Eugene Levy

Eugene Levy has been married to television producer Deborah Divine since 1977. They have two children, Dan Levy and Sarah Levy, and raised them in Toronto rather than Hollywood. Both later became actors and appeared with their father in Schitt’s Creek.

Levy's mother, Rebecca, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Polish Jewish parents, while his father, Joseph, was born in Ontario to Bulgarian Sephardi Jewish parents. Levy has supported autism awareness and treatment and is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.

Levy began performing professionally in the Toronto production of Godspell from 1972 to 1973. The production featured future performers including Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, and Victor Garber, and ran for 488 performances. He made his feature-film debut in Ivan Reitman's Cannibal Girls in 1973.

In 1976, Levy joined the Toronto branch of the Second City comedy troupe and became part of its television offshoot, Second City Television, commonly known as SCTV. He created characters such as the dim-witted news anchor Earl Camembert and the comic performer Bobby Bittman, while also performing impressions of figures including Alex Trebek, Henry Kissinger, and Sean Connery. His writing on SCTV earned him Primetime Emmy Awards in 1982 and 1983.

During this period, Levy appeared in films including National Lampoon’s Vacation, Going Berserk, and Splash. He also wrote, produced, and acted in The Last Polka and later co-created the television sitcom Maniac Mansion.

Levy became a regular collaborator of filmmaker Christopher Guest, co-writing and co-starring in Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). The films used largely improvised performances, and Levy also composed songs for several of them. His performance as folk singer Mitch Cohen in A Mighty Wind earned him a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Grammy Award for co-writing the film’s title song.

In 1999, Levy played Noah Levenstein, the awkward father of Jason Biggs’s character, in American Pie. He initially turned down the part, but accepted after being allowed to improvise and shaped the character into a corny, uncomfortable father. Levy returned for American Pie 2, American Wedding, American Reunion, and several direct-to-video spin-offs. He appeared in all eight films in the franchise.

Other notable comedy films from this part of his career include Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, Armed and Dangerous, Multiplicity, Bringing Down the House, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. He also provided voices in animated films including Over the Hedge, Astro Boy, and Finding Dory.

Levy and Dan Levy created Schitt’s Creek, which premiered in 2015 on CBC in Canada and Pop in the United States. The series follows the Rose family after they lose their fortune and move into a motel in the small town of Schitt’s Creek, which Johnny Rose had once bought as a joke for his son. Eugene Levy played Johnny, while Dan Levy played his son David and Sarah Levy played waitress Twyla Sands.

The series initially attracted a modest audience before becoming a mainstream hit after Netflix began hosting its episodes in 2017. It ran for six seasons from 2015 to 2020 and was praised for its character development, costumes, and portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters and relationships.

The final season received 15 Primetime Emmy nominations and won nine awards, including all seven major comedy awards. Levy won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as Johnny Rose. He also shared Canadian Screen Awards recognition for acting and producing the series.

After Schitt’s Creek ended, Levy hosted and executive-produced The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, an Apple TV+ travel series that premiered in 2023. He also appeared in the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building and co-hosted the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards with Dan Levy in 2024.

Levy received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime artistic achievement in 2008. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2011 and promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2022. In 2024, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.