Spotlight on Will Ferrell

My favorite comedy of all-time has to be 2003 comedy Old School. While the collective work of all the great actors which include Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven and Luke Wilson helps to pull this off, without “Frank the Tank” played by Ferrell, Old School just wouldn’t be the same.

The cast is loaded with other stars, such as Sean William Scott, Ellen Pompeo, Elisha Cuthbert, Craig Kilborn, Juliette Lewis, Snoop Dogg, Andy Dick and even Terry O’Quinn which you may know better as John Locke from Lost.

The purpose of this post is to learn more about Will Ferrell and to show my appreciation for all his work. I’ve utilized sources such as Wikipedia and IMDB to bring you the information below. Enjoy!

Early Life

John William “Will” Ferrell was born in Irvine, CA. His mother was an elementary school teacher and his father, Ray Lee Ferrell, was a guitarist for The Righteous Brothers. Ferrell was his high school football team’s kicker.  He attributes the growth of his humor to the boring nature of Irvine. Ferrell attended USC and graduated with a degree in Sports Information.

Filmography

• 1995 – Bucket of Blood, Criminal Hearts
• 1997 – Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Men Seeking Women
• 1998 – A Night at the Roxbury, The Thin Pink Line
• 1999 – Superstar, Dick, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Suburbans
• 2000 – The Ladies Man, Drowning Mona
• 2001 – Zoolander, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
• 2002 – Boat Trip
• 2003 – Old School, Elf
• 2004 – Melinda and Melinda, Anchorman, Starsky & Hutch, Oh What Lovely Tea Party
• 2005 – The Producers, Wedding Crashers, Winter Passing, Bewitched, Kicking & Screaming, The Wendell Baker Story
• 2006 – Stranger Than Fiction, Talladega Nights, Curious George
• 2007 – Blades of Glory
• 2008 – Step Brothers, Semi-Pro
• 2009 – Land of the Lost, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, SpongeBob’s Truth or Square
• 2010 – MegaMind, The Other Guys

Awards

ESPY Awards

• 2007 ESPY Awards, Best Sports Movie (for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby)
• 2008 ESPY Awards, Best Sports Movie (for Semi-Pro)

Spike TV Guys’ Choice Awards

• 2007 Spike TV Guys’ Choice Awards, Funniest Mo-fo
• 2007 Spike TV Guys’ Choice Awards, Most Viral Video

Teen Choice Awards

• 2007: Choice Movie Actor – Comedy for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Blades of Glory.

Funny or Die Project

In 2007, Will Ferrell launched the streaming site Funny or Die. Funny or Die consists of short comedy clips, with the ability for users to vote for their favorites.