Home   >   Movie Stars   >   O   >   Steve Oedekerk

Steve Oedekerk

Steve Oedekerk has quickly established a multifaceted career that includes producing, directing, writing, acting, stand-up comedy and animation. He has written and directed films that have grossed over $1 billion in worldwide box-office revenue.

Most recently, he wrote, produced, directed and voiced characters in the animated feature Barnyard and is currently at work on Kung Pow 2: Tongue of Fury, the highly anticipated sequel (which he wrote, directs and stars in), to the wild, retro martial-arts comedy Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. That film grossed its entire budget on the opening weekend.

Oedekerk received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Film for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. In addition, Oedekerk has appeared in the top comedy clubs in America and starred in and created television specials for NBC, ABC and UPN. In the world of animation, he has created original programming and supports them with groundbreaking technology.

In addition to Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty, Oedekerk's wide array of projects include the expansion of the Jimmy Neutron franchise, which includes multiple episodes of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron for Nickelodeon and Paramount.

Oedekerk's company, O Entertainment, led the way with the first IMAX 3-D animated film, Santa Vs. the Snowman 3-D, which was released in November 2002. Oedekerk also created Thumbmation technology, which marked its debut in a series of Thumb parody projects distributed worldwide on DVD and video by Image Entertainment. Kicking off the series was Thumb Wars, a send-up of the Star Wars trilogy. Five more films followed, including Thumbtanic, Bat Thumb and The Godthumb.

His writing credits include some of the most successful movies in recent history. While writing on the Fox series In Living Color, Oedekerk collaborated with Jim Carrey on the surprise hit comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, contributing to the film as an unbilled writer. When that film became a breakout success, Oedekerk was asked to write and direct its sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, which proved to be one of those rare sequels that surpassed the box-office gross of the original film.

Following the success of the Ace Ventura franchise, Oedekerk wrote The Nutty Professor, which became one of the highest-grossing films of 1996. He also wrote, directed and appeared (in a scene-stealing cameo) in Nothing to Lose, starring Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence. He then went on to write the box-office smash and Golden Globe-nominated Patch Adams, which starred Robin Williams. On the small screen, Oedekerk directed, wrote and starred in his own television special for NBC, and produced an animated Christmas special for ABC as well as the original Thumb Wars special for UPN.

Oedekerk resides in Southern California with his wife; two children; and a badger, pound for pound known to be the most vicious mammal on the planet.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Steve Oedekerk Facts

OccupationDirector, Screenwriter, Actor
BirthdayNovember 27, 1961 (62)
SignSagittarius
BirthplaceLos Angeles, California, USA

Selected Filmography

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Barnyard
Kung Pow: Enter The Fist
Nothing To Lose
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective/Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
All Thumbs
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals
Ace Ventura
Continue » Find more details on the Steve Oedekerk Movies page