol Stills. She also cameoed as a sex therapist in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and played Linda in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.[46] Nancy and Steve also created the TBS comedy series Angie Tribeca starring Rashida Jones, which premiered on January 17, 2016.

The couple have two children, Elisabeth (born May 2001) and John (born June 2004).[47]

In February 2009, Carell bought the Marshfield Hills General Store in Marshfield, Massachusetts.[48][49] During 2011, Carell earned $17.5 million, making him the thirty first highest paid actor (excluding television related projects).[50]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Curly Sue Tesio Credited as "Steven Carell"
1998 Tomorrow Night Mailroom Guy without Glasses
Homegrown Party Extra with Funny Pants Uncredited
2003 Street of Pain Mark Short film
Bruce Almighty Evan Baxter Credited as "Steven Carell"
2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Brick Tamland
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie Brick Tamland Direct-to-video
Sleepover Officer John Sherman
2005 Melinda and Melinda Walt Wagner
Bewitched Uncle Arthur
The 40-Year-Old Virgin Andy Stitzer Also writer and executive producer
2006 Little Miss Sunshine Frank Ginsburg
American Storage Rich Short film
Over the Hedge Hammy (voice)
2007 Evan Almighty Evan Baxter
Knocked Up Himself
Dan in Real Life Dan Burns
Stories USA Mark Ronson
2008 Horton Hears a Who! Ned McDodd (voice)
Get Smart Maxwell Smart Also executive producer
2010 Date Night Phil Foster
Despicable Me Gru (voice)
Dinner for Schmucks Barry Speck
2011 Crazy, Stupid, Love Cal Weaver Also producer
2012 Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem Gru (voice) Simulator ride
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Dodge Petersen
Hope Springs Dr. Bernie Feld
2013 The Way, Way Back Trent
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Burt Wonderstone Also producer
Despicable Me 2 Gru (voice)
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Brick Tamland
Puppy Gru (voice) Short film
Panic in the Mailroom Gru (voice) Short film
Training Wheels Gru (voice) Short film
2014 Foxcatcher John Eleuthère du Pont
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Ben Cooper
2015 Minions Young Gru (voice)
Freeheld Steven Goldstein
The Big Short Mark Baum
2016 Café Society Phil
2017 Battle of the Sexes Bobby Riggs Filming
Despicable Me 3 Gru (voice) Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 The Dana Carvey Show Various characters 8 episodes; also writer
1996–2011 Saturday Night Live Gary, Big Head (voice) 14 episodes
1997 Over the Top Yorgo Galfanikos 12 episodes
1998 Just Shoot Me! Mr. Weiland Episode: "Funny Girl"
1999–2005 The Daily Show Himself 277 episodes
2000 Strangers with Candy Teacher Episode: "Behind Blank Eyes"
2002–03 Watching Ellie Edgar 16 episodes
2004 Fillmore! Mr. Delancey (voice) Episode: "Field Trip of the Just"
Come to Papa Blevin 4 episodes
2005–11, 2013 The Office Michael Scott 149 episodes
Writer ("Casino Night" and "Survivor Man")
Director ("Broke", "Secretary's Day", and "Garage Sale")
2007 The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show Brian Episode: "T-Bones TV"
2011 Life's Too Short Himself Episode: "1.4"
2012 The Simpsons Dan Gillick (voice) Episode: "Penny-Wiseguys"
2013 Web Therapy Jackson Pickett 3 episodes
2014 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon The Ragtime Gals Episode: "Mark Wahlberg/Kevin Nealon"
2016 Angie Tribeca Creator
Executive Producer
Writer ("Pilot")
Director ("Pilot")
Video games
Year Title Voice role
2002 Outlaw Golf Commentator

