The Biography of Comic Genius Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell is a funny guy. In fact, he's made a career out of just being funny. His infectious personality and knack to make people fall off the sofa laughing is evident whether he's Craig the Spartan Cheerleader on Saturday Night Live or Ron Burgundy in Anchorman. As you'll see, the actor has always lived a colorful life and from very early on he could tell he was destined for stardom.

Ferrell was born into the California world in 1967 and already had a star-filled family tree. His father, Lee Ferrell, was a longtime keyboardist for The Righteous Brothers. He attended high school in Irvine, California and a miniature Ron Burgundy was already in the works when he had the job of making his school's daily morning announcements on the public address system. He was the kicker on his high school football's team where he still holds the record for most field goals. After graduation, he attended the University of Southern California where he got a degree in sports information. After Ferrell finished school, he put the degree to work when he got a job as a sportscaster on a weekly cable show. Though he was content with the job, he found his interests migrating toward standup comedy and acting, and he took several classes at a local community college. As his improvisational skills improved, other started to take notice. A year later, he was invited to join the Groundlings, which is an infamous improv group based out of Los Angeles. This would be Ferrell's first big break.

Eventually, his stint on the Groundlings led to an invitation from Lorne Michaels to join the popular show, Saturday Night Live, in 1995. Ferrell was actually chosen over future star Steve Carrell from The 40 Year Old Virgin and NBC's hit, The Office. Will Ferrell quickly fit in to the SNL cast and made a name for himself with his impersonations like those of President George W. Bush, Harry Caray, Janet Reno, and my personal favorite, Alex Trebek. Some of his original characters included music teacher Marty Culp and night clubber Steve in a sketch that went to the big screen in A Night at the Roxbury. It was Will's first major film.

Although A Night at the Roxbury resulted in a major flop, he continued the path to Hollywood and eventually he would leave SNL to pursue opportunities on the big screen. He had minor roles in movies like Molly Shannon's Superstar, but the first real glimpse of his comedic on-screen genius was in Zoolander, where he played a rogue fashion designer. However, the first movie that really allowed Ferrell to make the jump from SNL star to movie god was Old School, a movie where he played Frank "The Tank," a character that would give several one-liners to movie freaks around the country. In 2003, Ferrell played the lead role in Elf, a holiday box-office smash hit. This would lead to my personal favorite Ferrell film, Anchorman, where he played the anchorman Ron Burgundy. After a mildly successful Betwitched role, he returned to fraternity humor in the film Wedding Crashers. Ferrell continued to crack-up audiences in his movie Talladega Nights, where he channeled his redneck NASCAR improvisations for a character with two first names, Ricky Bobby.

Ferrell has had a very successful television and film career, and he has several Golden Globe and Emmy nominations to support it. Perhaps the thing I respect the most about Ferrell is that, despite his success, he seems to be a grounded individual that puts family first. In August 2000, Ferrell married Swedish actress Viveca Paulin, who he met in 1995 during an acting class. Needless to say, she has to be a strong woman to put up with his immature nature. On March 7^th, 2004 their first son, Magnus Paulin Ferrell, was born into the family. Their second son, Mattias, was born on December 30, 2006.

Will Ferrell has always been one of my favorite actors, and it was sad to see him leave the Saturday Night Live cast a few years ago. I still think America, as well as SNL, has been in a comedic hangover ever since his departure and we're still on the hunt for the next Will Ferrell. With that said, I look forward to watching his long movie career blossom and I hope he continues to make movies that I'll quote until the end of time.