An alumnus of both
Second City Toronto and the classic sketch comedy series
SCTV, Levy often plays unusual supporting characters with nerdish streaks. Perhaps his best known role on
SCTV was as the dimwitted
Earl Camembert, a news anchor for the "SCTV News". Celebrities impersonated by Levy on
SCTV include:
Perry Como, Ricardo Montalban, Alex Trebek, Sean Connery, Howard Cosell, Henry Kissinger, Menachem Begin, Bud Abbott, Milton Berle, Gene Shalit, Jack Carter, Muammar al-Gaddafi, Tony Dow, James Caan, Lorne Greene, Rex Reed, Ralph Young (of Sandler and Young),
F. Lee Bailey, Ernest Borgnine, former Ontario chief coroner Dr. Morton Schulman,
Norman Mailer and
Howard McNear as “Floyd the Barber”.
Other memorable Levy characterizations were serious comic Bobby Bittman, scandal sheet entrepreneur Dr. Rawl Withers, “report on business” naïf Brian Johns, 3-D horror auteur Woody Tobias Jr., cheerful Leutonian accordianist Stan Schmenge, lecherous dream interpreter Raoul Wilson, hammer-voiced sports broadcaster Lou Jaffe, diminutive union patriarch Sid Dithers, fey current-events commentator Joel Weiss, buttoned-down panel show moderator Dougal Currie, smarmy
Just for Fun emcee Stan Kanter, energetic used car salesman Al Peck and inept dance show host Rockin’ Mel Slirrup.
Though he has been the “above the title” star in only two films, 1986’s
Armed and Dangerous and 2005’s
The Man, he has featured prominently in many films. He is the co-writer and frequent cast member of
Christopher Guest’s mockumentary features, particularly
A Mighty Wind, where his sympathetic performance as a brain-damaged folksinger won kudos. In the 1980s, he appeared in
Splash,
National Lampoon’s Vacation,
Club Paradise,
Stay Tuned and other comedies. Levy was the creator of
Maniac Mansion, a television sitcom based on the
LucasArts video game of the same name.
His career received a tremendous boost in 1999, when he was cast as the clueless but loving dad in the sleeper blockbuster
American Pie. He reprised the role for the film’s two sequels, and starred in two
straight-to-video sequels, becoming something of a cult hero in the process. Levy has since worked with
Steve Martin and
Queen Latifah in
Bringing Down the House, and most recently appeared with
Martin in
Cheaper by the Dozen 2.
Levy (along with
Christopher Guest and
Michael McKean) was awarded the 2003
Grammy Award for
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media for music they composed for
A Mighty Wind. Levy appeared in the corner of a poster hanging outside the movie theatre in Springfield in the "
See Homer Run" episode of
The Simpsons. (The poster was advertising for
Rockstar Princess and featured a girl with an
electric guitar, with Levy in the corner wearing a royal crown. A liner note under him read “Eugene Levy as the King”).
In March 2006, it was announced that he would receive a star on
Canada’s Walk of Fame. In 2002, the entire cast of
SCTV was given a group star, and although Levy is not mentioned on the actual star, he was still inducted as a part of the group. This makes him one of only three two-time honourees, alongside fellow
SCTV alumni
John Candy and
Martin Short.
Levy has won five
Canadian Comedy Awards, including two for Best Writing (
Best In Show in 2001 and
A Mighty Wind in 2004) and three for Best Male Performer (
Best in Show,
American Pie 2 in 2002 and
A Mighty Wind).
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