He was born Steven John Carell on August 16, 1962, in Concord, Massachusetts, USA, into a family of Italian, German, and Polish descent (his grandfather had changed the surname from "Caroselli" to "Carrell"). He was educated at The Fenn School, an all-boys private school in Concord, Massachusetts, then at Middlesex School in Concord. He studied and graduated from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, then took acting at Chicago's Second City troupe.

Carell made his film debut in 1991, as "Tesio" in Curly Sue (1991). From 1990-1996, he taught improvisational comedy class and also performed with The Second City troupe in Chicago. During the 1990s, he was writing for "The Dana Carvey Show" (1996), and then he had a stint as one of correspondents on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (1996) with Jon Stewart.

Carell shot to fame after his breakout performances as "Evan Baxter" opposite Jim Carrey in “Bruce Almighty” (2003) and as "Uncle Arthur" opposite Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in “Bewitched” (2005). He co-wrote the original screenplay for the summer box-office hit “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005) which was chosen as one of the Top Ten movies of 2006 by the American Film Institute. At the same time, he appeared in “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006), an independent dark comedy that gives an unusually sharp and sarcastic view on America.

In 2007, Carell reprised his role as "Evan Baxer", filling Jim Carrey's leading-man shoes as a politician asked by God to build a giant ark in Evan Almighty (2007), the second installment of the "Almighty" franchise, co-starring Lauren Graham and Morgan Freeman. In 2008, he re-united with Jim Carrey in the highly successful animation hit “Horton Hears a Who!” (2008) then appeared as "Agent Maxwell Smart" in the popular comedy “Get Smart” (2008).

Steve Carell has been enjoying a happy family life with his wife, actress Nancy Carell, whom he met when she was a student in an improv class he was teaching at The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago. The couple have two children, daughter Elisabeth (born in May 2001), and son John (born in June 2004). Steve Carell is living with his family in Los Angeles, California.