From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Thomas Peter "Tom" Shadyac (born December 11, 1958) is an American comedian, director, screenwriter, and producer. Although Shadyac had been the youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope,[1] he is widely known for writing and directing the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, and I Am. He is an adjunct professor of communication and teaches screenwriting at Pepperdine University's Seaver College. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tom Shadyac, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.