Jim Carrey names his most influential acting icon
Comedy in the 1990s wouldn’t have looked anywhere near as vibrant without the influence of the stand-up comedian and Hollywood star Jim Carrey. Sure, the likes of Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy were prominent figures, but Carrey’s frenetic insanity seemed to fit the decade like a glove, perfectly matching its wild fashion, revolutionary music style and increasingly technological culture.
Taking to comedy at the mere age of 15, a young Carrey toured clubs with his impressions and idiosyncratic performance style, taking years to fine-tune his act for wider audiences. Moving to Hollywood at the age of 21, the actor and performer became a regular at The Comedy Store on Sunset Strip, California, a slot that would later land him the lead role on the NBC sitcom, The Duck Factory.
Once his foot was in the door, there was no turning back for the persistent performer, and Carrey grew in industry significance from one role to the next. Ten years after his success with The Duck Factory, he would take his first major starring role in 1994s Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, appearing alongside the Friends star Courteney Cox in the mad-cap comedy flick.
His career kicked off from this point, with Carrey enjoying a glittering decade thanks to later successes The Mask, Dumb and Dumber and Batman Forever which would cement his name among the contemporary Hollywood elite.
Carrey’s success was no straight road, however, with the actor giving credit to a number of idols who inspired him along the way. In a conversation with Closer, the actor named Dick Van Dyke as one of those significant names, telling the publication: “I was a huge fan,” praising the American actor who became known for his awful cockney accent. Van Dyke wasn’t the only inspiration either, with Carrey also naming Jimmy Stewart, Jackie Gleason and Art Carney.
Despite being inspired by a handful of elite Hollywood stars, Carrey states that his greatest idol was his late father, the musician and accountant Percy Carrey. “He was an amazing, incredible character,” the actor stated, revealing: “I’m always drawing on my father to play characters. He was the kind of guy who, if you talked to him for five minutes, you felt like you knew him for 50 years.”
Whilst Carrey was still in the infancy of his career, his father helped him to develop his comedy act and even drove the performer to his debut show in Toronto. Recalling such days with his father, he told the magazine: “I would watch him hold court in the living room…People invariably left holding their bellies and going, ‘Percy, you missed your calling.’”
Tragically passing away in 1994, the very same year that the actor would reach Hollywood stardom, Percy Carrey remains a prominent figure of inspiration for Carrey to this very day.
