Steve Carell Biography

Summary

"Steven John Carell" (born August 16, 1962) is a Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated American comedian, actor, producer and writer, who rose to fame as a correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", from 1999 to 2004. Since 2005, he has starred in the popular American version of the television sitcom "The Office", as main character Michael Scott. He has starred and co-starred in several notable films including "Bruce Almighty", "Anchorman", "The 40-Year Old Virgin", "Little Miss Sunshine", "Evan Almighty", and "Dan in Real Life".

Early life

Carell, the youngest of four brothers, was born in Acton, Massachusetts, the son of Harriet T. (née Koch), a psychiatric nurse, and Edwin A. Carell. Carell's maternal uncle was Stanley Koch, a glassblower who worked with Allen B. DuMont to create cathode ray tubes. Carell has Italian ancestry; his father was born with the surname 'Caroselli', later shortening it to 'Carell'. Carell was educated at The Fenn School and Middlesex School, where he graduated in 1980, and played on the varsity ice hockey goalie, number 22 and lacrosse teams in Concord, Massachusetts, as well as Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He originally aspired to become a radio broadcaster, deejaying at WDUB in Granville, Ohio.

Career

Early career

Prior to opting for a career as a performer, Carell worked as a mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts. He later recounted that he quit after a few months because he was 'very, very bad at it.' He also planned on attending law school, but was unable to write an explanation on an application form as to why he wanted to be a lawyer. Carell performed with Chicago troupe The Second City in 1991, where Stephen Colbert was his understudy for a time. That same year, he landed his first film work in a minor role as Tesio in "Curly Sue".

In 1996, he was a cast member of the briefly aired "The Dana Carvey Show". 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 was moved to "Saturday Night Live" in 1997. He played a supporting character on many shows including "Come to Papa" and the short-lived 1997 Tim Curry sitcom "Over the Top". He has made numerous notable guest appearances, including on an episode of "Just Shoot Me" entitled 'Funny Girl.'

Other early screen credits include a role in Julia Louis-Dreyfus's short-lived sitcom "Watching Ellie" (2002 – 2003) and Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda". Carell has also poked fun at himself for auditioning for "Saturday Night Live", but losing the job to Will Ferrell.

"The Daily Show"

In 1999, he became a correspondent on "The Daily Show", appearing in recurring sketches like 'Even Stephven' (opposite Stephen Colbert) and 'Produce Pete with Steve Carell'. He remained a regular on the show until 2004.

Carell returned to "The Daily Show" on March 22, 2005, for a humorous piece on the second anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

While there, he also recorded two guest appearances as 'Produce Pete' which aired on April 4, 2005, and May 3, 2005 (and was credited as a contributor).

He returned to the show as the guest on August 15, 2005, declaring that he was officially no longer with the show, ending speculation that he might return as a regular player. He did another guest appearance on June 18, 2007 to promote "Evan Almighty".

Mainstream success

Two supporting roles in films helped get the attention of audiences: "Bruce Almighty", in which Carell plays Evan Baxter (an arrogant rival to Jim Carrey's character), who gets a humorous comeuppance while co-anchoring the news. In "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy", Carell plays another news personality, as slow-witted weatherman Brick Tamland, whose humorous non-sequiturs helped make the comedy a success at the box office.

In spring of 2005, Carell began playing the lead role of Michael Scott on NBC's remake of the British sitcom "The Office". Although the series premiered to mediocre ratings, NBC renewed it for another season due to the anticipated success of Steve Carell's movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", and the show subsequently became a ratings success. Carell won a Golden Globe and Television Critics Association award in 2006 for his "Office" role. He also received Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007 for his work in the series.

He played the lead role in the 2005 film "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", which he developed and co-wrote. Although the film was a

surprise success, Carell revealed in an interview with "Entertainment Weekly" that he has no plans to leave "The Office".

