Eugene Levy
About
Biography
Filmography
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Biography
As a former member of Second City Toronto and performer on the classic sketch comedy show, "SCTV" (syndicated/NBC/Cinemax, 1976-1984), actor Eugene Levy emerged from his native Canada alongside top comedic talent like John Candy, Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short to become one of the most reliable supporting players in film and on television. Levy essayed many characters on the cutting-edge "SCTV," including inept newscaster Earl Camembert, the hunchbacked assistant to Candy's Dr. Tongue, and the obnoxiously phony comic Bobby Bittman, while he killed with his impersonations of Ricardo Montalban and mustachioed movie critic Gene Shalit. After leaving the show, much of his subsequent work involved projects starring his "SCTV" alum, including "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983), "Armed and Dangerous" (1986) and "The Martin Short Show" (NBC, 1994). Levy has something of a Renaissance when he began collaborating as a writer and star on Christopher Guest's hilariously quirky movies, most notably with "Waiting For Guffman" (1997) and "Best in Show" (2000). He also became a hit with a younger generation after his turn as the painfully endearing dad of a high school senior in "American Pie" (1999), which showed that Levy was able to bring humanity and depth to seemingly superficial projects. He began working with his son Daniel Levy on the sitcom "Schitt's Creek" (Pop 2015- ), which father and son co-created and starred in.
Born on Dec. 17, 1946 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Levy attended McMaster University in Hamilton, where he spent most of his time indulging in drama and filmmaking - all extracurricular activities at the school - instead of attending classes. McMaster was a cauldron of future Canadian comedy stars, including Martin Short, Dave Thomas and Ivan Reitman. In fact, Reitman presided over the McMaster Film Board, which lent out film equipment to students whose ideas they were interested in seeing made into movies. Because he spent most of his time making student films and rehearsing for plays, Levy had no real options for a career other than acting after he graduated. So he contacted Reitman, who was making his first movie, "Foxy Lady" (1971), and asked for a job. But the only one available was coffee boy - which Levy unhesitatingly took. Feeling bad for his friend, Reitman put Levy in front of the camera in "Cannibal Girls" (1973), a horror-comedy that was best left in the bargain bin.
From that point on, Levy worked continuously as an actor, never having to take a day job or supplement his income in any way. After "Cannibal Girls," he spent a year touring with the legendary Toronto production of "Godspell" (1972-73), which also starred Martin Short, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner and Paul Shaffer. Levy moved on to join the Toronto branch of the Second City comedy troupe for two years, which led to a failed attempt to form an offshoot in Pasadena, CA with John Candy and Joe Flaherty. Instead, Levy and company forged ahead with "SCTV" (syndicated/NBC/Cinemax, 1976-1984), a bizarre, irreverent and often hilarious sketch show that satirized all facets of television. Over the years, "SCTV" featured some of Canada's most revered comedic talent, including Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, Martin Short and Rick Moranis. Levy was a major player featured in many of the show's more famous sketches. He played Alex Trebel - a caricature of "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek - in the skits "Half Wits" and "High-Q," which often ended in him becoming flustered by his rather dumb contestants. Levy also disappeared into characterizations of Ricardo Montalban, Henry Kissinger, Howard Cosell and Wally Cleaver in the "Leave It to Beaver 25th Anniversary Party" sketch, which featured Candy as a 30-year-old slacker Beaver who gets in trouble with his dysfunctional parents for shooting Eddie Haskell (Thomas).
Levy was one of the few original cast members to stay with "SCTV" throughout its entire run, which helped make him a much in-demand character actor, as well as an Emmy Award winner in 1982 and 1983 for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program. During his run on the show, he made his feature acting debut in "Running" (1979), a "Rocky"-like drama about a marathon runner (Michael Douglas) overcoming the odds. After providing several voices for the animated rock-n-roll feature, "Heavy Metal" (1981), he was executive producer, co-writer and performer of "The Last Polka" (HBO, 1985), a mock documentary that profiled Yosh and Stan Schmenge (Candy and Levy), a fictional polka band featured in numerous "SCTV" sketches. Following his television movie debut in "Bride of Boogedy" (ABC, 1987), Levy made his television directing debut with another enlarged skit, "Autobiographies: The Enigma of Bobby Bittman" (Cinemax, 1988). Levy also helmed a cable special for Martin Short, "I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood" (HBO, 1989), and did the same for the premiere episode of the short-lived sitcom, "The Martin Short Show" (NBC, 1994).
