Will Ferrell

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Will Ferrell

Ferrell at the U.K. premiere of Talladega Nights
Birth name John William Ferrell
Born July 16, 1967 (1967-07-16) (age 40)
Irvine, California, U.S.A.
Occupation comedian, impressionist, writer, actor
Years active 1995 - present
Spouse(s) Viveca Paulin (2000—present)

John William "Will" Ferrell (born July 16, 1967[1]) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American comedian, actor and writer who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, and has since gone on to a successful film career.

Contents

Ferrell was born in Canfield, Ohio,[2] the son of Kay (née Overman), a teacher, and Lee Ferrell, a keyboardist for The Righteous Brothers.[3] He attended Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, where he was remembered as "the class clown".[citation needed] He later attended University High School in Irvine, and was a kicker for the school's varsity football team.[4] He enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he studied Sports Broadcasting and graduated with a degree in Sports Information. He is also a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. After graduating in 1990, Ferrell developed his improvisation skills as a member of the comedy group The Groundlings.

Will Ferrell, left, impersonating Alex Trebek during the famous Saturday Night Live sketch "Celebrity Jeopardy!"
Will Ferrell, left, impersonating Alex Trebek during the famous Saturday Night Live sketch "Celebrity Jeopardy!"

Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 (he was chosen over future co-star Steve Carell).[citation needed] and left in 2002 after a successful 7 year tenure.

During his time on SNL, Ferrell made a name for himself with his impersonations, which included:

Will Ferrell in the famous Saturday Night Live cowbell sketch
Will Ferrell in the famous Saturday Night Live cowbell sketch

His original characters included "Morning Latte" co-host Tom Wilkins, Ed the Horse's twin brother Ned, fictional Blue Öyster Cult member Gene Frenkle, music teacher Marty Culp, Spartan cheerleader Craig Buchanan, Dale Sturtevant from "Dissing Your Dog", Ted of the Bill Brasky Buddies, David Leary from "Dog Show", and night clubber Steve Butabi in a sketch that went to the big screen in 1998's A Night at the Roxbury.

Ferrell returned to Saturday Night Live as a guest host on May 14, 2005. During this guest stint, he reprised his role as Alex Trebek in the popular "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketches and Robert Goulet, advertising a series of crooned ringtones. In the same episode, during the performance of the song "Little Sister" by musical guests Queens of the Stone Age, Ferrell came onstage playing the cowbell.

Ferrell became the highest paid cast member of Saturday Night Live in 2001 with a season salary of $350,000.[5]

Ferrell as Frank "The Tank" Ricard in Old School
Ferrell as Frank "The Tank" Ricard in Old School

During his time on Saturday Night Live, Ferrell appeared in several movies: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, A Night at the Roxbury, Superstar, The Ladies Man, Dick, Drowning Mona, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Zoolander.

His first starring role came after his departure from SNL with Frank "The Tank" Ricard in Old School (2003). The movie "belongs to Mr. Ferrell," declared the New York Times, which described how he "uses his hilarious, anxious zealotry to sell the part."[6] Old School was a major success and Ferrell received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Comedic Performance.

The title role in Elf (2003) followed, as did another MTV Movie Awards nomination. Ferrell continued to land comedy roles in 2004 and 2005 in films such as Melinda and Melinda, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Starsky & Hutch, and Wedding Crashers, earning himself a place among Hollywood's Frat Pack.[7] In 2005, Ferrell earned $40 million.[8] In 2006, Ferrell starred in Stranger Than Fiction and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; both received critical and box office success. Ferrell's performance in Stranger Than Fiction introduced audiences to the dramatic potential of Ferrell's acting talents. On December 27, 2006, 'The Magazine' named Ferrell as one of its three actors of the year in their 2006 year in review issue.[9]

In March of 2007, Ferrell, along with Jon Heder, co-starred in Blades of Glory. During an interview in support of the ice skating comedy, Ferrell denied relying on performance enhancing drugs to assist with his work in the film, but did admit to using "a lot of human growth hormone and a little bit of Robitussin" for his work in Stranger Than Fiction.[10] In 2005, Ferrell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[11]

Ferrell appeared as part of a pre-game video package for the Rose Bowl along with Texas alum Matthew McConaughey. Ferrell also sang a song at the ESPY Awards in 2006 about Lance Armstrong and Neil Armstrong, and is often noted as looking very similar to Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.[12][13]

Ferrell participated in a 79th Academy Awards musical-comedy performance with John C. Reilly and Jack Black, where they sang a song about comedies being snubbed by the voters in favor of dramas.

Ferrell has worked as a voice actor in several animated television programs, including his portrayal of a 1950s-style father in the animated television series The Oblongs. He has had several guest appearances on Family Guy, where he played the Black Knight in Mr. Saturday Knight, as well as Fat Greek Guy and Miles "Chatterbox" Musket in Fifteen Minutes of Shame. Ferrell also starred as Ted (a.k.a. The Man in the Yellow Hat) in the movie Curious George.[14]

In April 2007, Ferrell launched "Funny or Die",[15] a streaming video website where short comedy films are uploaded and voted on by users. The site features The Landlord, starring Ferrell and Funny or Die co-founder Adam McKay. Ferrell's character is harassed for the rent by his landlady, a swearing, beer-loving, two-year-old girl (played by McKay's daughter, Pearl). Child psychologists have criticized Ferrell and the McKays for child exploitation,[16] to which McKay responded:

Fortunately she is in this great stage now where she repeats anything you say to her and then forgets it right away, which is key. She has not said the 'B-word' since we shot the thing.

