Timothy "Speed" Levitch (; born July 9, 1970) is an American actor, tour guide, poet, speaker, philosopher, author and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

. The name "Speed" was given to him by a childhood friend in high school. Levitch has appeared in multiple films and has had his poetic and philosophical works published in books and periodicals.

Biography

Levitch was born July 9, 1970 in New York City. He mostly grew up in the Riverdale neighborhood of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, where he attended the

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

.Bruni, Frank
"Manhattan Through a Warped Window; Featured in a Film: A Homeless Tour Guide's Offbeat City View"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 1, 1998. Accessed May 4, 2008. "Mr. Levitch grew up in a middle-class Jewish family of five in Riverdale, the Bronx, and attended Horace Mann, a respected private school." When he was 12, his parents bought a house in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, and he was briefly a

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

ite. He longed to return to New York City and eventually did. In 1992 he received his tour guide license from the

Central Park Conservancy The Central Park Conservancy is a private, nonprofit park conservancy that manages Central Park under a contract with the City of New York and NYC Parks. The conservancy employs most maintenance and operations staff in the park. It effectively ...

. He later took a position with Apple and Gray Line Tours as a

tour bus A tour bus service is an escorted tour (sometimes a package holiday) or bus service that takes visitors sightseeing, with routes around tourist attractions. Information Double-decker buses and open top buses are commonly used, for providin ...

guide. He soon attracted a cultlike following, due not only to his fast talking style, but also for his obvious love of portraying his native city in psychedelic terms and with passionate philosophical ideas. Levitch's cult spread beyond New York when he became the subject of the 1998 documentary '' The Cruise''. In 2000 he was a citizen of the art project Quiet, We Live in Sane. In 2012 Levitch premiered a new documentary video series, ''

Up to Speed ''Up to Speed'' is a historical travel web series starring Timothy "Speed" Levitch and directed by Richard Linklater airing on Hulu. Details ''Up to Speed'' is a six-episode travel show produced by Magikal History Productions exclusively for Hu ...

'', on its own Hulu channel. Directed by

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

, the series takes viewers on virtual tours of American cities, conversing with inanimate objects like San Francisco's gold fire hydrant and Chicago's original Haymarket Riot memorial. Levitch is a member of The Ongoing Wow, a band in which he does spoken word over improvised music with Gals Panic and The Sinus Show member Jerm Pollet. In 2007, Levitch moved to Kansas City and started a tour business called "Taste of KC."

Filmography

*'' The Cruise'' (1998), as himself. *''

Anatomy of a Scene ''Anatomy of a Scene'' is an American television series produced by and aired regularly on Sundance Channel since 2001. As a tagline for the series notes, each 30-minute episode "dissects the art of filmmaking" of a scene from a specific film, of ...

'' *'' Scotland, Pa.'' (2001), Hector. (Hippie #2) *''

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American experimental adult animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the ...

'' (2001) (voice), Lunatic, as himself (credited as Speed Levitch) *''

School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled onscreen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. Bl ...

'' (2003), Waiter. *'' Live from Shiva's Dance Floor'' (2003), as himself. *''

Video Capture Device Video capture is the process of converting an analog video signal—such as that produced by a video camera, DVD player, or television tuner—to digital video and sending it to local storage or to external circuitry. The resulting digital data a ...

'' (2004), as himself. *''

Stroker and Hoop ''Stroker & Hoop'' is an American adult animated television series created by Casper Kelly and Jeffrey G. Olsen for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. The series is a parody of buddy cop films and television series suc ...

'' (2004) TV Series (voice), Hoop. (credited as Speed Levitch) *'' Shooting Vegetarians'' (2005) *'' Xavier: Renegade Angel'' (2007) (voice), Puggler, the Punk Rock Juggler. (credited as Speed Levitch) *'' 1 Giant Leap: What About Me?'' (2008), as himself. (credited as Speed Levitch) *''

We Live in Public ''WE LIVE IN PUBLIC'' is a 2009 documentary film by Ondi Timoner, which profiles Internet pioneer Josh Harris (Internet), Josh Harris. Its theme is the loss of privacy in the Internet age. Synopsis The film details the experiences of "the greate ...

'' (2009), as himself (A citizen of Quiet) *''

'' (2012), as himself. *''

High Maintenance ''High Maintenance'' is an American Anthology series, anthology comedy-drama television show, television and web series, web series created by ex-husband and wife team Ben Sinclair (actor), Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The show follows The ...

'' (2019) TV Series, as himself. (credited as Timothy Speed Levitch; Season 3, Episode 9 "Cruise")

Bibliography

Notes

References

War Correspondence from the Present Tense - an interview with Levitch

Present Magazine Feature

City Snapshots

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levitch, Timothy Jewish American male actors 21st-century American philosophers 1970 births Living people Horace Mann School alumni People from the Bronx Tour guides 21st-century American poets 21st-century American Jews