Peter Farrelly

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Peter Farrelly

Farrelly at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Born Peter John Farrelly
December 17, 1956 (1956-12-17) (age 55)
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
United States

Peter John Farrelly (born December 17, 1956) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. The Farrelly Brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing gross-out humor romantic comedy films such as, Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself and Irene, There's Something About Mary and the 2007 remake of The Heartbreak Kid.

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[edit] Early life

Farrelly was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, the son of Mariann, a nurse practitioner, and Robert Leo Farrelly, a doctor.[1] He was raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island and graduated from Providence College.

[edit] Career

Farrelly decided to take a plunge and pursue writing full time, which prompted him to quit his job and head 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. 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 Outside Providence, Farrelly submitted the work and was pleasantly surprised that he was accepted. He studied writing for a while at UMass-Amherst, but was ultimately dissatisfied with the program, and transferred to Columbia University in New York City, which Farrelly said he found very satisfying. He later became interested in screenwriting which lead him to directing, which was a career decision made by him after seeing many of his works sold but unproduced.

Together with his brother, Bobby Farrelly, he has written, directed, and produced several comedy films including There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, Shallow Hal, Me, Myself and Irene, Stuck on You, and Fever Pitch. They also conceived the Seinfeld episode "The Virgin" (4.10). Dumb and Dumber was also written by Bennett Yellin. Yellin has been credited with contributing to numerous other Farrelly Brothers films as well.

In 2006, Farrelly directed the manlaws.com series of television commercials for the Miller Lite beer brand, which featured actor Burt Reynolds, American football player Jerome Bettis, climber Aron Ralston, and professional wrestler Triple H.[2]

Farrelly is a published novelist, with works including Outside Providence and The Comedy Writer.

Farrelly is also a board member on DeskSite.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Bobby Farrelly Biography (1958?-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/61/Bobby-Farrelly.html. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  2. ^ "Burt Reynolds may star in Miller Lite ad". The Business Journal. Accessed on July 2, 2006
  3. ^ "DeskSite... A Video Ad Network". Desksite.com. http://desksite.com/. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 

[edit] External links

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