Timothy "Speed" Levitch

Tim "Speed" Levitch (born 1970) is an American actor, tour guide, speaker, author and voice actor. His nickname is derived from his trademark fast talking style. Levitch has appeared in multiple films and has had his poetic and philosophical works published in books and periodicals.

Biography

Tim Levitch was born July 9, 1970 in New York City. He mostly grew up in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, where he attended the Horace Mann School. [Bruni, Frank. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E6DC1738F932A35753C1A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 "Manhattan Through a Warped Window; Featured in a Film: A Homeless Tour Guide's Offbeat City View"] , "The New York Times", 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 twelve, his parents got a house in Westchester County, New York and he was briefly a suburbanite. He longed to return to New York and eventually he did.

In 1992 he received his tour guide license from the Central Park Conservancy. He later took a position with Apple and Gray Line Tours as a tour bus guide. He soon attracted a cult following, due not only to his fast talking style, but also for his obvious love of his native city and passionate philosophical ideas.

Levitch's fame was spread beyond NYC when he became the subject of the 1998 documentary "The Cruise".

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.

Filmography

*"" (2007) (voice) (as Speed Levitch) .... Puggler, the Punk Rock Juggler
*"Stroker and Hoop" (2004) TV Series (voice) (as Speed Levitch) .... Hoop
*"Video Capture Device" (2004) .... Himself
*"Live from Shiva's Dance Floor" (2003) .... Himself
*"School of Rock" (2003) .... Waiter
*"Waking Life" (2001) (voice) (as Speed Levitch) .... Himself
*"Scotland, Pa." (2001) .... Hector (Hippie #2)
*"Anatomy of a Scene" - Waking Life (2001) (as Speed Levitch) .... Himself
*"The Cruise" (1998/I) .... Himself

Books

*cite book | author=Levitch, Timothy "Speed" | title=Speedology: Speed on New York on Speed | publisher=Context Books | year=2002 | id=ISBN 1-893956-29-6

References

External links

* [http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1545605&lastnode_id=670665 Tim Levitch - Modern Day Urban Vagabond - by David Lawson.]
* [http://www.hybridmagazine.com/culture/0403/dashevsky.shtml War Correspondence from the Present Tense - an interview with Levitch]
* [http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol18/issue13/screens.cruise.side.html Speed Levitch Explains It All]
* [http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol18/issue13/screens.cruise.html Interview with Bennett Miller and Timothy "Speed" Levitch]
* [http://www.speedlevitchonline.comspeedlevitchonline.com, The offical Blog of Timothy "Speed" Levitch]
* [http://www.presentmagazine.com/full_content.php?article_id=1459&full=yes&pbr=1 Present Magazine Feature]