Carrey subscribes to the "more is more" performance philosophy. His over-the-edge physical comedy first won national attention on TV's In Living Color in 1990. He scored a stunning triple play in 1994: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was a silly, surprise hit; The Mask, a film seemingly inspired by Carrey's malleable face, was even more successful and not quite as embarrassing; and his Christmas feature, Dumb and Dumber, which targeted the adolescent male market, was the number one film of the holiday season.

Carrey apparently developed his sense of humor as a teen, when he used it to shield his anger; at the time, his father had lost his job and Carrey went to work as a janitor, living with his family in a camper. Carrey told Newsweek that "I was so angry I didn't want to hear it. I slept in class because I was working in the factory for eight hours after school. I didn't have any friends because I didn't want them. I've gone through periods where I look at street guys and I know that's me. I know how they got there." Legend has it that Carrey made a check out to himself for $10 million "for acting services rendered," payable Thanksgiving 1995. He seems to have come in just under the wire. He and his ex-wife settled their messy divorce, with Carrey in the hole for about $7 million. He received a record $20 million for The Cable Guy, and he will bank another $20 million for an upcoming remake of the 1947 comedy The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

His love life isn't anything to bawl over either: in September of 1996, Carrey got himself hitched to his on-again/off-again girlfriend, actress Lauren Holly.