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ Stritof, Sheri; Stritof, Bob (March 21, 2008). "Steve and Nancy Carell Marriage Profile". Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Steve Carell Improvises some new Characters". CONAN. Aug 9, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Steve Carell Television Academy". emmys.com. The Emmys. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Ancestry.com profile". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Gostin, Nicki (June 22, 2007). "As Nice as He Is mean". Newsweek. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
  6. ↑ http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?pid=179943910
  7. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSob=c&GSsr=41&GSmid=46603826&GRid=162394990&
  8. ↑ "Steve Carell Biography". Tiscali.co.uk. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  9. ↑ http://www.goldenglobes.com/articles/steve-carell
  10. ↑ Pringle, Gill (July 27, 2007). "Steve Carell: The American Ricky Gervais is now a major movie star". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on June 30, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2010. Carell has no witty speech rehearsed when you ask the Catholic comic...
  11. ↑ Cadwalladr, Carole (August 12, 2010). "Steve Carell interview". The Guardian. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Steve Carell Plays the Fife". Late Show with David Letterman. July 20, 2010. CBS. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Some Famous History Majors – Bethel University College of Arts & Sciences". Bethel.edu. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  14. ↑ "TheDEN [Denison University]". Denison.edu. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ "The Company – Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company". Bstcalumni.webs.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ Hoppes, Lynn. "Steve Carell on hockey, 'Anchorman' sequel – Entertainment, Pop Culture, Style and Hot Trends – Trending Blog – ESPN Playbook – ESPN". Espn.go.com. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  17. ↑ "'Sapphire' Steve Carell '84 gives a shout-out to campus radio station". Denison University. July 28, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  18. ↑ Interview: Steve Carell (March 20, 2006). InFANity: The Office, TV Guide Channel.
  19. ↑ "Steve Carell in 1989 Brown's Chicken TV commercial". Youtube. August 15, 2008. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  20. ↑ Dave, Itzkoff Comedy Ahead of Its Time (if That Time Ever Comes) The New York Times (May 7, 2009). Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  21. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (November 23, 2014). "Our careers belong to that sketch. It was so dumb and opened so many doors for us". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ↑ Various (August 6, 2015). "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart". Slate.
  23. ↑ Rudolph, Ileane (July 27, 2015). "Alumni Association: A roundup of The Daily Show's coolest Graduates". TV Guide. pp 21-22.
  24. ↑ "'Office' promotions pay off in a big way – The Watcher". Chicago Tribune. February 23, 2006. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Steve Carell Emmy Nominated". Emmys.com. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  26. ↑ Lynette, Rice (March 30, 2007). "Deal or No Deal". Entertainment Weekly. p. 34.
  27. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2006.
  28. ↑ "WGA uses YouTube to state case". Hollywoodreporter.com. November 8, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Awards for Steve Carell". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  30. ↑ "CNN.com Video". CNN.
  31. ↑ Michael Ausiello (January 24, 2013). "Steve Carell Formally Nixes Office Series Finale Comeback: 'It Didn't Make Sense'". Tv Line. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  32. ↑ Michael Ausiello (May 6, 2013). "Exclusive: Steve Carell Back for The Office Finale". Tv Line. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  33. ↑ Holloway, Diane (August 16, 2005). "Steve Carell's 42, a 'Virgin' and the worst boss ever". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on August 11, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2006.
  34. ↑ "40 Year Old Virgin – Steve Carell Interview". Movies.about.com. March 4, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Box office/business for The 40-Year-Old Virgin". IMDb.com. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Little Miss Sunshine Movie Review". ComingSoon.net. July 26, 2006. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  37. ↑ Archived December 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  38. ↑ "Film Academy Invites 115 New Members". Abclocal.go.com. June 19, 2007. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  39. ↑ "Academy Invites 115 to Become Members" (Press release). California: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. June 18, 2007. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  40. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (January 13, 2009). "Steve Carell makes foray into TV prod'n". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Foxcatcher". Rotten Tomatoes. May 25, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  42. ↑ Shoard, Catherine (May 19, 2014). "Cannes acclaim for Steve Carell in Foxcatcher prompts Oscars tips". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  43. ↑ Mike Fleming Jr. "Steve Carell Replaces Zach Galifianakis In 'Freeheld' - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  44. ↑ "The Big Short". December 23, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2016 – via IMDb.
  45. ↑ Interview: Steve Carell (January 11, 2006). The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC.
  46. ↑ "Nancy Carell". IMDB. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  47. ↑ "Steve Carell – Bio". Biography.com. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  48. ↑ Burr, Ty (July 24, 2011). "Kickin' back with Steve Carell". Boston.com. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  49. ↑ "Steve Carell Buys Massachusetts General Store". The Huffington Post. February 15, 2009. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  50. ↑ "Hollywood's Highest Paid Stars 2011 – Highest Paid Actors " The Richest People in the World 2012". Therichest.org. Retrieved July 21, 2012.

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