He’s got Groucho Marx’s eyebrows and a sense of humour that’s as subtle as a whoopee cushion on the rabbi’s chair – but the jokes only flow when Eugene Levy is writing films or performing onstage. Offstage, Levy is soft-spoken, grateful for every laugh he earns and modest about the accolades he receives.
Levy, 62, is one of six artists who will receive the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement, an honour that will be presented May 2 in Ottawa by Gov.-Gen. Michaëlle Jean. The award consists of a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint and a $25,000 prize.
“Eugene Levy’s unique contribution to sketch comedy put Canadian comedy on the map, and the quality of his work in television and film, as an actor, writer and comedian leaves no question of his mastery of his craft,” said Debbie Henning, executive director of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation. “He has also chosen to remain Canadian and support Canadian artists – a fact that he proudly promotes.”
Levy said he was thrilled and surprised to win the award. And what makes the honour extra sweet, he said, is that acting awards such as Junos, Oscars and Tonys are almost always won by “serious” actors, and not by comic actors like himself.
“There’s the idea that comedy doesn’t take a lot of work, or comics aren’t credible actors, so it’s always a kick when we get recognized for our hard work,” he said in a telephone interview from his California home.
“The ironic thing about the world of comedy is the perception that comedians are people who need to stand up in front of people and get the approval of a crowd, and can’t wait to get a laugh. But I’ve always been more on the shy side. I’m not an introvert, but I’d rather stand in the back of the room and watch those performers to see what’s funny.
“Jews make good storytellers, but I’m not sure I can tell a good story. But I always find it a delight to listen to great storytellers. I’m not an innately funny person. Instead, I get laughs through the characters I play.”
One character he didn’t get to play was Toby Ziegler, the U.S. president’s communications director on the TV show The West Wing.
“I read for the part several times,” Levy said. “The show’s creators kept finding my readings amusing, so I thought I didn’t have much chance, but they kept calling me back for another audition. The part ended up going to Richard Schiff, and he was amazing in the series.”
Born in Hamilton in 1946, Levy began acting in school plays, where he was comfortable being part of an ensemble.
“I wasn’t funny as a kid,” he said. “My memory of my bar mitzvah is kind of vague, but I remember feeling a little awkward up at the bimah in front of everyone. I was pretty self-conscious, but I wasn’t nervous and I didn’t flub anything.”
He began writing comedy in high school, jotting “odd life bits” into a journal. After graduating from McMaster University with a theatre degree, he was cast in the Toronto production of the musical Godspell with Martin Short, Andrea Martin and blossoming comedian Gilda Radner, who went on to star in Saturday Night Live. Her death in 1989 of ovarian cancer helped increase public awareness for earlier detection of the disease.
“Right from the start, you knew Gilda had an amazing personality,” he remembered. “She went to the Godspell audition with Zippity Do Da, and you felt sorry for this poor, sweet girl who had no idea what song to audition with. But everyone loved her and she got the part, and we all saw how funny she was. She was a great kid.”
Levy joined Second City in 1973, and later, the television offshoot SCTV, where, from 1976 through 1984, he created characters that fans still remember: nerdy newscaster Earl Camembert, Las Vegas comic Bobby Bittman, polkameister Stan Schmenge and a comatose Perry Como.
“We really started out doing that show for ourselves,” he said. “We didn’t even know if anyone would be watching. We didn’t even know if what we were writing was going to be funny. Our producers used to read our material and say, ‘We don’t get this.’ And we said, ‘It doesn’t matter if the audience gets it, we get it.’ After the show became successful, our confidence level went way up.”
Besides television, Levy has appeared in about 50 films, including National Lampoon’s Vacation, Splash, Father of the Bride and American Pie. He also co-wrote and starred in the satirical “mockumentaries” For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind (for which he won a Grammy Award and was named best supporting actor by the New York Film Critics Circle), Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. Other awards and honours include five Canadian Comedy Awards (two for best writing and three for best male performer), two Emmy Awards and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Levy is also known in Canada for his volunteer work with charities like The Clinton Foundation, which raises money for causes in Africa; Families for Early Autism Treatment; Sick Kids Hospital; and Shalom Village, a nursing home in Hamilton.
“My philosophy is if you’ve been blessed in life, then you give back whatever you can,” he said. “I have some relations in Shalom Village, so doing work for them was a no-brainer for me.”
After picking up the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, Levy will head to Toronto to reunite with his former Second City cohorts Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Dave Thomas and others for a May 5 benefit show for the Second City alumni fund. Later this year will see the release of his next film, Gooby, in which he plays the villainous Mr. Nerdlinger.
And after that – more comic acting. Which means, despite winning the prestigious artistic honour, he does not plan to show off by doing King Lear at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
“If I tried Lear, it would probably still turn out funny,” he said.
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Looking for some Levy levity? Check out these Eugene Levy fan websites on the Internet: Bubi Made a Kishka at http://shoeonthe.nightstand.org/kishka and the G-rated Eugene Levy is Sexy at http://www.geocities.com/eugenelevy_fan24. To see Levy in the 1972 version of Godspell, go to http://home.cogeco.ca/~elemeno/godspell.