Carell's career

"The Daily Show." "The Office." And now "Bewitched." Steve Carell is on the comedy fast track.

By Kevin Maynard

A self-proclaimed "authority on nothing," comedian Steve Carell, 41, does know how to get and keep a job. He scored a gig alongside Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," outperformed Jim Carrey in "Bruce Almighty" and was Will Ferrell's yes man in "Anchorman."

Co-starring with Will Ferrell in a takeoff on the TV classic "Bewitched."

Most recently, Carell's first managerial role, as the hyper-inappropriate boss in "The Office," gained kudos and a second season from the top brass at NBC. As he reteams with Ferrell for this weekend's "Bewitched," a romantic comedy about an oddly realistic remake of the 1960s TV classic, we started to wonder how this relative newcomer got on the fast track to actorly success. Carell can't explain it -- he calls it "dumb luck" -- but we think the secret is in his résumé. Here is what it might look like, for a guy who's got job-hunting down pat.

RÉSUMÉ

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name: Steve Carell
Objective: "World domination. Seriously, to raise my kids [Elisabeth Anne, 4, and John, 1, with wife Nancy Walls, a comic] as tolerant people."

WORK EXPERIENCE
Uncle Arthur in "Bewitched." "I totally channel Paul Lynde [who played him in the TV series]. But I'm twice as over-the-top, if that's humanly possible."
Michael Scott in NBC's "The Office," second season coming this fall. Resurrected the dreaded salutation from five years ago, "Whazzup?!" Got slapped with a racial-discrimination complaint for imitating a Chris Rock routine at work. "Not only does Michael think he's a great comic mind -- he thinks he's a great black comic mind."
Weatherman Brick Tamland, "Anchorman," 2004. "He might have seemed idiotic, but that character was off-the-charts genius."
Newscaster Evan Baxter, "Bruce Almighty," 2003. "Nobody else needs to be funny in a Jim Carrey movie."
Correspondent, "The Daily Show," 2001-04. Stole a mini-camera from NBC, created "Slimming Down With Steve," "my fake weight-loss odyssey."
Gary, "The Ambiguously Gay Duo," animated spoof, "Saturday Night Live," 1996-2002. "That was me and Stephen Colbert [also from "The Daily Show"]. I just did the voice, and it was off in the ether of network approval."
Tesio the Waiter, "Curly Sue," 1991. "If you can spot me, I'll give you $10."
Second City Comedy Troupe, 1988-94. Sketches and improvisations.
Postal worker, Littleton, Mass., 1985. "I was incredibly bad at it. A dog bit me; I hit a few mailboxes. Later, I found undelivered mail under my front seat."

EDUCATION
Denison University, Granville, Ohio. Double major in theater and law. "Michael Eisner's alma mater. It hasn't helped me too much, but I have many calls in to him."
Middlesex Prep School, Concord, Mass. "I was a band geek; I played baritone horn."

PERSONAL MANTRA
"Don't take yourself too seriously."

LANGUAGES
"English, barely, and of course the language of love."

OTHER ACTIVITIES
Title role, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." In theaters Aug. 19.
Superspy Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart." Sometime next year.

REFERENCES (They say ...)
Jon Stewart: "When I saw Steve at the Emmys, he walked into the hotel, handed me his keys and said, 'If you could park this underneath, that would be wonderful.' "

Nora Ephron (director, "Bewitched"): "I'll tell you this: Before Steve was married, he was a legendary ladies' man in Chicago."