Age, Biography, and Wiki
Will Ferrell was born on July 16, 1967, in Irvine, California. He rose to prominence as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) from 1995 to 2002, where he became famous for his impressions and characters. Ferrell's biography is marked by numerous comedic milestones, solidifying his status as a comedy legend.
| Occupation | Film Producer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 16 July 1967 |
| Age | 58 Years |
| Birth Place | Irvine, California, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Cancer |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm)
- Weight: Approximately 190 lbs (86 kg)
- His tall stature often adds to the comedic effect in his films.
| Height | 6 feet 3 inches |
| Weight | 190 lbs |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Ferrell has been married to actress Viveca Paulin since 2000. The couple has three sons together and is known for maintaining a private family life.
(born 1941), who played saxophone and keyboards for the Righteous Brothers. His parents were both natives of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. They moved to California in 1964. Ferrell's ancestry includes English, German, and Irish. As an infant Ferrell suffered from pyloric stenosis and had a pyloromyotomy to correct the condition. He has a younger brother, Patrick.
When he was eight years old, his parents divorced. Ferrell said of the divorce: "I was the type of kid who would say, 'Hey, look at the bright side! We'll have two Christmases'." The divorce was amicable, and both parents were committed to their children. The biggest problem was his father's line of work. As a person in show business, his paychecks were never steady, and he traveled from home for months at a time. Growing up in this environment made Ferrell not want to go into show business and instead have a steady job.
After graduating with a B.A. degree in sports information in 1990, he knew he did not want to do broadcasting. He took up a job as a hotel valet where, on his second day, he tore a baggage rack off the top of a van by trying to drive it under a low beam. He also worked as a teller at Wells Fargo, but came up short $300 the first day and $280 the second; he was not stealing the money, but was just careless and error-prone. In 1991, encouraged by his mother to pursue something he liked, Ferrell moved to Los Angeles. He successfully auditioned for the comedy group The Groundlings where he spent time developing his improvisation skills.
Ferrell is also known for his promotional appearances including acting as part of a pre-game video package for the Rose Bowl along with University of Texas at Austin alum Matthew McConaughey. Ferrell sang a song at the ESPY Awards in 2006 about Lance Armstrong and Neil Armstrong. He and John C. Reilly performed a spot during the 2008 ESPY Awards within which they made demands in order for them to appear at the ESPYs, such as asking Portland Trail Blazers' center Greg Oden to tuck them in at night and tell them stories of the old times or to bring back the Cold War so the Olympics can be interesting again. Ferrell has worked as a voice actor in several animated television programs and films, including his portrayal of Bob Oblong, a 1950s-style father with no arms or legs, in the short-lived animated television series The Oblongs which ran on The WB and Adult Swim.
In 2019, Ferrell ended his personal and professional relationship with McKay and closed their production company, Gary Sanchez Productions. It was later revealed the reason for the split was due to the fact that McKay cast John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss on the show Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, a role that Ferrell wanted, without letting Ferrell know.
Ferrell had noted that, though he was well known for his SNL impersonation of President George W. Bush, he chose, for both professional and political reasons, not to meet the president on several occasions. Unlike his SNL predecessor Dana Carvey's famous relationship with George H. W. Bush, Ferrell has said: "I declined, partly out of comedic purposes, because when I was on the show Saturday Night Live at the time, it didn't make sense to really meet the people that you play, for fear of them influencing you. And then the other side of it is, from a political standpoint, I don't want to meet that guy."
| Parents | |
| Husband | Viveca Paulin (m. 2000) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Will Ferrell's net worth is estimated at $160 million. His earnings come from a successful acting career, including blockbuster films and television shows. He is also a producer and has been involved in various projects through his production company.
