Jared Keeso
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Jared Keeso ( ; born July 1, 1984) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series ''
Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...
'' (2016–2023), which won a
Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
for Best Comedy Series in 2017. He is also known for his roles as Ben Chartier in the television series '' 19-2'' (2014–2017), for which he won a Canadian Screen Award, as
Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...
in the television films '' Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story'' (2010) and '' The Wrath of Grapes: The Don Cherry Story II'' (2012), for which he won a
Leo Award The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...
and
Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...
.


Early life

Keeso was born in
Listowel, Ontario Listowel is an unincorporated community in Ontario, Canada, located in the Municipality of North Perth. Incorporated as the Town of Listowel in 1875, it was dissolved in 1998 following amalgamation with several other communities in the northe ...
, on July 1, 1984, the son of Anne and Richard Keeso. His family owned and operated the Keeso and Sons Sawmill Company, which was founded in 1872, and Keeso spent several years working in the sawmill before embarking on his acting career. The sawmill was destroyed by a fire on September 9, 2018. As a youth, like most boys his age in town, Keeso played
junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...
; he played for the
Strathroy Rockets The Strathroy Rockets are a junior ice hockey, junior ice hockey team based in Strathroy-Caradoc, Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. History In 1965, the Rockets joined the ...
of the WOHL with future two-time Stanley Cup champion
Jeff Carter Jeffrey J. Carter (born January 1, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguin ...
, and also the
Listowel Cyclones The Listowel Cyclones are a junior hockey, junior ice hockey team based in Listowel, Ontario, Listowel, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. They currently play at the Steve Kerr Memo ...
of the
GOJHL The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) is a Canadian junior ice hockey league based in Southern Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association, Ontario Hockey Federation, and Hockey Canada. The league is c ...
.


Career

Keeso starred as hockey coach, player, and commentator
Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...
in two
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 ** ...
television movies about Cherry's life. The first, '' Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story'', aired in early 2010, and was followed by '' The Wrath of Grapes: The Don Cherry Story II'' in 2012. For his performances, he won a
Leo Award The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...
for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama and a
Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...
for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series. In 2013, Keeso and Mike Borden created Play Fun Games Pictures on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. The channel became an immediate success thanks to a series of shorts sketches depicting the quintessential Canadian farmer and the associated struggles. The series, '' Letterkenny Problems'', has attracted over 100 million views (), and became the basis for the hit 2016 sitcom ''
Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...
''. The sketches and TV series are both shot in
Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury, is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and t ...
. In 2014, Keeso starred in a
Heritage Minute ''The Heritage Minutes'' is a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. Published by Historica Canada the ''Minutes'' integrate Canadian history, folklore and myths into dramatic storylines. ...
about the
Winnipeg Falcons The Winnipeg Falcons were a senior men's amateur ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Winnipeg Falcons won the 1920 Allan Cup. That team went on to represent Canada in the Ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics, 1920 Olympic games h ...
, a team of Icelandic-Canadian hockey players who served in the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and later won the country's first
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...
gold medal in hockey. Following the cult success of ''Letterkenny'', in 2022 Keeso created a spin-off series ''
Shoresy ''Shoresy'' is a Canadian television comedy series created by and starring Jared Keeso that premiered on Crave on May 13, 2022. A spin-off of ''Letterkenny'', the series focuses on the titular character of Shoresy (Keeso) as he moves to Sudbur ...
'', focusing on the titular character of
Shoresy ''Shoresy'' is a Canadian television comedy series created by and starring Jared Keeso that premiered on Crave on May 13, 2022. A spin-off of ''Letterkenny'', the series focuses on the titular character of Shoresy (Keeso) as he moves to Sudbur ...
which is also set and shot in Sudbury. Keeso has had a variety of other roles in both television series and movies, including as Ben Chartier in the 2014 English-language adaptation of ''19-2'', for which he won a
Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role. He also has less prominent roles in a few other films, such as Nicholas in '' Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball''; Adam in the high-school themed Lifetime original movie ''Seven Deadly Sins''; and Simon in the drug-themed ''Charlie''.


Filmography


Film


Television


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeso, Jared 1984 births Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Living people Male actors from Ontario Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian people of German descent People from Perth County, Ontario Best Actor in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners Best Actor in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian Screen Award winning writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian television producers Canadian television writers Writers from Ontario