Peter John Farrelly (born December 17, 1956) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. Along with his brother

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...

, the

Farrelly brothers Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, collectively referred to as the Farrelly brothers, are American screenwriters and directors. They have made eleven films together, including ''Dumb and Dumber'', '' Outside Providence'', and '' There's Somethin ...

are mostly famous for directing and producing quirky comedy and

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

films such as ''

Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey a ...

''; ''

Shallow Hal ''Shallow Hal'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black about a shallow man who falls in love with a 300-pound woman after being hypnotized into only seeing a person's inner beauty. Directed by the Farrell ...

''; '' Me, Myself and Irene''; ''

There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. It stars Cameron Diaz as the title character with Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, Lee Evans, and Chris Elliott all playing men w ...

''; and the 2007 remake of ''The Heartbreak Kid''. On his own in 2018 Farrelly co-wrote and directed the comedy-drama '' Green Book'', which won the Audience Award at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

in 2018. For his work on the film, he also won the

Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Winners and nominees 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also * Aca ...

and the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

and

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

Early life and education

Farrelly was born in

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population is 18,616 ...

, to Mariann (Neary), a nurse practitioner, and Robert Leo Farrelly, a doctor. His grandparents were Irish immigrants, and he also has Polish ancestry. He was raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He graduated from

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

in 1975 and from Providence College where he studied accounting. In 1986 he earned a master's in fine arts from Columbia University.

Career

Writer

Farrelly decided to pursue writing full-time, which prompted him to quit his sales job and relocate 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 The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, 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 time at UMass Amherst, but was ultimately dissatisfied with the program, and transferred to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York City, which Farrelly said he found very satisfying. He later became interested in screenwriting, which led him to directing. He made this career decision after many of his screenplays sold but were not produced. He is a published novelist, with works including ''Outside Providence (1988)'' and '' The Comedy Writer (1998)''.

Producer and director

Together with his brother, Bobby Farrelly, he has written, directed, and produced several comedy films including ''

'', ''

'', '' Kingpin'', ''

'', ''

Me, Myself & Irene ''Me, Myself & Irene'' is a 2000 American slapstick black comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, and starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins, Daniel Greene, Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon an ...

'', '' Stuck on You'', and ''

Fever Pitch ''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: '' Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and '' Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", bu ...

''. They also conceived the 1992 '' Seinfeld'' episode " The Virgin" (Season 4.Episode:10). In 2006, Farrelly directed the Man Laws series of television commercials for the

Miller Lite Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Molson Coors (previously MillerCoors) of Chicago, Illinois. The company also produces Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life. Miller Lite competes mainly with Anheuser-Busch' ...

beer brand, which featured actor Burt Reynolds, American football player

Jerome Bettis Jerome Abram Bettis Sr. (born February 16, 1972) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "the Bus" for his large size and runn ...

, climber

Aron Ralston Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker, known for surviving a canyoneering accident by cutting off part of his right arm. On April 26, 2003, during a solo descent of Bl ...

, and professional wrestler

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

. Peter worked on a film entitled, ''

Movie 43 ''Movie 43'' is a 2013 American anthology comedy film conceived by producer Charles B. Wessler. The film features fourteen different storylines, each one by a different director, including Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundie ...

'', which was released in 2013 and produced by the siblings' long-time producer Charles B. Wessler. He produced the anthology film and directed two of its segments. In 2011 the Farrellys produced and directed ''

Hall Pass ''Hall Pass'' is a 2011 American comedy film produced and directed by the Farrelly brothers and co-written by them along with Pete Jones, the writer/director of ''Stolen Summer''. It stars Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis. Rick and Fred, two hus ...

''. The brothers produced and directed ''The Three Stooges'' in 2012. In 2012, Peter and his brother announced that the filming of '' Dumb and Dumber To'' would begin in 2013.Barubto, Dana
"Peter Farrelly announces 'Dumb and Dumber' sequel"
, ''

The Patriot Ledger ''The Patriot Ledger'' is a daily newspaper in Quincy, Massachusetts, that serves the South Shore. It publishes Monday through Saturday. Known for its thorough news coverage of the 26 communities south of Boston, ''The Patriot Ledger'' has won ...

'', Quincy, Massachusetts, April 3, 2012 The film was released on November 14, 2014. In 2016, Audience announced that '' Loudermilk'', a new half-hour scripted comedy co-created by Farrelly and Bobby Mort, would receive a straight-to-series order. In 2018, the show was renewed for season 2, and in 2021 a third season was aired on Amazon Prime Video. In 2018, Farrelly directed '' Green Book'', which won the Toronto International Film Festival's People Choice Award. At the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, ...

, he won the Oscars for

and

. In 2020, Farrelly directed alongside his brother, and co-wrote the

Quibi Quibi ( ) was a short-lived American short-form streaming platform that generated content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman, its CEO. The serv ...

comedy series ''

The Now The Now are an English punk rock group from Peterborough, England. Whilst never officially disbanding, they ceased recording and performing in 1979. In 2004, The Now recorded all of their original material and released as the '' Fuzztone Fiz ...

'', starring

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

Dave Franco David John Franco (born June 12, 1985) is an American actor. He began his career with small roles in films such as ''Superbad'' (2007) and '' Charlie St. Cloud'' (2010). Following a starring role in the ninth season of the comedy series '' Scru ...

, O'Shea Jackson Jr.,

Daryl Hannah Daryl Christine Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her screen debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film '' The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various movies across the years, i ...

, and Jimmy Tatro.

Board member

Farrelly is a board member of Direct Sports Network (formerly DeskSite).

Personal life

Farrelly is married to Melinda Kocsis and has a son, Bob, and a daughter, Apple. He has two sisters, Beth and Cindy, and a third sister, Kathy, who died in November 2017. Peter lives in California, while brother Bobby lives in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. In 1998, Farrelly's colleagues told ''Newsweek'' magazine that he and his brother Bobby "liked to use ruses to get people to look at Farrelly’s penis" as a joke. Those who had been tricked into seeing Farrelly's genitals include film executive

Tom Rothman Thomas Edgar Rothman (born November 21, 1954) is an American film executive and current chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group. In this role, Rothman oversees all of the studio's motion picture production and distribution activiti ...

and actress

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...

. In 2019 after the story resurfaced, Farrelly stated: "I did this decades ago, and I thought I was being funny, and the truth is I’m embarrassed, and it makes me cringe now. I’m deeply sorry."

Philanthropy and honors

Farrelly is a long-time supporter of

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocat ...

. In 2020, he and his brother Bobby received the Morton E. Ruderman Award for Inclusion of People with Disabilities. Past winners include

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold med ...

and

Marlee Matlin Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, author, and activist. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a ...

. He won the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Media Access Awards.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and nominations

Farrelly won or was nominated for awards for his work in film and television, including winning two Academy Awards and winning two Golden Globe Awards out of five nominations for ''Green Book'' in 2019. He also won or was nominated for several film festival awards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrelly, Peter 1956 births Living people People from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Film producers from Pennsylvania American male screenwriters American film producers American people of Irish descent American television directors American television producers Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Comedy film directors Kent School alumni People from Cumberland, Rhode Island Providence College alumni Film directors from Pennsylvania Film directors from Rhode Island Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award Screenwriters from Pennsylvania Screenwriters from Rhode Island Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Golden Globe Award-winning producers