Steve Carell

Steve Carell’s biography

Steven John Carell is a popular comedian, TV producer, screenwriter, director, winner of many prestigious awards, including the Golden Globe, Gotham, Film Independent Spirit, Hollywood Film Awards, US Screen Actors Guild, and also nominations for Oscar, Emmy, MTV movie & TV awards, etc.

In the photo: Steve Carell

Among the actor’s more than fifty cinema works, alongside comedies, where he brilliantly played frivolous roles (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Evan Almighty, The Office, Crazy, Stupid, Love), there are also highly artistic projects which showed his bright dramatic talent (Foxcatcher, The Big Short, Last Flag Flying).

In 2016 Steve Carell received the cherished nominal star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Having earned about $15 million in 2011, he ranked third on the Forbes list of the highest-paid television actors in the United States (following Charlie Sheen with $40 million and Ray Romano with $20 million).

Childhood and youth

The future actor was born on August 16, 1962, in Concord, located near Boston, Massachusetts. He became the fourth, youngest son in the family of electrical engineer Edwin Carell and Harriet Theresa (née Koch), a nurse at a psychiatric clinic. His father is of German and Italian descent and his mother is of Polish ancestry. His mother's brother, his uncle Stanley Koch, was engaged in research to improve cathode-ray tubes with the famous scientist and inventor Allan B. Dumont.

Steven attended The Fenn School for boys, the Nashoba Brooks, and Middlesex co-educational schools. In those years he dreamed of working as a radio announcer, participated in school plays, was fond of playing hockey and lacrosse.

Steve Carell was the goalkeeper of the school’s hockey team

After receiving secondary education the young man entered the private Denison University in Granville, Ohio, on the Faculty of History. At the university, he became a member of Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company, a student-run improvisational comedy troupe, and participated in a variety of original performances. During the four years of study, he was also the goalkeeper of the school hockey team and a DJ on the campus radio station.

In his youth Steve Carell turned a penny as a mail carrier

After graduating from university in 1984 the young man was thinking about getting second, legal education. But at the interview, in his words, he could not intelligibly argue the reason for his decision to become a lawyer. About half a year he worked as a mail carrier, then performed on the stage of one of the children's theaters.

Acting career

In 1986 together with his friends, Steve decided to move to Chicago, where he began working in the Theater Building Chicago, particularly performing in the Knat Scatt Private Eye musical. In 1989 he appeared in a TV commercial for Brown's Chicken restaurant chain. Then the young man was invited to the Second City theater troupe, where he successfully performed in a number of plays and was even twice nominated for the Jefferson Prize.

Steve Carell in the Brown’s Chicken commercial. His first appearance on TV

The talented young actor interested filmmakers and in 1991 he made his debut on the screen, playing an episodic role in Curly Sue with James Belushi. He was invited to various entertainment shows (Dana Carvey Show, Funny Girl, Just Shoot Me!). He has also appeared in several mini-series’, including Over the Top, Come to Papa. Since 1999, for six years he portrayed a special correspondent on The Daily Show satirical TV show, which was a parody of informational and analytical television shows.

Steve Carell in the Curly Sue

In 2003 the actor played Evan in the Bruce Almighty fantasy comedy film, where the key characters were played by Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston. A year later, he was involved in four film projects, including the Melinda and Melinda comedy-drama by Woody Allen.

Steve Carell in the Bruce Almighty

Two full-length pictures featuring Steve were released in 2005: Bewitched, where his partners on the set were Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, where he brilliantly embodied the image of a key character. This comedy melodrama was an incredible success among moviegoers and was included in the Top 10 best romantic comedies of the year by the American Film Institute. It’s box office surpassed $177 million with a budget of $26 million.

Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin

The same year the comedian appeared in the central role of Michael in The Office television show, a remake of the British sitcom of the same name. The television series, which told about the daily life of the employees of a fictional company was no less successful than The 40-Year-Old Virgin and his rating was greatly contributed by the growing popularity of Carell. As a result, if he received $70 thousand for shooting an episode in the first season, he then received already $180 thousand in the fourth.

A shot from the Dinner for Schmucks

Along with work in The Office in 2006, the actor appeared in the role of homosexual Sheryl, who tried to commit suicide because of unhappy love in the Little Miss Sunshine comedy-drama. The premiere of the film at the Sundance Festival ended with a standing ovation from the public. The same year the actor took part in the voicing of the Over Hedge cartoon along with Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Nick Nolte, Avril Lavigne.

Steve Carell in the Evan Almighty

The next 2007 was marked by the release of four projects involving Steve, including the Evan Almighty comedy film (a sequel of Bruce Almighty), where his character, TV host Baxter, on the orders of God (Morgan Freeman) was engaged in the construction of the ark.

Steve Carell in the Get Smart comedy

In 2008 the actor got the lead role of agent-86 in the Get Smart comedy action, a remake of the 1960’s TV series of the same name. His colleagues on the set, which took place not only in the USA, were Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Bill Murray. With a budget of $80 million, the film collected $264 million.

Steve Carell and Tina Fey in the Date Night

In 2010 Steve's fans could see their idol in the central roles in the fascinating films: Date Night, where he shone alongside Tina Fey and Dinner for Schmucks.

