Gerry Dee
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gerry Dee (born Gerard Francis-John Donoghue;Profile
, oct.ca; accessed February 23, 2015.
December 31, 1968) is a Canadian actor,
stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...
, game show host, director, producer, and writer. He is the host of '' Family Feud Canada''. He placed third on the fifth season of ''
Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...
'', and he wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Mr. D'', which aired on CBC Television.


Early life

Dee was born Gerard Francis-John Donoghue, and is of Irish and Scottish descent. He was born in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
and raised in Toronto. He was a university varsity hockey player and golfer. He attended St. Gabriel's (Bayview/Sheppard) and De La Salle College, Oaklands, where he later worked as a physical education teacher and hockey coach. He studied kinesiology and athletic therapy at
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
and education at
St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Fran ...
. His father was a bus driver for the TTC in Toronto for over 20 years.


Career

Dee was relatively successful long before being on ''
Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...
''. He had already had his own comedy special on
The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming and operates two time-shifted feeds, runni ...
in Canada, appeared on the Comedy Network special "The Nubian Disciples", and performed at the world-famous Montreal Just for Laughs International Comedy Festival, having his segment aired on Just For Laughs. He has appeared in television commercials and has performed at many comedy clubs, including Just For Laughs and Yuk Yuks. Dee also had a role in the 2006 film '' Trailer Park Boys: The Movie'', where he played the role of Donny. That same year, Dee played former
Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
player
Wayne Cashman Wayne Cashman (born June 24, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played seventeen seasons for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) and helped them win the Stanley Cup twice, and was the last ac ...
in the
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
miniseries '' Canada Russia '72''. Dee placed third on the fifth season of ''
Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...
''. He had tried out for Last Comic Standing during the second and fourth seasons, but never advanced to the finals. He missed the birth of his daughter while appearing on the show. Starting in late 2007, Dee had his own segment on Canadian cable channel
The Score The Score may refer to: Films and television * The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet'' * The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...
(later known as Sportsnet). These segments, entitled ''Gerry Dee: Sports Reporter'', saw Dee conducting humorous interviews and segments. The interviews included such sports personalities as
Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...
,
Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...
,
Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
,
Cito Gaston Clarence Edwin "Cito" Gaston (; born March 17, 1944) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder, coach and manager. His major league career as a player lasted from 1967 to 1978, most notably with the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Brave ...
,
Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American mixed martial arts commentator, actor, former United States Army sergeant, former professional mixed martial artist, and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestlin ...
, and
Chris Bosh Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball, Georgia Tech ...
. Dee appeared in television commercials for Rogers, Wisers, KFC, and Nissan, and is currently making guest appearances on CBC's ''
The Hour An hour is a unit of measurement of time. (The) Hour(s) may also refer to: Measurement * Hour angle, the measurement of angle in units of hours ** Right ascension, the astronomical unit of measure of angle * light hour or hour, distance equival ...
''. He won a 2008
Canadian Comedy Award The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. Th ...
in the ''Best Male Stand-Up'' comic category. In January 2012, his sitcom '' Mr. D'' premiered on
CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...
. Created, written by and starring Dee, the show is based on his experience as a high-school teacher. Dee’s children, Alyce, Faith, and Breton Donoghue, are also a part of the cast. Alyce played "Amanda-Susan" as well as some background characters, Faith played "Faith" as well as some background characters, and Breton played "John". On July 8, 2019, it was announced Dee would be the host of '' Family Feud Canada''. He appears in the sitcom '' Animal Control'', which began in 2023 and was renewed into 2024.


Publishing career

In October 2012, Doubleday Canada published Dee's ''Teaching: It's Harder Than It Looks''. Like Dee's sitcom '' Mr. D'', ''Teaching'' is based on his ten years as a teacher. A national bestseller, the book came out in paperback in May 2013.
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
website; accessed March 9, 2015.


Personal life

Dee is the son of Scottish immigrant parents. He is a former high school physical education teacher. He was the first Canadian to win the San Francisco Comedy Competition. He played varsity hockey at St Francis Xavier University in
Antigonish Antigonish ( ; ) is a town in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The town is home to St. Francis Xavier University and the oldest continuous Highland games outside Scotland. It is approximately 160 kilometres (100 miles) northeast of Hal ...
, Nova Scotia. Dee and his wife Heather have two daughters Alyce and Faith, as well as one son, Breton. His daughters played recurring roles on his comedy show ''Mr. D'' as Amanda-Susan (Alyce) and Faith (Faith), while his son appeared in the series finale as John. Gerry is a supporter of
Celtic Football Club The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a professional Association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football league system, Scottish ...
.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links


"Gerry Dee Sports Reporter" page on TheScore.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dee, Gerry 1968 births Living people 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian male actors Best Actor in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian Comedy Award winners Canadian game show hosts Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian television sportscasters Comedians from Toronto Last Comic Standing contestants Male actors from Toronto People from Scarborough, Ontario St. Francis Xavier University alumni St. Francis Xavier X-Men ice hockey players York University alumni