His original characters included Morning Latte co-host Tom Wilkins, Mister Ed the Horse's twin brother Ned, fictional Blue Öyster Cult member Gene Frenkle (physically modeled after the band's vocalist Eric Bloom), music teacher Marty Culp, cheerleader Craig Buchanan, Dale Sturtevant from Dissing Your Dog, Hank of the Bill Brasky Buddies, David Leary from Dog Show, angry and inattentive Dr. Beaman and night clubber Steve Butabi in sketches that were turned into a feature film in 1998's A Night at the Roxbury. Although a one-shot character, one of Ferrell's most memorable SNL characters is Dale McGrew, a "highly patriotic" office worker who comes to work wearing a half t-shirt and short shorts that Ferrell improvised into a thong just before the skit aired live, leading to genuine laughter from the cast and guest host Seann William Scott. Ferrell became the highest paid cast member of Saturday Night Live in 2001 with a season salary of $350,000. Ferrell returned to Saturday Night Live as a guest host on May 14, 2005; May 16, 2009; May 12, 2012; January 27, 2018, and November 23, 2019. For the first two hosting appearances, he reprised his role as Alex Trebek in the "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketches. On the May 14 appearance, Ferrell reprised his role as Robert Goulet in a fake commercial advertising a series of ringtones and, during the performance of the song "Little Sister" by musical guests Queens of the Stone Age, Ferrell came on stage playing the cowbell.
Early Career
Ferrell began his career as a standup comedian in the 1990s before joining SNL. His transition to film was marked by roles in "Austin Powers" and "A Night at the Roxbury."
In his senior year of high school, Ferrell and a friend would perform comedy skits over the school's intercom system, with cooperation from the principal; the two had to write their own material. Ferrell also performed comedic skits in the school's talent shows. He was voted "Best Personality" by his classmates. He enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he studied sports broadcasting and joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. In college, he was known for a few pranks. On occasion, he would dress in a janitor's outfit and stroll into his friends' classes. He was also known for streaking around campus with a few other people from the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Ferrell earned an internship at a local television station in the sports department, but he did not enjoy the work.
Before joining The Groundlings, Ferrell's attempts at standup comedy had little success. He started in the advanced classes and grew to love improvisation. He realized he also liked to impersonate people, and one of his favorites was Harry Caray, the Hall of Fame baseball announcer. Soon he began to create original characters, and by 1994 he had joined The Groundlings. With fellow Groundlings member Chris Kattan, he created the Butabi Brothers, who go out to dance clubs to try to pick up women but are constantly rejected. While taking classes, Ferrell got a job at an auction house via his friend Viveca Paulin. The job was ideal as it was flexible enough for him to audition and go to rehearsals while also being employed. By 1995 he was receiving small roles, including appearances in TV series Grace Under Fire and Living Single, low-budget films such as A Bucket of Blood, as well as commercials. One winter, he served as a mall Santa Claus.
He has had several guest appearances on Family Guy where he played the Black Knight in "Mr. Saturday Knight", as well as Fat Greek Guy and Miles "Chatterbox" Musket in Fifteen Minutes of Shame. He had a recurring cameo role as Bitch Hunter in the sitcom 30 Rock. Ferrell also starred as Ted (a.k.a. The Man in the Yellow Hat) in the film Curious George and guest voiced on an episode of the FOX sitcom King of the Hill as a politically correct soccer coach. He voiced the title character in the 2010 DreamWorks Animation feature film Megamind (replacing both Robert Downey Jr., who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, and Ben Stiller, who also turned down the role and was instead cast in a minor role as Bernard the curator) as well as President Business in The Lego Movie, released in 2014. He reprised the latter role in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, released in 2019.
Ferrell played in five games of Major League Baseball spring training on March 12, 2015, for ten different Cactus League teams as a promotion for a Funny or Die charity special. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and the San Francisco Giants, playing all ten positions (including designated hitter). According to Baseball-Reference, Ferrell faced and retired one batter – pitching on behalf of the Dodgers and ending with a 0.00 earned run average. The memorabilia from his one-day professional baseball career was sold and the proceeds donated to two cancer charities. Ferrell went 0–2 with two strikeouts that day but managed to foul off a 92 mph fastball from the Giants' Jean Machi.
Over his career Ferrell has received various awards nominations including sixteen Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning three awards, one for Succession (2020), and twice for Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2019, 2020). Ferrell received two Golden Globe Award nominations for his comedian performances in The Producers (2005), and Stranger than Fiction (2006). He also received a Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event for You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush (2009).
