Steve Carell

Steven John "Steve" Carell (pronounced /kəˈrɛl/; born August 16, 1963)is an American actor, comedian, producer, director and writer. Carell became famous for his roles in the television series The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999 to 2004, and The Office from 2005 to 2011. He has also starred in several Hollywood films including Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine, Evan Almighty, Dan in Real Life, Get Smart, and Date Night; and provided voice talents in the animated films Over the Hedge, Horton Hears a Who!, and Despicable Me.

Carell was nominated as "America's funniest man" in Life magazine. He received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in the Television Comedy Series for his lead role of Michael Scott for the American television series The Office during 2006.

Early life

Carell, the youngest of four sons, was born at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts, and was raised in nearby Acton by his parents, Harriet T. (née Koch), a psychiatric nurse, and Edwin A. Carell, an electrical engineer. His maternal uncle was Stanley Koch, a glassblower who worked with Allen B. DuMont to create cathode ray tubes. Carell's paternal grandfather was Italian; his father was born with the surname "Caroselli", later shortening it to "Carell". Carell was educated at The Fenn School and Middlesex School, and attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He originally aspired to become a radio broadcaster, deejaying at WDUB in Granville.

Early career

Before opting for a career as a performer, Carell claims that he worked as a mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts. He later recounted that he quit after a few months because his boss told him he was not very good as a mail carrier; he needed to be more efficient. He planned on attending law school, but was unable to write an explanation on his application form as to why he wanted to be a lawyer. Early in his performing career, Carell acted on the stage in a touring children's theater company and later in the comedy musical, Knat Scatt Private Eye. He also acted in a television commercial for Brown's Chicken during 1989.[citation needed] After that, Carell performed with Chicago troupe The Second City during 1991, where Stephen Colbert was his understudy for a time. That same year, he obtained his first film work in a minor role as Tesio in Curly Sue.

During the spring of 1996, he was a cast member of The Dana Carvey Show, a primetime 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.During this time, he also played a supporting character for several series including Come to Papa and the short-lived 1997 Tim Curry situation comedy Over the Top. He has made numerous guest appearances, including on an episode of Just Shoot Me titled "Funny Girl."

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

Carell was a correspondent for The Daily Show from 1999 until 2005, with a number of regular segments including "Even Stephven" with Stephen Colbert and "Produce Pete." Carell performed as a guest on The Daily Show on August 15, 2005 to promote The 40-Year-Old Virgin, June 18, 2007 to promote Evan Almighty , a year later on June 18, 2008, to promote his movie, Get Smart, and on April 7, 2010 to promote Date Night with Tina Fey.

The Office

Michael Scott (The Office)

During 2005, Carell signed a deal with NBC to star in an American version of the BBC British TV show The Office, a so-called "mockumentary" about life at a mid-sized paper supply company. He plays Michael Scott, the idiosyncratic regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Inc, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The show, now playing its sixth season, has become very popular with Carell receiving praise for his comedic performance as well as a Golden Globe award and multiple nominations. He has also been nominated for four Emmy Awards and has won two Writers' Guild of America Awards. On April 29th, 2010, Carell stated he probably would not continue his role as Michael Scott after the 2010-2011 season of The Office after which his contract expires.

Mainstream success

Carell at the Academy Awards in 2007

Two important roles helped Carell get the attention of audiences: Bruce Almighty, in which Carell plays Evan Baxter (an arrogant rival to Jim Carrey's character), and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, in which Carell plays another news personality, as slow-witted weatherman Brick Tamland. Years later he would reprise the role of Evan Baxter in Evan Almighty, a film in which his character from Bruce Almighty has an experience similar to the biblical story of Noah's Ark. During spring of 2005, Carell began playing the lead role of Michael Scott on NBC's adaptation of a British program The Office. Although the first season of the adaptation was notable for its mediocre ratings, NBC renewed it for another season due to the anticipated success of Carell's movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and the series subsequently became a ratings success. Carell won a Golden Globe and Television Critics Association award during 2006 for his Office role. He also received Emmy nominations during 2006 and 2007 for his work in the series.

Carell earned approximately $175,000 per episode of the third season of The Office, twice his salary for the previous two seasons. 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 The Office.

He played the lead role for 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 does not have any plans to stop performing for The Office.

