Nancy Carell, Steve’s Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Steve Carell wife, Nancy Carell, Nancy Walls

Getty Steve and Nancy Carell at the 2016 Oscars.

Steve Carell not only stars in the upcoming Despicable Me 3 as Gru once again, but he’s also taking the Internet by storm thanks to his new “silver fox” look. Unfortunately for those swooning over the latest photos of the 54-year-old actor, he’s a happily married man. Carell is married to Nancy Walls Carell, and the couple have two children.

Carell has been acting in movies and TV shows since the early 1990s, but finally hit it big in 2004, when he played weatherman Brick Tamland in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. He followed that up with 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin. That same year, he got his career-defining role as Michael Scott in the U.S. version of The Office. Lately, he’s been juggling more serious roles with comedies, even earning an Oscar nomination for his chilling performance in 2014’s Foxcatcher as John du Pont.

Like Carell, his wife Nancy is also originally from Massachusetts. The 50-year-old Nancy was a one-season cast member on Saturday Night Live and was also a correspondent on The Daily Show. She co-created TBS’ Angie Tribeca with Carell.

You can follow Steve Carell on Twitter.

Here’s a look at Nancy Carell.


1. Carell Says His ‘Silver Fox’ Look Means Nancy Finally Says She Loves Him

Steve Carell wife, Nancy Carell, Steve Carell Silver Fox

GettySteve Carell’s ‘silver fox’ look.

Since photos of Carell’s new all-grey hair surfaced online, the Internet found a new reason to love the comedian. It even dominated his recent interview with Jimmy Fallon.

“My wife finally said she’s in love with me,” Carell told Fallon. “Very excited.”

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Carell said he’s flattered by the compliments.

“I am so sick of people just looking at me for my physical attributes. It’s just genetic. There’s nothing I can do,” he joked, before adding, “I’m bursting with pride. That’s very nice.”


2. Nancy & Carell Have Been Married for 22 Years & Met at Second City

Steve Carell wife, Nancy Carell, Nancy Walls

GettySteve and Nancy Carell in 2016.

Carell and Nancy have been married for 22 years now. They met at the famed Second City theater in Chicago, where Nancy was taking classes and Carell was working at a nearby bar. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Nancy was also in an improv class he taught.

In a 2015 interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Carell admitted that they were both too shy to ask each other out on a date.

“The conversation would go something like, ‘Hey, you know, if I were ever to ask a woman out, it would be someone like you. Exactly like you,'” Carrell told DeGeneres. “And she’d say, ‘If a guy like you were ever to ask a woman like me out, I would definitely do that.'”

Carell said this went on for several weeks before they finally went out on a date. “It was great,” he said.

“I think about how much we laugh together and how much we make each other laugh — but she’s not an easy laugh,” Carell told The Hollywood Reporter. “She’s not someone who will laugh at everything everybody says… She challenges me intellectually; she challenges me comedically. I look to her as a barometer for just about everything I do.”


3. Nancy Played Carol Stills on ‘The Office,’ 1 of Michael Scott’s Girlfriends

Steve Carell wife, Nancy Carell, Nancy Walls

GettySteve and Nancy Carell at Steve Martin’s AFI Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony in 2015.

Nancy has appeared in several projects with Carell, including The Office. She played real estate agent Carol Stills, who was a girlfriend of Michael Scott’s in seasons two and three. She appeared in seven episodes.

Nancy also appeared in Bridesmaids as Helen’s tennis partner and played Linda in Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World with Carell and Keira Knightley. She also had a small role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Her most recent appearances came in two episodes of Angie Tribeca.

On Saturday Night Live, Nancy frequently impersonated journalist Bobbie Batista. She appeared on the 21st season from 1995 to 1996. She also made a cameo on the show in 2008 when Carell hosted.


4. The Couple Restored a General Store & Post Office in Marshfield Hills, Massachusetts

Steve Carell wife, Nancy Carell, Nancy Walls

GettySteve and Nancy Carell at the 2015 Oscars.

When the Carells aren’t busy in Los Angeles, the family spends time in Marshfield Hills, a torn in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Carell was born in Concord, while Nancy was born in Cohasset and graduated from Boston College.

Together, the Carells also own The Marshfield Hills General Store. According to the store’s website, Nancy’s sister, Tish Vivado, mentioned to the couple when she was visiting them in California that the store was up for sale. They decided to buy it and the purchase was completed on New Year’s Day 2009. Vivado now runs the store.

In a 2011 interview with the Boston Globe, Carell admitted that the store was a bad investment, but he had no regrets about buying the store. Their summers in Massachusetts give them a chance to escape the celebrity life.

“This represents a lot to me,” Carell told the Globe in 2011. “The reason I bought this, ultimately, was that things like this are few and far between. They disappear very quickly, and once they disappear, you can’t get them back. I mean, to see kids just hanging out or people from the neighborhood sitting and talking and reading the paper together, that’s becoming more and more rare.”


5. The Carells Have 2 Kids: Daughter Elisabeth & Son John

Nancy and Steve Carell have two children, daughter Elisabeth Anne and son John. Elisabeth is 16 years old and John is 13.

In an interview with People Magazine in 2010, Carell said their children are already following their parents’ footsteps. They are both funny.

“Their sense of humor is very pure, and they don’t even a lot of times know when they’re being funny, because it’s just so honest. And I think that’s what makes them so funny,” Carell said of their children. “My kids doing something funny? Oh boy, they do something funny every day.”

Carell said that his children weren’t that impressed with what he does for work and said he didn’t think his day job defines who he is as a person. “It’s just what I do. I don’t think it defines me at all in their eyes. And I think the less we make of it, the better off for them, and certainly for me, too,” he told People.

In a 60 Minutes interview, Nancy said her husband is hard on himself and it’s not true that he’s socially awkward.

“He’s very funny, he just doesn’t try as hard, he doesn’t feel the need to entertain people on a, you know, 24-hour basis,” Nancy told 60 Minutes.