Despite making his name in television, Levy found career security appearing in dozens of films over his career. He had small character parts in a number of comedies, including "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983) and "Club Paradise" (1986), both directed by Second City alum Harold Ramis. He also appeared alongside John Candy in "Splash" (1984) and "Armed and Dangerous" (1986). Returning to the director's chair, he helmed his first television movie, "Partners 'N Love" (CTV, 1992), for Canadian television. That same year, he made his feature directing debut with "Once Upon a Crime" (1992), a crime comedy about three American couples who get mixed up in a mysterious murder while vacationing in Monte Carlo. Back in front of the cameras, Levy appeared in "Stay Tuned" (1992), "I Love Trouble" (1994) and "Father of the Bride Part II" (1995), in which he played Steve Martin's incomprehensible neighbor. In 1997, he began a long and fruitful collaboration with writer-director-performer Christopher Guest, who asked Levy to write and star in "Waiting for Guffman" (1997), a hilariously straight-faced send-up of small-town show business aspirations. Levy played a dentist whose aspirations for comedy came from Johnny Carson and sitting next to the class clown.
Levy reached a new generation with his memorable character turn in "American Pie" (1999), the hit teen comedy about four high school seniors (Jason Biggs, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Chris Klein and Eddie Kaye Thomas) who make a pact to lose their virginity before graduation. Levy played the father of Jason Biggs' character, whose earnest and well-intentioned advice causes more harm - not to mention embarrassment - than good. Because "American Pie" was a gigantic hit, the movie was turned into a franchise that spawned two theatrical sequels, "American Pie 2" (2001) and "American Wedding" (2003), as well as four direct-to-DVD spin-offs released from 2005-09. Levy's character was the only one from the original movie to appear in all subsequent incarnations. Meanwhile, he collaborated a second time with Guest, writing and co-starring in "Best in Show" (2000), the director's mockumentary about dog breeders competing at a prestigious dog show. The hilarious film - which like most of Guest's works was also highly improvised by the actors - was a critical hit and Levy's portrayal of Gerald 'Gerry' Fleck, a man with literally two left feet, was one of the film's many highlights.
Levy was next tapped by "American Pie" scribes Paul and Chris Weitz to co-star opposite Chris Rock in their "Here Comes Mr. Jordan/Heaven Can Wait" remake "Down to Earth" (2001). After a key role as a slick Bloomingdale's salesman in the John Cusack-Kate Beckinsale romantic fable "Serendipity" (2001), he took the role of television kids show director Gil Bender, one of the few humans populating the behind-the-scenes world of the puppet comedy series and short-lived cult classic, "Greg the Bunny" (Fox 2002). Levy followed with a hysterically low-key performance as Mitch Cohen, a tuned-in, dropped-out folk singer gingerly tiptoeing toward mental health and a career comeback in Christopher Guest's outrageous "A Mighty Wind" (2003). He had one of his best one-liners - "You got me straight trippin', Boo" - as the seemingly white and uptight pal of Steve Martin in the amusing hit comedy, "Bringing Down the House" (2003). Following a small role as the high school principal in "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" (2003), he brought a much-needed comic verve to his role as an overzealous truant officer in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen feature film flop, "New York Minute" (2004).