Carell earned approximately $175,000 per episode of the third season of "The Office", twice his salary for the previous two seasons. Carell is also allowed 'flex time' during filming to work on theatrical films. Carell worked on "Evan Almighty" during weekdays and did "The Office" on weekends during its third season.

Carell appeared as 'Uncle Arthur' alongside Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in the 2005 remake of "Bewitched". He also voiced a starring role in the 2006 computer-animated film "Over the Hedge" as Hammy the Squirrel. He starred in "Little Miss Sunshine" in 2006, as Uncle Frank. His work in the films "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", and "Bewitched" established Carell as a member of Hollywood's Frat Pack group. This set of actors, headlined by Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson, has become a most profitable force in modern comedy. Carell acknowledged his membership in the group in his monologue when hosting the first episode of "Saturday Night Live"s 31st season on October 1, 2005 (musical guest: Kanye West). Carell also mentioned that he auditioned to be a castmember on "Saturday Night Live" for the 1995-1996 season (season 21), but lost to Will Ferrell.

Carell appeared as the title character of "Evan Almighty", a sequel to "Bruce Almighty", reprising his role as Evan Baxter, now a U.S. Congressman whom God tasks with building an ark. In October 2006, Carell began shooting the upcoming film "Dan in Real Life", co-starring Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche. Filming wrapped December 22, 2006, and the film was released on October 26, 2007.

Carell will play Maxwell Smart in a movie remake of "Get Smart", which began filming February 3, 2007. (Filming will continue in Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Moscow, Russia). In 2007, Carell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Production closed down in the middle of the fourth season of The Office because of Steve's and other's refusal to cross the picket line of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.

Personal life

Carell is a life-long Catholic. He is married to "Saturday Night Live" alumna Nancy Walls, whom he met when she was a student in an improv class he was teaching at The Second City. They have two children, Elisabeth Anne (born May 25, 2001) and John (born June 2004). Walls appeared with him on "The Office" as his realtor and short-lived girlfriend, Carol Stills. Like her husband, Walls had been a "Daily Show" correspondent.

Awards

Golden Globes

Won:

2006: Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series Musical or Comedy (for his role as Michael Scott in "The Office")

Nominated:

2007: Best Performance by an actor in a TV series Musical or Comedy (for "The Office")

Emmy Awards

Nominated:

2006: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series ("The Office")

2007: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series ("The Office") - Since Ricky Gervais was not at the ceremony to receive his trophy, presenters Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert chose instead to present it to their 'good friend,' Steve Carell.

Writers Guild of America

Won:

2007: Comedy Series (shared with Jennifer Celotta, Greg Daniels, Lee Eisenberg, Brent Forrester, Ricky Gervais, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Stephen Merchant, B.J. Novak, Michael Schur, Justin Spitzer, Gene Stupnitsky) for "The Office"

2007: Episodic Comedy (any length - one airing time), for The Office - "'Casino Night'"

Nominated:

2006: Best Original Screenplay (shared with Judd Apatow) for the film "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"

Television Critics Association

Won:

2006: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy (for his role as Michael Scott in "The Office")

Screen Actors Guild of America

Won:

2007: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (part of ensemble cast for Little Miss Sunshine)

2007: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (part of ensemble cast for The Office)

Nominated:

2007: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

MTV Movie Awards

Won:

2006: Best Comedic Performance for the film "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"

Nominated:

2006: Best Performance for the film "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"

2006: Best On-Screen Team (shared with Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and Romany Malco) for the film "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"

2005: Best On-Screen Team (shared with Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner) for the film "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"

2005: Best Musical Performance (shared with Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner) for the film "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"

Teen Choice Awards

Won:

2007: Choice TV Actor: Comedy for "The Office"

Salary

"The Office" (Season 3) - $175,000 an episode (renegotiated in 2006). 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.'

"The Office" (Seasons 1, 2) - $76,000 an episode

"Evan Almighty" - $5,000,000

"The 40-Year-Old Virgin" - $500,000