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 ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

'' (2016–present), which won a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) 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) p ...

for Best Comedy Series in 2017. He is also known for his roles as Ben Chartier in the 2014 series '' 19-2'' (2014–2017), for which he won a Canadian Screen Award, and

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

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 television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

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 northern ...

, on July 1, 1984, the son of Anne and Richard Keeso. His family owned and operated the Keeso 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 hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

; he played for the Strathroy Rockets of the WOHL with future two-time Stanley Cup champion

Jeff Carter Jeffrey J. Carter (born January 1, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Los Angeles Kings ...

, and also the

Listowel Cyclones The Listowel Cyclones are a junior ice hockey team based in Listowel, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Mid-Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. They currently play at the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex. History and The E ...

of the GOJHL.

Career

Keeso starred as hockey coach, player, and commentator

in two CBC 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

for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama and a

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 a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. 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 ''Letterkenny'' is a Canadian sitcom created by Jared Keeso, developed and written primarily by Keeso and Jacob Tierney, directed by Tierney, and starring Keeso, Nathan Dales, Michelle Mylett, and K. Trevor Wilson. Originally a YouTube web series ...

'', has attracted over 100 million views (), and became the basis for the hit 2016 sitcom ''

''. 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 fifth largest in Canada. It is a ...

. Following the cult like success of Letterkenny, in 2022 Keeso created a spin off series 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 spinoff 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

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