Steve Oedekerk - Life and Career

Life and Career

Oedekerk was born in Los Angeles, California, and currently lives in San Juan Capistrano with his wife and two children. Throughout his career, Oedekerk has appeared in and created several television specials for NBC, ABC, and UPN. He also contributed his writing talents to FOX during the late 1980s and through the early 1990s. It was during this time that Oedekerk befriended fellow comic/actor Jim Carrey while working on the television series In Living Color during its 1990-1994 run; this was the first of numerous collaborations between the two.

Prior to his successful contributions to several unknown episodes in the Color TV series, he wrote and starred in his first independent/directorial film, Smart Alex (1987). It wasn't until 1991 that Oedekerk was attached not only as a writer, but also as the main protagonist, as Thane Furrows in the film High Strung. Jim Carrey also starred opposite him in the role of Death, although he went uncredited. Shortly afterward, Oedekerk again worked alongside Carrey as the project consultant for Tom Shadyac's first film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). The film began a break-out success and he was given the opportunity to both direct and write its sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). This time Oedekerk directed and wrote the movie after Shadyac left before filming. The sequel proved to be more successful, surpassing the box office gross of the original.

Following the Ace Ventura franchise, Oedekerk co-wrote The Nutty Professor (1996) was also directed by Shadyac for Universal Pictures and it became one of the highest-grossing films of that year. He soon wrote, directed and also had a cameo appearance in Nothing to Lose (1997), starring Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence. Oedekerk would take a hiatus from directing major films productions for the rest of the 1990s, but continued to write screenplays, including Patch Adams (1998), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002) (which he directed, wrote and filled the starring role), Bruce Almighty (2003) and Barnyard (2006).

In 2007, Oedekerk produced the screenplay and story for the Bruce Almighty sequel, Evan Almighty. And again Shadyac directing both movies. He has also been commissioned to write the screenplay for the Ripley's Believe It or Not! film adaptation due for release in 2012; Jim Carrey has since been cast in the title role.

In February 2009, Universal Pictures announced that Steve Oedekerk would be penning a film adaptation of the Stretch Armstrong superhero doll.