Happy 64th Birthday, Peter Farrelly! Born today in 1956 as Peter John Farrelly, this American novelist, screenwriter, producer and film director, along with his younger brother Bobby, are mostly famous for producing and directing quirky, gross-out comedies and romantic comedy films.
Born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Farrelly was the firstborn son to parents both in the medical field. However, Peter's grandparents were Irish immigrants.
Farrelly was later raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Years later, he graduated from Kent School in 1975 and also later from Providence College.
Upon graduation, Farrelly decided to pursue writing full-time, which prompted him to quit his job and relocate to Cape Cod, Massachusetts where he got a job as a waiter.
On one of the tables he was waiting, Farrelly struck up a conversation with a writing professor from UMass Amherst, who encouraged Farrelly to apply to graduate school.
However, Farrelly said he did not think his chances were good, considering he did poorly in college but the professor said not everything is judged by grades.
With what would later be his 1988 English language autobiographical humorous fiction novel Outside Providence, Farrelly submitted the work and was pleasantly surprised that he was accepted. The book was later turned in a film with the same name in 1999.
In the early 1990s, the Farrelly Brothers co-conceived the 50th episode of Seinfeld (1989–1998) with American television writer, comedian, and producer Peter Mehlman. This was for the episode "The Virgin" (S04E10), airing on November 11, 1992.
Upon release, over sixteen million people viewed this episode. It gained an eleven point six Nielsen Rating and a seventeen audience share.
That meant that 11.6 percent of American households watched the episode, and seventeen percent of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into it.
Together with Bobby, Farrelly has written, produced and directed several notable low-brow but comedy films.
These include Dumb and Dumber' (1994), 'Kingpin' (1996), 'There's Something About Mary' (1998), 'Me, Myself & Irene' (2000), 'Osmosis Jones' (2001), 'Shallow Hal' (2001), 'Stuck on You' (2003), 'Fever Pitch' (2005), 'The Heartbreak Kid' (2007), 'Hall Pass' (2011), and 'The Three Stooges' (2012).
Upon the release of 'Dumb and Dumber', the film was a box office hit. On a budget of $17 million, it grossed $247.3 million at the box office.
The film has now developed a cult following in the years after its release, and also spawned an animated television series, a 2003 prequel, and a sequel two decades later.
Four years later, Peter, along with Bobby, are best known for co-writing and co-directing the 1998 American comedy/romance film 'There's Something About Mary'.
Upon release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics who praised its humor and Cameron Diaz's performance as the titular character.
'There's Something About Mary' became a major box office success, grossing $369 million worldwide against its $23 million budget, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year.
It is placed 27th in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, a list of the 100 funniest movies of the 20th century.
Diaz's performance additionally was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. It won four out of eight MTV Movie Awards, including Best Movie.
The same month of its release in July, American film critic and author Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: "Despite my earlier reservations about Bobby and Peter Farrelly, they’re progressively winning me over, partly because they keep getting better; this 1998 comedy often had me in stitches.
Their gross-out humor is basically sweet tempered, for all its tweaking of PC attitudes, and though this film looks slapdash, its script (by the Farrellys, Ed Decter, and John J. Strauss) is surprisingly well put together."
He also wrote: "This movie’s unforced feeling for lower-middle-class disaffection is worthy at times of W.C. Fields, and there are some worst-case-scenario sequences involving a prom date, a dog, and jerking off that are convulsively hilarious."
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted 'There's Something About Mary' the fourth-greatest comedy film of all time.
Three years later, the 2003 American comedy/slapstick film 'Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd' was released in mid-June.
However, the Farrelly Brothers had nothing to do with the production. The film currently resides on IMDb's Bottom 100 list.
It was after "Stuck on You' that the Farrelly Brothers delivered an unusually heartwarming romantic comedy with 'Fever Pitch'. The fief later proved that the two could provide depth as well as humor.
In 2006, Farrelly directed the Man Laws series of television commercials for the Miller Lite beer brand. most notably, it featured Burt Reynolds.
in 2012, Peter and Bobby announced that the filming of the 2014 American comedy buddy road film 'Dumb and Dumber To' would begin in 2013.
The following year, Farrelly co-directed "The Pitch", "The Catch" and "Truth or Dare" segments for the 2013 American anthology comedy romance/independent film 'Movie 43'.
One year later, the long-awaited Dumb & Dumber sequel was released in mid-November.
On a budget of $50 million, it grossed 169.8 million at the box office. However, upon release, the film was met with negative reviews.
'Dumb and Dumber To' was co-produced by the siblings' long-time American film producer Charles B. Wessler. Farrelly had co-produced the film as well.
One critic from Common Sense Media wrote: Nostalgia is the fuel that will propel "Dumb and Dumber To", not excellence. The film is trading on its past glories."
In 2016, American pay television channel Audience Network, (also simply known as Audience), announced that the American comedy television series Loudermilk (2017–present), would receive a straight-to-series order. In 2018, the show was renewed for a second season.
Loudemilk is a new half-hour scripted comedy co-created by Farrelly and American writer and producer Bobby Mort.
Later that same year, Farrelly solo directed the 2018 American biographical drama/comedy-drama film 'Green Book'. It starred Mahershala Ali and Viggio Mortensen
The film later won the People Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival's. This occurred at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival in Septmber of that same year.
One year later, the film won two Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. This occurred at the 91st Academy Awards in late February 2019.
According to Farrelly's other pursuits, he is a published novelist, with works including the aforementioned Outside Providence and the 1998 humorous fiction novel The Comedy Writer.
Farrelly is a board member of the Irvine, California-based digital media company Direct Sports Network (or DSN, formerly DeskSite).
He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, and has been married to American actress Melinda Kocsis since 1996. The have one daughter together named Apple. Bobby, however, remains in Massachusetts.
Farrelly has frequently flashed his penis to colleagues. He has shown it to Cameron Diaz the first time he met her and more than five hundred times to others, according to his estimates.
However, he claims that the act was received comically, and not as an act of sexual aggression.
Farrelly has once shared for the first time his life journey to where he is today, and how his career had been a hilarious roller coaster ride. "Chasing your dreams is all about love. That’s it, love.”
Farrelly has been active from 1994–present.
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