Thomas Peter Shadyac (born December 11, 1958) is an American director, screenwriter, producer and author. Shadyac, who was the youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, is widely known for writing and directing the comedy films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, and Bruce Almighty. In 2010, Shadyac departed from comedic work to write, direct, and narrate his documentary film I Am, in which he explores his abandonment of a materialistic lifestyle following a bicycle accident three years earlier. Shadyac is a former adjunct professor of communication at Pepperdine University's Seaver College. In 2011 he was a participant in the Conference on World Affairs. In 2015, Shadyac began teaching film at the University of Colorado Boulder, beginning with that year's Spring semester, Shadyac now teaches film at the University of Memphis. Shadyac was married to Jennifer Barker in 1997. They eventually divorced. In 2007 Shadyac suffered post-concussion syndrome after a bicycle accident in Virginia, and experienced a prolonged period of acute headaches and hyper-sensitivity to light and noise. The injury followed the cumulative effects of previous mild head injuries Shadyac had suffered surfing, mountain biking and playing basketball. Shadyac was forced to sleep in a darkened closet in his house due to a constant ringing in his ears that lasted beyond a six-month period, and his treating doctors were unable to determine if and when the ringing would cease. Shadyac later explained: "I felt suicidal at points. It was a disaster." Following his eventual recovery from the 2007 accident, Shadyac sold the bulk of his possessions, donated significant amounts of money, opened a homeless shelter in Charlottesville, Virginia, and made a key donation to an initiative in Telluride, Colorado, US to set aside a natural area at the town's entrance. He sold his 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) Los Angeles mansion and moved into the exclusive Paradise Cove trailer park in Malibu, California, US. Shadyac sought to reorient and simplify his life—he removed himself from the film industry—and wrote about his experience in Life's Operating Manual.

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