Social Network
Ferrell is not very active on social media platforms, preferring to maintain a private personal life.
"Growing up in suburbia, in safe, master-planned Irvine, there was no drama so we had to create it in our heads. My main form of entertainment was cracking my friends up and exploring new ways of being funny. I didn't have to have the survival mode instinct like other comics, who grew up in tough neighborhoods. I had the opposite. For me, I grew up in Mayberry, and the humor broke the boredom. And there was a lot to make fun of."
In 2020 Ferrell starred alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the remake of the 2014 Swedish film Force Majeure, entitled Downhill which was directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. That same year he starred in the musical comedy film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga with Rachel McAdams. In 2022 he starred in the Apple TV+ musical comedy film Spirited with Ryan Reynolds. He also served as the film's producer. The next year he played the CEO of Mattel in Greta Gerwig's comedy film Barbie (2023) starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling; the same year he produced and starred in the film Quiz Lady. In 2024, Ferrell co-starred in a Netflix documentary Will & Harper, where Ferrell joins his best friend Harper Steele, who had recently come out to him a trans woman. The two take a road trip to rediscover each other.
In 2007, Autograph magazine named Ferrell the worst celebrity autographer. Its editor stated: "What's so frustrating about Will Ferrell being the worst autograph signer this past year is that he used to be so nice to fans and collectors and a great signer. What makes him so bad is that he'll taunt people asking for his autograph." In response, Ferrell stated: "I don't know how I got on the list. I sign a lot of autographs." He has, however, admitted to taunting autograph-seekers: "I do. I really do. I'm like, 'How badly do you want this autograph?' 'Are you sure?' 'You say you're my biggest fan, really, prove it.' I'll do things like that. They have to earn it."
Education
Ferrell attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he studied sports broadcasting. However, he shifted his focus to comedy and began his career in standup and sketch comedy.
With his enduring love for comedy and his successful career, Will Ferrell continues to be a beloved figure in the entertainment industry. His net worth and influence are testaments to his versatility and talent as a comedian, actor, and producer.
Ferrell first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he performed from 1995 to 2002, and has subsequently starred in a string of comedy films. After starring in the 2003 comedy film Old School, Ferrell became considered a member of the "Frat Pack", a generation of leading Hollywood comic actors who emerged in the late 1990s and the 2000s, including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Vince Vaughn, Paul Rudd, and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson. He founded the comedy website Funny or Die in 2007 with his former writing partner Adam McKay.
Ferrell first attended school at Culverdale Elementary and later attended Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, both in Irvine. He attended University High School in Irvine, and was a kicker for the school's varsity football team. He was also on the soccer team and captain of the basketball team, as well as serving on the student council. Ferrell called third grade "a pivotal year." He realized he could make his classmates laugh if he pretended to smash his head against the wall, or if he tripped and fell on purpose, and said it was a great way to make friends. He said the dullness of Irvine contributed to the growth of his humor:
During his time on Saturday Night Live, Ferrell appeared in several movies: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), A Night at the Roxbury (1998), Superstar (1999), The Ladies Man (2000), Dick (1999), Drowning Mona (2000), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), and Zoolander (2001). His first starring role after his departure from Saturday Night Live was as Frank "The Tank" Richard in Old School (2003). The film "belongs to Mr. Ferrell," declared The New York Times, which described how he "uses his hilarious, anxious zealotry to sell the part." Old School was a success and Ferrell received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Comedic Performance.
In August 2000, Ferrell married Swedish actress Viveca Paulin, whom he met in 1995 at an acting class. They live in New York City and Orange County, California, and have three sons, born in 2004, 2006, and 2010.
Ferrell also has received various honors including the James Joyce Award from the University College Dublin's Literary and Historical Society in recognition for "excelling in his field" in 2008. In 2011 he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Ferrell received the prize at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where he was honored by fellow comedians and collaborators Conan O'Brien, John C. Reilly, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Adam McKay, Tim Meadows, Matthew Broderick, and Ed Asner. In 2015, Ferrell received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures.
