Steve Oedekerk

Comedic actor Steve Oedekerk was born on November 27, 1961 in Los Angeles, California. As a teen, Oedekerk produced his own comical radio commercials, and soon immersed himself in the stand-up circuit of California's comedy clubs. One particular gig at LA's Comedy Store introduced Oedekerk to another struggling stand-up comic, Jim Carrey.

In 1990, Oedekerk founded his own entertainment company, O Entertainment. After achieving limited success in film and television acting, Oedekerk decided to flex his funny bone in the direction of sketch writing. Oedekerk wrote material for Chicago’s famed Second City troupe, as well as comedy series In Living Color starring Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans, as well as Jim Carrey. During this time, Oedekerk began brainstorming a crazy character called Ace Ventura. He was later credited as a project consultant on Jim Carrey’s surprise 1994 hit, Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, and went on to write and direct its sequel the following year, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

With his work on the Ace Ventura films raising his profile in Hollywood, Oedekerk landed screen writing jobs on other major motion pictures including Patch Adams (1998), The Nutty Professor (1996) and The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps (2000). Oedekerk also developed an interest in animated film, writing the Oscar-nominated Nickelodeon series, Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (2001) as well as the 3D IMAX short, Santa VS the Snowman (2002).

One of Oedekerk’s most surprisingly successful endeavors was a series of popular film parodies featuring dressed-up thumbs as the characters. Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle, The GodThumb, Thumbtanic, and The Blair Thumb may not have won any Oscars, but they all received a big thumbs-up from Oedekerk’s cult-following fans. Fan Films Quarterly also recognized the Thumb series as one of the 10 most pivotal moments in fan film history.

In 2003, Oedekerk teamed up once again with Jim Carrey to write and executive produce the 2003 comedy Bruce Almighty, also starring Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman. Three years later, Oedekerk added more silliness to the silver screen when he wrote and directed computer animated comedy Barnyard: The Original Party Animals. Featuring animals that go human-tipping and ride mechanical humans, the film proved Oedekerk’s unique ability to write for films that appeal to both young and old alike.

In 2006, Oedekerk served as executive producer on yet another almighty movie, Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carrell. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and two children.