Gerry Dee
Variety and Comedy
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Gerard Francis Donoghue, better known by his stage name Gerry Dee, was born on December 31, 1968, in Scarborough, Ontario. He is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, and author of Irish and Scottish descent who was born in Scarborough and raised in Toronto. He played varsity hockey at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Most notably, Dee is a former high school physical education teacher who spent 10 years teaching before making his move to stand-up comedy in 1999, a career transition that would inform his most successful work.
Dee's career as a comedian began in 1999 when he took the stage at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club during an open mic night. He kept his day job but began moonlighting as a comic, often for free. He eventually worked his way up to landing coveted Friday night gigs and won Toronto's Funniest New Comic competition in 1999. Dee was the first Canadian to win the San Francisco Comedy Competition. In 2003, Dee quit teaching to pursue comedy full time, moved to Los Angeles, and landed a spot on CBS's Star Search, hosted by Arsenio Hall. Dee placed third on the fifth season of Last Comic Standing and won a 2008 Canadian Comedy Award in the Best Male Stand-Up comic category.
In January 2012, his sitcom Mr. D premiered on CBC Television. Drawing from his 10-year teaching career, Gerry Dee created the comedic persona of Mr. D, an arrogant yet ignorant teacher who became the basis for the popular CBC sitcom. Dee won a Canadian Screen Award in 2013 for his performance in the series, which ran successfully for eight seasons. Starting in late 2007, Dee had his own segment on Canadian cable channel The Score (later known as Sportsnet) called "Gerry Dee: Sports Reporter," which featured humorous interviews and segments.