Jerry Levitan | |
---|---|
Born | July 22, 1954 |
Nationality | Canadian |
Occupation(s) | Politician, Lawyer, Writer, Film Maker, Actor, Musician |
Known for | I Met the Walrus |
Jerry Levitan [1] (born 1954) is a Canadian best known as "the kid who interviewed John Lennon". He produced and starred in the animated short I Met the Walrus about his meeting with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1969. Though only 14 years old, Levitan beat the world media and conducted an exclusive 30-minute interview with them about peace, The Beatles, and their music. [2]
The film won a Daytime Emmy in 2009 in the category of New Approaches, Daytime Entertainment. [3] It was also nominated for an Oscar in 2008 for best animated short, [2] and won Best Animated at the Manhattan Short Film Festival, the American Film Festival and the Middle East International Film Festival. [4] He is the author of the best selling, autobiographical book, I Met The Walrus published May 2009 by HarperCollins. It is the account of Levitan's childhood growing up in the sixties, his love for the Beatles, and traces in detail the day he spent with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
In 2010, Levitan was honored by the Guggenheim Museum and YouTube when I Met The Walrus was selected in the first Biennial of Creative Video.
In July 2011 Levitan's animated film, Yoko Ono's My Hometown had its world premiere at the Without Borders (Senza Frontiere) Film Festival in Spoleto, Italy to widespread acclaim. Levitan co-produced and directed the film. Yoko Ono narrated her poem and provided her Remember Love song which was the B-Side to Give Peace A Chance, for the soundtrack.
Levitan produced "I Am the Egbert", an animated series of 14 Spotify canvasses written and directed by Sean Ono Lennon for the 2021 release of "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - The Ultimate Collection".
On May 26, 2021, Jerry Levitan was nominated as the 2022 Ontario Liberal Party Candidate for the Toronto riding of Davenport.
Levitan graduated with a B.A. from York University in Toronto and an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in 1979, [2] and has been involved throughout his career with high-profile legal cases. He is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Winning Everyday Legal Hassles in Canada ( ISBN 0-13-575150-0).
Levitan is also an actor with roles in a string of Canadian and international films and television series, including a guest appearance in The West Wing, and one of Canada's pre-eminent children's entertainers. Performing under his alter-ego "Sir Jerry" (sir-jerry.com) and backed by a full band of rock musicians and performers, he has produced four CDs, "Bees, Butterflies & Bugs", "Sir Jerry's World", "Time Machine" and "Sir Jerry Scared Silly" and is developing a television series.
John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's work was characterised by the rebellious nature and acerbic wit of his music, writing and drawings, on film, and in interviews. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.
Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Some Time in New York City is a part-studio, part-live double album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono as Plastic Ono Band that included backing by the American rock band Elephant's Memory. Released in June 1972 in the US and in September 1972 in the UK on Apple Records, it is the third album to bear Lennon's name since he left the Beatles, and his fourth with Ono. Like Lennon's previous solo albums, it was co-produced by Lennon, Ono and Phil Spector. The album's agitprop lyrics are politically charged compared to its predecessors, addressing political and social issues and topics such as sexism, incarceration, colonialism, and racism.
Live Peace in Toronto 1969 is a live album by the Plastic Ono Band, released in December 1969 on Apple Records. Recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, it was the first live album released by any member of the Beatles separately or together. John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono received a phone call from the festival's promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker, and then assembled a band on very short notice for the festival, which was due to start the following day. The band included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. The group flew from London, and had brief unamplified rehearsals on the plane before appearing on the stage to perform several songs; one of which, "Cold Turkey", was first performed live at the festival. After returning home, Lennon mixed the album in a day.
The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 for their collaborative and solo projects based on their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name.
The Bed-ins for Peace were two week-long nonviolent protests against wars, intended as experimental tests of new ways to promote peace. As the Vietnam War raged in 1969, artist Yoko Ono and her husband John Lennon held one protest at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam and one at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. The idea is derived from a "sit-in", in which a group of protesters remain seated in front of or within an establishment until they are evicted, arrested, or their requests are met.
