'Destined for the top': Eugene Levy remembers friend, filmmaker Ivan Reitman

Actor and comedian Eugene Levy remembers his longtime friend Ivan Reitman as a “born producer” who “went on to literally change the face of comedy in Hollywood.”

“We all knew he was destined to be a great producer and director,” Levy said in an interview with CTV News Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme. “He was destined for great things—we knew that in school.”

Levy and Reitman met in the late 1960s at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. Reitman would go on to produce or direct comedy classics like Animal House, Ghostbusters and Kindergarten Cop.

He died Feb. 12 at age 75.

At McMaster, Levy remembers Reitman transforming their “underground” student film group into “a club that actually made money.”

“He would run all night horror film festivals at the university,” Levy said. “We got great crowds and he was able to fund programs for budding filmmakers like me.”

Levy says Reitman even gave him his first break in the business—serving coffee on the Toronto set of the 1971 comedy Foxy Lady. For his second movie, the 1973 horror comedy Cannibal Girls, Reitman enlisted Levy as his leading man.

“That was my first acting role on film, in a professional capacity—and when I say professional capacity, I mean you're supposed to be paid for it!” Levy said. “But nevertheless, that's what Ivan did for me. If he hadn't given me that job as coffee boy in 1970, I don't even know if I would have ended up in the in this business, but I owe a lot to Ivan.”

Levy went on to star in the sketch comedy series SCTV before appearing in and co-writing hit films like Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. From 2015 to 2020, he worked alongside his son Dan Levy in the award-winning comedy series Schitt’s Creek, which they co-created.

While editing the show, Levy recalls bumping into Reitman at the same studio, where Reitman was working with his daughter Catherine Reitman on her comedy series Workin’ Moms.

“We kind of talked about, how can you believe that we're here working on our kids’ shows?” Levy said. “It's incredible and yet we're both sharing that experience. It’s pretty insane!”

Friends for more than five decades, Levy watched as Reitman’s career catapulted to the height of Hollywood.

“He was destined for the top and he made it there,” Levy said. “He was an amazing, amazing man.”