Dan Levy (TV personality)

Dan Levy
Born Daniel Joseph Levy
(1983-08-09) August 9, 1983
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Occupation Actor, writer, producer, TV personality
Years active 2000–present
Parent(s) Eugene Levy (father)
Deborah Divine (mother)
Family Sarah Levy (sister)

Daniel Joseph Levy (born August 9, 1983) is a Canadian actor, writer, producer, and television personality. He is the son of comedian and actor Eugene Levy.

Early life

Levy was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1983, the son of Deborah Divine and Canadian actor Eugene Levy. He is the older brother of actress Sarah Levy.

Career

2000s: Early television work with MTV

Levy first came to prominence as co-host of MTV Canada's program The After Show with Jessi Cruickshank, including its various incarnations such as The Hills: The After Show and The City: Live After Show.[1] Previously, he was one of the original seven co-hosts of MTV Canada's flagship series MTV Live, which is now no longer on air. Levy also wrote, produced, and starred in his own Christmas Special for MTV, Daniel Levy's Holi-Do's & Don'ts, and co-hosted the MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet, the X-Factor pre-show, and national coverage of the Vancouver Olympic Games for CTV.[2]

In 2008, he appeared on Canada's Next Top Model as a guest judge.[2]

2011–2012: Transition into acting work

As an actor, he has appeared in a four-episode story arc of the Canadian TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation, which premiered as a TV movie called Degrassi Goes Hollywood. In his Degrassi arc, Levy played a film producer who hires Paige Michalchuk as the lead in a new film directed by actor Jason Mewes. He has also appeared in the 2012 thriller Offline and in the 2013 film Admission starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.[3][4]

2013–present: Schitt's Creek

In 2013, Levy formed Not a Real Company Productions (with his father Eugene Levy and principals Andrew Barnsley and Fred Levy).[4] Their first project was a television pilot with CBC, which resulted in Schitt's Creek.[5] Levy also stars in the series alongside his father, sister, Catherine O'Hara, Annie Murphy, and Chris Elliott.[6] It's the Not a Real Company Productions‘ first television series.[7] Levy has spoken publicly about his character's portrayal of pansexuality, saying:

I think in certain parts of America, David’s sexual ambiguity was a big question mark. (But) it was issues like that that I find quite exciting.[8]

For his work on Schitt's Creek, Levy has been nominated for numerous awards, including several Canadian Screen Awards for writing and acting, winning the awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Writing in a Comedy Program or Series in 2016.[9]

2017–present: The Great Canadian Baking Show

On July 11, 2017, it was announced via Twitter that he would be hosting The Great Canadian Baking Show with Julia Chan, which had its premiere November 1 on CBC.[10]

Controversy arose when John Doyle of The Globe and Mail criticized the first episode of the show in a review on October 30, 2017. Included in the review was a critique of Levy's "feyness" while performing as host and a joke hinting at nepotism at CBC.[11] Levy, while acknowledging the importance of criticism in media, objected to the use of the word fey to describe him as a gay man and called it "offensive, irresponsible, and homophobic".[12][13] The Globe's public editor Sylvia Stead published a statement on November 9 explaining that "Mr. Doyle was not aware that Mr. Levy was gay and he used the term to mean preciousness". She also acknowledged that, despite the dictionary not defining fey as a slur, "we need to understand not just the context of words, but how they evolve and are viewed by communities that may be justly sensitive to a range of meanings."[14]

Personal life

Levy splits his time between Toronto and Los Angeles, though he has said that London is his "favourite city," after having lived there in 2005.[15]

Levy previously avoided labelling his sexual orientation publicly,[16] though in a 2015 interview with Flare he was called "a member of the queer community."[17] In a 2017 interview, Levy confirmed he is gay and has been out since he was 19.[18]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef
2016Canadian Screen AwardsBest Comedy SeriesSchitt's CreekWon[19]
Best Writing in a Comedy Program or SeriesWon
Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic RoleNominated
20182018 MTV Movie & TV AwardsMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated[20]

References

  1. ↑ "'The Hills: After Show,' heads to Hollywood". CTV News. 2007-12-10. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  2. 1 2 "Dan Levy". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  3. ↑ Monsaert, Peter (2012-11-14), Offline, retrieved 2016-08-28
  4. 1 2 "Daniel Levy - Cast - Schitt's Creek". Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  5. ↑ "Dan Levy: the man behind new TV show Schitt's Creek, and those glasses". Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  6. ↑ "SCTV stars Levy and O'Hara reunite for a forthcoming CBC sitcom called Schitt's Creek". canada.com, February 10, 2014.
  7. ↑ "SCTV alums Levy and O'Hara to star in CBC comedy". Playback, February 11, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Dan Levy on why the most provocative thing about Schitt's Creek isn't the name | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  9. ↑ "www.academy.ca/Canadian-Screen-Awards". Archived from the original on 2016-04-04.
  10. ↑ "Dan Levy and Julia Chan to host The Great Canadian Baking Show". CBC. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  11. ↑ Doyle, John (October 30, 2017). "Major ingredients missing in CBC's Great Canadian Baking Show". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  12. ↑ Atad, Corey (November 3, 2017). "Dan Levy Slams TV Critic John Doyle For 'Homophobic' Review". ET Canada. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  13. ↑ Thompson, Ryan E. (November 3, 2017). "Why Dan Levy's shutdown of a TV critic's homophobic insult is necessary and good for us all". CBC Life. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  14. ↑ Stead, Sylvia (November 9, 2017). "Public editor: The need to understand the context of words and how they evolve". The Globe and Mail.
  15. ↑ "In the Bag: Dan Levy on the Art of Packing". Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  16. ↑ "Dan Levy Discusses Schitt's Creek, His Eyebrows & Being a Sex Object". 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  17. ↑ "Dan Levy Talks Playing Pansexual on Schitt's Creek - Flare". 2015-03-31. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  18. ↑ Branco, Nelson. "Levy finds his groove as accidental sex symbol". 24 Hours Toronto. Archived from the original on January 11, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  19. ↑ Furdyk, Brent (19 January 2016). "2016 Canadian Screen Awards Nominees Announced". ET Canada. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  20. ↑ Nordyke, Kimberly (May 3, 2018). "MTV Movie & TV Awards: 'Black Panther,' 'Stranger Things' Top Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
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