Eugene Levy

Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He often plays flustered and unconventional figures. He is best known for appearing in the sketch comedy series SCTV, which aired from 1976 until 1984, and the American Pie series of films. He is a regular collaborator of actor-director Christopher Guest, appearing in and co-writing four of his films, commencing with Waiting for Guffman (1996). From 2015 to 2020, he starred as Johnny Rose in Schitt's Creek, a comedy series that he co-created with his son and co-star Dan Levy.

Levy won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2004 for "A Mighty Wind" from the film of the same name that he co-wrote. He received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in 2008. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2011. In 2019 and 2020, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, which he won in 2020.

Early life and education

Levy was born to a Jewish family in downtown Hamilton, Ontario. His mother, Rebecca (née Kudlatz; 1910–1988), was a homemaker, and his father, Joseph (1909–1985), was a foreman at a car factory. He has a brother, Fred, and sister, Barbara. His mother was born in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland, to Polish Jewish parents, and later moved to Canada. His father was Sephardi Jewish, with ancestors from Spain and Bulgaria.