—Adam McKay[17]

They recently released a video entitled "Good Cop, Baby Cop" which also starred baby Pearl;[18] the end of the video stated that this would be her final appearance and wished her a happy "baby retirement."

In August 2000, Ferrell married Swedish actress Viveca Paulin, whom he met in 1995 at an acting class. On March 7, 2004, their son Magnus Paulin Ferrell was born. On December 30, 2006, Viveca gave birth to another son, Mattias Ferrell.[19]

In 2006, I-Newswire.com, a site which accepts press releases from users for publication, reported that Ferrell had died in a paragliding accident. The hoax was published before its factual inaccuracy was noticed. The story was further propagated when it appeared on Google News.[20][21] It has been suggested[attribution needed] that the hoax was inspired by the way that Ferrell's character in Wedding Crashers ridicules paragliding deaths. Ferrell is a fan of USC Trojan football, and has worked with head coach Pete Carroll to do motivational stunts for the players during the season.[4]

Nominated:

  • 2006: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (for The Producers)
  • 2007: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (for Stranger than Fiction)

Nominated:

  • 2001: Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program (for Saturday Night Live)

"Won":

Nominated:

Won:

  • 2001: Funniest Male Performer in a TV Special (Leading or Supporting) Network, Cable or Syndication (for Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash 2000)

Nominated:

Won

Nominated:

Nominated:

Won

Won

Ferrell at the premiere of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Ferrell at the premiere of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Year Title Role Notes
1989 Major League Cleveland Indians Fan
1995 Bucket of Blood Young Man
Criminal Hearts Newscaster
1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Mustafa
Men Seeking Women Al
1998 A Night at the Roxbury Steve Butabi (also writer)
The Thin Pink Line Darren Clark
1999 Superstar Sky Corrigan/God
Dick Bob Woodward
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Mustafa
The Suburbans Gil
2000 The Ladies Man Lance DeLune
Drowning Mona Cubby the Funeral Director
2001 Zoolander Mugatu
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Federal Wildlife Marshal Willenholly
2002 Boat Trip Brian's Boyfriend (uncredited)
2003 Elf Buddy
Old School Frank "the Tank" Ricard
2004 Melinda and Melinda Hobie
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie Ron Burgundy (also writer)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Ron Burgundy (also writer)
Starsky & Hutch Big Earl (uncredited)
Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party Himself (documentary)
2005 The Producers Franz Liebkind
Wedding Crashers Chazz Reinhold
Winter Passing Corbit
Bewitched Jack Wyatt/Darrin
Kicking & Screaming Phil Weston
The Wendell Baker Story Dave Bix
2006 Stranger than Fiction Harold Crick
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Ricky Bobby (also writer and executive producer)
Curious George Ted/The Man in the Yellow Hat (voice only)
2007 Blades of Glory Chazz Michael Michaels
2008 Semi-Pro Jackie Moon (completed)
Step Brothers Brennan Huff (filming, also writer and executive producer)
2009 Land of the Lost Rick Marshall

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
  1. ^ According to the State of Mongzville. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com
  2. ^ "Will Ferrell Bio", NBC. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. 
  3. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/92/Will-Ferrell.html
  4. ^ a b Dave Albee,Carroll Chronicles: Celebrities love to practice with Pete, Marin Independent Journal, August 29, 2007.
  5. ^ http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/celebrity/package.jsp?name=celebrity/content/bsf_carreyvsfarrell
  6. ^ Mitchell, Elvis, "Never Too Late to Have an Adolescence," New York Times, February 21, 2003.
  7. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-06-15-frat-pack_x.htm
  8. ^ http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/P147872.asp
  9. ^ http://www.wearethemagazine.com/0103/themagazine.htm
  10. ^ http://www.bigpictureradio.com/willferrellinterview.htm
  11. ^ http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2005/05.06.24.html
  12. ^ http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grpress/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1162568924197380.xml&coll=6
  13. ^ http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15873280.htm
  14. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002071/
  15. ^ Funny Or Die.
  16. ^ Today Show June 7, 2007
  17. ^ Will Ferrell and Pearl in The Landlord.
  18. ^ Good Cop, Baby Cop.
  19. ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20005718,00.html
  20. ^ "Will Ferrell Isn't Dead and Google Hasn't Hired A 15 Year-Old"; Ryan, Jack; March 15, 2006; The Post Chronicle
  21. ^ "Will Ferrell Not Dead In Paragliding Accident"; Marconi, Mitch; Mar 14, 2006; The Post Chronicle
  22. ^ a b c d IMDB Profile

v • d • e
Mediocre American Man Trilogy
Films: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy • Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Cast and Crew: Will Ferrell • Adam McKay • Judd Apatow • David Koechner
Direct-to-video: Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Ferrell"
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