Imagine: John Lennon is a soundtrack album of popular music compiled for the 1988 documentary film Imagine: John Lennon from songs written or co-written by John Lennon. Originally released that year as a double album, it now remains available on one CD.
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo studio album by Japanese artist and musician Yoko Ono, released on Apple Records in December 1970 alongside her husband's album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Ono's album features her vocal improvisations against backing by the Plastic Ono Band, with the exception of the track "AOS", which is backed by the Ornette Coleman Quartet.
Lennon is a musical with music and lyrics by John Lennon and book by Don Scardino, who also directed its premiere. The musical is about the life of Lennon and is notable for Scardino's choice to be almost exclusively based on Lennon's own words and to focus on Lennon's solo career, with no songs from the Lennon–McCartney catalogue.
Howard Smith was an American Oscar-winning film director, producer, journalist, screenwriter, actor and radio broadcaster.
Sweet Toronto is a documentary by D.A. Pennebaker of the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, a one-day festival held September 13, 1969 at Varsity Stadium on the campus of the University of Toronto and attended by some 20,000 persons. The event was produced by John Brower and Ken Walker. John Lennon, who seven days later would unofficially resign as a member of the Beatles, played as part of the Plastic Ono Band, whose members also included Yoko Ono, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, and Eric Clapton. Their set was released as the album Live Peace in Toronto 1969.
The U.S. vs. John Lennon is a documentary film about Lennon's transformation from member of the Beatles to anti-war activist opposing the reelection of Richard Nixon as president in 1972. The film also details the attempts by the Nixon administration to deport Lennon from the US to end his anti-war and anti-Nixon campaigns. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in New York City and Los Angeles, California on 15 September 2006, and had a nationwide release on 29 September. A soundtrack composed of John Lennon tracks was released by Capitol Records and EMI on 26 September 2006.
Imagine: John Lennon is a 1988 documentary film about English musician John Lennon. It was released on 7 October 1988, two days before Lennon's 48th birthday.
I Met the Walrus is an animated film directed by Josh Raskin and produced by Jerry Levitan. It stars Levitan and John Lennon. The film's pen illustration is by James Braithwaite and computer illustration is by Alex Kurina.
Semi Chellas is a director, writer, producer who has written for film, television and magazines. She was born in Palo Alto, California and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She is known for her work on the television series Mad Men and her film adaptation of American Woman based on Susan Choi's novel of the same name.
John and Yoko: A Love Story is a 1985 American made-for-television biographical film that chronicles the lives of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, beginning just before they met in 1966 and concluding with Lennon's murder in 1980. The movie was made with the co-operation of Ono, who controlled the song rights. It was directed by Sandor Stern and stars Mark McGann as Lennon and Kim Miyori as Ono.
The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival was a one-day, twelve-hour music festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 13, 1969. It featured a number of popular musical acts from the 1950s and 1960s. The festival is particularly notable as featuring an appearance by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as the Plastic Ono Band, which resulted in the release of their Live Peace in Toronto 1969 album. The festival was also the subject of two films: D.A. Pennebaker film Sweet Toronto and the 2022 Ron Chapman film Revival69: The Concert That Rocked the World.
The Lost Lennon Tapes was an American music documentary series presented by Elliot Mintz, comprising a three-hour premiere episode and 218 one-hour episodes, broadcast on the Westwood One Radio Network between 24 January 1988 and 29 March 1992. The show had about 7 million listeners weekly, and was broadcast in six countries.
"Touch Me" is a song written by Yoko Ono that was first released on her 1970 album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. An edited version was later released in the U.S. as the b-side to John Lennon's single "Power to the People."
John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky is a documentary film that aired on Channel 4 in November 2018 and the A&E Network in March 2019. The focus of the documentary is John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's relationship up to that point and how it impacted the Imagine album recorded in 1971 at their Tittenhurst Park home in Ascot, England. Video footage not previously presented to the public is made available. Present day interviews with former bandmates and others involved in Lennon's and Ono's lives at the time are included in the film.