Carell acted as "Uncle Arthur" with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell for the 2005 remake of Bewitched. He also voiced a starring role for the 2006 computer-animated film Over the Hedge as Hammy the Squirrel. He also voiced for the 2008 animated film Horton Hears a Who! as the mayor of Whoville, Ned McDodd. He starred in Little Miss Sunshine during 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 so-called "Frat Pack" group. (This set of actors includes Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson). Carell acknowledged his membership with the group in his monologue when hosting the first episode of Saturday Night Live's 31st season on October 1, 2005. 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 acted as the title character of Evan Almighty, a sequel to Bruce Almighty, reprising his role as Evan Baxter, now a U.S. Congressman. Although, ostensibly, God tasks Baxter with building an ark, Baxter also learns that life can generate positive returns with people offering Acts of Random Kindness. During October 2006, Carell began acting for the film Dan in Real Life, co-starring Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche. Filming ended December 22, 2006, and the film was released on October 26, 2007.

Carell played Maxwell Smart for a movie remake of Get Smart, which began filming February 3, 2007 and was filmed in Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Moscow, Russia. The movie was very successful, grossing over $200 million worldwide. During 2007, Carell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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 filmed a movie during late 2008 opposite Tina Fey, entitled Date Night. It was released on April 9, 2010 in the US. He has several other projects in the works, including a remake of the 1967 Peter Sellers film The Bobo. He is currently doing voiceover 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 Carell's alma mater, Comedy Central's The Daily Show, have been hired to manage Carousel's TV operations.

Personal life

Carell is Catholic. He is married to Saturday Night Live actress Nancy Carell, whom he met when she was a student in an improvisation class he was teaching at Second City.They have two children, Elisabeth Anne "Annie" (born May 25, 2001) and John "Johnny" (born June 2004). She acted with him on The Office as his realtor and short-lived girlfriend Carol Stills, and also cameoed as a sex therapist in The 40 Year Old Virgin.

The Carells have a home in Marshfield, Massachusetts. He recently helped to preserve some of the town's history by purchasing the 155-year-old Marshfield Hills General Store, an antique country store well-known for its candy counter.

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes

1991 Curly Sue Tesio as Steven Carell

2003 Bruce Almighty Evan Baxter

2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Brick Tamland Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team shared with Will Ferrell, David Koechner and Paul Rudd

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance shared with Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Fred Armisen

Sleepover Officer Sherman

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie Brick Tamland

2005 Melinda and Melinda Walt Wagner

Bewitched Uncle Arthur

The 40-Year-Old Virgin Andy Stitzer MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Team shared with Romany Malco, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd

Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay shared with Judd Apatow

2006 Over the Hedge Hammy Voice

Little Miss Sunshine Frank Ginsburg Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast

Chlotrudis Award for Best Cast

Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

Nominated — Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast

Nominated - Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor

2007 Evan Almighty Evan Baxter Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Scream

Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy

Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Hissy Fit

Knocked Up Himself

Dan in Real Life Dan Burns

2008 Horton Hears a Who! Ned McDodd: Mayor of WhoVille Voice

Get Smart Maxwell Smart Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance

2010 Date Night Phil Foster

Despicable Me Gru Voice

Dinner for Schmucks Barry Filming

2011 Get Smart 2 Maxwell Smart

Television

Year Film Role Notes

1996 The Dana Carvey Show Various characters Sketch comedy

1997 Over the Top Yorgo Galfanikos 12 episodes; only 3 aired.

1998 Just Shoot Me Insurance Agent

1999-2004 The Daily Show Correspondent

2005-present The Office Michael Scott Writer, episodes "Casino Night" and "Survivor Man"; Director, episode "Broke" and "Secretary's Day (The Office)"

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2006)

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008)

Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2007, 2008)

TV Land Future Classic Award

Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2006)

Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series shared with ensemble writers (2007)

Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Comedy for episode "Casino Night"

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Comedy Series (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)

Nominated — Prism Award for Best Performance in a Comedy Series (2007)

Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2006, 2007)

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2007, 2008, 2009)

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2009)

Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2006)

Nominated — Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2009)

Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series shared with ensemble writers (2008, 2009)

2010 2010 Kids' Choice Awards Himself Covered by slime

(source:wikipedia)