Levy's next vehicle was the hackneyed, derivative action-buddy flick "The Man" (2005), which attempted to drive laughs by pairing Samuel L. Jackson's hard-edged cop with Levy's awkward dentist who's drawn into a crime scheme. Levy then joined the original cast for the sequel "Cheaper By the Dozen 2" (2005), playing the head of a large, over-achieving family and long-time rival of Tom Baker (Steve Martin). He followed by appearing in several projects, "For Your Consideration" (2006), Christopher Guest's parody about three actors whose small indie feature suddenly gets award buzz; "Curious George" (2006), the animated adventure of an inquisitive little monkey; and "Over the Hedge" (2006), based on the United Media Syndicate comic strip about a mischievous con-artist raccoon (Bruce Willis) and his sensitive turtle pal (Garry Shandling). After voicing Einstein in "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (2009), Levy was cast as Max Yasgur in the seriocomic "Taking Woodstock" (2009). Along with continuing to appear in "American Pie" spin-offs and sequels, including "American Reunion" (2012), Levy appeared in the hockey comedy-drama "Goon" (2011) and its sequel "Goon: Last of the Enforcers" (2016), and worked with Tyler Perry on "Madea's Witness Protection" (2012). Levy returned to television in the comedy "Schitt's Creek" (Pop 2015- ), in which he starred as Johnny Rose, a billionaire who loses his fortune and must live with his spoiled family in a small Canadian prairie town; the series co-starred and was co-created by Levy's son, Daniel Levy, and also starred frequent onscreen foil Catherine O'Hara. In the Pixar sequel "Finding Dory" (2016), Levy played the title character's father.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Producer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Director (TV Mini-Series)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1970
Served as cinematographer on "Columbus of Sex," an erotic comic student film
1971
Worked as the "coffee boy" on the set of Ivan Reitman's film debut "Foxy Lady"
1973
Made feature acting debut opposite Andrea Martin in Reitman's "Cannibal Girls"
1976
Served as a writer/performer on "Second City TV," a syndicated sketch comedy series
1979
Made dramatic acting debut in "Running"
1981
Wrote and performed for "SCTV Network 90" on NBC
1981
Provided several voices for "Heavy Metal," an animated rock 'n' roll feature
1983
Wrote and performed on "SCTV Channel" on Cinemax
1983
Had a small role as a car salesman in "National Lampoon's Vacation"
1984
Landed a memorable role as an eccentric scientist in Ron Howard's "Splash"
1985
TV producing debut, as executive producer for the HBO special "The Last Polka"; also co-wrote and played Stan Shmenge
1986
First leading role in a feature, co-starring with John Candy in "Armed and Dangerous"
1986
Re-teamed with SCTV co-stars Andrea Martin, Joe Flaherty and Rick Moranis for the ensemble comedy "Club Paradise"
1987
TV-movie debut, "Bride of Boogedy" (ABC)
1988
Produced, directed and acted in "Second City's 15th Anniversary Special"
1988
Directed the "Biographies: The Enigma of Bobby Bittman" for Cinemax; also produced, wrote and starred
1989
Directed the HBO comedy special "I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood"
1990
Created the Family Channel series "Maniac Mansion"; also executive produced, wrote and directed episodes
1992
Directed the Family Channel TV-movie "Partners 'n Love"
1992
Directed first feature film "Once Upon a Crime"
1994
Wrote the song "The Sodbusters Song" for the Showtime movie "Sodbusters"; also executive produced, directed and wrote
1994
Directed the premiere episode of "The Martin Short Show" (NBC)
1997
Cast as a regular on the ABC sitcom "Hiller & Diller," as Gordon Schermerhorn
1997
Co-wrote "Waiting for Guffman" with Christopher Guest; also co-starred as Dr. Allan Pearl and performed several songs; earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Screenplay
1998
Appeared in Christopher Guest's "Almost Heroes"
1999
Played the father of Jason Bigg's Jim in the hit comedy "American Pie"
2000
With Christopher Guest, co-wrote the satirical comedy "Best in Show"; also co-starred
2001
Played a hilarious Bloomingdale's salesman in the romantic comedy "Serendipity"
2001
Reprised role of Jim's father in "American Pie 2"
2002
Cast as a regular on the Fox series "Greg the Bunny"
2003
Featured in the comedy "Bringing Down The House" opposite Steve Martin
2003
Reprised role as the eccentric father in "American Wedding"
2003
Co-wrote and co-starred in the comedy "A Mighty Wind"; co-written and directed by Christopher Guest; earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Screenplay
2004
Played an overzealous truant officer opposite Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in "New York Minute"
2005
Co-starred with Carmen Electra as husband and wife in "Cheaper by the Dozen 2," starring Steve Martin
2005
Co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the comedy film "The Man"
2006
Voiced a porcupine named Lou in the animated film "Over the Hedge"
2006
Co-wrote and co-starred in "For Your Consideration," a parody of Hollywood and the Academy Awards; re-teamed with Christopher Guest
2009
Played the owner of the dairy farm, which held the famous music festival in Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock"
2012
Cast alongside "American Pie" co-star Seann William Scott in the sport comedy "Goon"
2012
Reprised role of Jim's dad in "American Reunion"
2012
Co-starred in the comedy "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection"
2015
Joined the cast of the comedy series "Schitt's Creek"
2016
Voiced the role of Charlie in the "Finding Nemo" sequel, "Finding Dory"
Companions
