Personal Life
Carr was born in Hounslow, London, to Irish parents from Limerick: Patrick James (born March 1945), an accountant who became treasurer for computer company Unisys, and Nora Mary (née Lawlor, 19 September 1943 – 7 September 2001), who died of pancreatitis. His parents married in 1970, separated in 1994, but never divorced. Carr has an older brother, Colin, and a younger brother, Patrick. Home was a comfortable five-bedroom detached house in the leafy commuter belt town of Farnham Common in south Buckinghamshire. The family remained in close touch with its Irish roots and made frequent trips back to Limerick, and Kilkee in County Clare. Carr attended Farnham Common School, followed by the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe.
Carr studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a 2:1 degree in Political Sciences. After graduation, Carr spent several years without gainful employment and was fully supported by his father while he tried to break into comedy writing. In 1997, he went into a marketing job with Shell, which he did not enjoy and lasted less than 18 months. At the age of 26 he had what he describes as an early midlife crisis, quitting his job for stand up comedy, renouncing his Catholic faith and losing his virginity. He stated that he felt religion limited people's desires to live their own lives. He also stated that at this time, to help him cope with his loss of faith he did a lot of psychotherapy (specifically Neuro Linguistic Programming), and ended up qualifying as a therapist.
Carr lives in North London with his girlfriend, Karoline Copping, a commissioning editor for Five, whom he has been with since 2001.
His father married Natasha in 2003. In March 2004, Carr's father was arrested by the Metropolitan Police after Carr and his brother Colin accused their father of harassment. The senior Carr was later acquitted of all charges and awarded costs by the Court. His acquittal was followed by a written apology from the CPS. Later the Metropolitan Police apologised and paid him substantial damages in an out of court settlement for the arrest and prosecution. Since 2004 Carr and his father have been estranged.
He owns an £8.5 million (unmortgaged) home in North London and a £700,000 property in Highbury, North London.
Carr is an atheist, and has stated that losing his faith felt like "seeing an amazing card trick".
Read more about this topic: Jimmy Carr
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