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.