Interview with Steve Carell

In the same period, he voiced the key supervillain Gru, who stole the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower in the Despicable Me cartoon by Universal. On the very first weekend of the rental, the cartoon earned $56 million at home. In general, the box office sales exceeded $543 million (with a budget of 69 million).

Steve Carell in the Crazy, Stupid, Love

In 2011 the actor once again became the main character of a comedy story, playing in the Crazy, Stupid, Love. The star ensemble cast also includes Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon.

Steve Carell with Keira Knightley in the Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

A year later the comedian, accompanied by the magnificent Keira Knightley appeared in the Seeking a Friend for the End of the World comedy melodrama and also played in the Hope Springs tragicomedy alongside Meryl Streep, who is considered one of the greatest movie stars of our time.

In 2013 several film productions were released starring Steve Carell

In 2013 several films were released with the actor’s participation. In The Way, Way Back tragicomedy, which won at the Newport Film Festival in two nominations (Best Picture and Best USA Tape), he played the stepfather of a 14-year-old teenager suffering from his constant humiliation.

Steve Carell in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone comedy

In The Incredible Burt Wonderstone comedy, he embodied a magician competing with another new magician Steve (Jim Carrey). Besides, he appeared in the Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues comedy film, the Web Therapy sitcom, and the sequel to the Despicable Me cartoon.

Steve Carell in the Foxcatcher (trailer)

The Foxcatcher drama based on real events with Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum, who played brother athletes, where Carell appeared as an eccentric millionaire Dupont, brought him universal recognition in 2014 and nominations for the Oscar, Golden Globe and other prestigious film awards.

Steve Carell in The Big Short

The Big Short drama picture should be noted among projects with the actor’s participation in 2015, which confirmed his ability to play diverse roles. He appeared (alongside Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale) as one of the financial analysts who made a fortune during the 2007-2008 mortgage crisis. The film brought him a National Council of Film Critics and the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association award in the Best Cast category, nominations for the Golden Globe Award, Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild, etc.

In 2016 the talented master of reincarnation received the cherished nominal star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In the same period Woody Allen’s Café Society comedy film was released, where he played a famous film producer. His partners on the set were Jesse Eisenberg as his character's nephew and Kristen Stewart as his girlfriend.

Steve Carell and Emma Stone in the Battle of the Sexes picture

In 2017, in addition to voicing character Gru in the next animated project, the Despicable Me 3, the actor played in the Battle of the Sexes British-American comedy-drama, where he played tennis player Bobby Riggs, who was defeated in the tournament by Billie Jean King (Emma Stone), the world’s second racket.

Steve Carell in the Last Flag Flying (trailer)

The same year he embodied the main character of former military doctor Larry, who met 30 years later with former colleagues Sal (Brian Cranston) and Richard (Lawrence Fishburn), to bury his dead son in Iraq in the Last Flag Flying war film.

In 2018 the world premiere of the drama Beautiful Boy according to David Sheff's best-selling book Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction took place. It tells about the difficult period in the father’s life (played by Steve), who feels guilty of his son’s drug addiction (Timothée Chalamet). Together with his ex-wife (Amy Ryan), having forgotten the old hurts, he tries to save his boy from drugs.

Steve Carell realizes himself also in dramatic cinema

In addition, the Welcome to Marwen drama picture is in production, created on the basis of real tragic events. The actor plays there the main character, a man who has been the victim of a violent assault. His injuries had serious effects on him - amnesia. He constructs a miniature World War II village called Marwen in his yard to help in his recovery and populates it with imaginary friends - puppet characters.

Some premieres are scheduled for release in 2018 starring Steve Carell

Also in 2018 film Vice with the actor’s participation was premiered. The plot of the film tells about the political growth of the famous Republican Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), the most influential 46th vice president in US history. Carell plays Donald Rumsfeld, former United States Secretary of Defense.

Steve Carell’s personal life

The actor is happily married. He met his chosen Nancy Walls while working in the troupe of the Chicago Second City theater when he taught acting classes in parallel with his main activity, and she was his student. Their wedding took place in August 1995.

Steve Carell with his wife Nancy Walls

The spouse appeared with him in The Daily Show, played a small role of a real estate agent Carol Stills in the series The Office, played Linda, the wife of Dodge Petersen (who was played by her real husband Steve) in the Seeking a Friend for the End of the World picture, as well as in other joint projects.

The couple lives in Los Angeles and has two children: daughter Elizabeth Ann, born in 2001, and son John, born in 2004.

Steve Carell with his wife and children

In February 2009 the actor bought the Marshfield Hills General Store in Marshfield, Massachusetts, which sells a wide variety of goods - from candy and toys to gifts for settlers and spirits.

Steve Carell nowadays

Steve Carell continues to appear in films and TV series. In 2019, "The Morning Show" premiered on Apple TV, starring the actor as Mitch Kesler. This work received high reviews from critics, so the series was renewed for the following seasons.

Space Force: Trailer

Also in 2020, a new comedy series "Space Force" was released on Netflix, in which Carell played the lead role of Army General Mark Marquet Naird.