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Eugene Levyand Deborah Divine are one of Hollywood’s most low-key and long-lasting couples.
The pair, who have been together since the 1970s, share son Dan Levy and daughter Sarah Levy, and the family is as tight-knit as the Roses onSchitt’s Creek.
Though her husband and kids take center stage, Deborah developed a following of her own thanks to her heartfelt tweets (though her Twitter account has since been deactivated). The producer, screenwriter and mom’s sense of humor shone through in her 140-character missives, including one for Eugene’s birthday in December 2021.
“Love and a very big Happy Birthday to @Realeugenelevy, my ‘getting more handsome every day’ husband,” she wrote. “Never thought swatting away women would be part of my retirement plan!”
So, who is Deborah Divine? Here’s everything to know about Eugene Levy’s wife.
She and Eugene have been together for more than five decades
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The Canadian natives reportedly met in the 1970s and tied the knot in 1977.
She worked behind the scenes in television
Eugene credits her with much of their family’s success
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Eugene acknowledged Deborah’s contributions to his life and success at the 2020Emmy Awards, whereSchitt’s Creekswept the comedy categories. Accepting his statuette for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, Eugene expressed his gratitude for Deborah’s impact on his life and career at the very beginning of his speech,saying, “I first want to thank my darling wife of 43 years, Deb Divine, for all the love, support and sage counsel over the years. I wouldn’t be up here without you, Deb. I love you.”
She prefers to avoid the spotlight
While Eugene has made a career for himself in front of the camera, Deborah prefers to stay behind the camera or in a writers' room — but she made an exception for aspecial occasion.
“I gave my speech, went fine. It was fine,” he said. “Then my parents came on after me and sang a duet — a surprise duet for my sister — and suddenly my speech was just absolute s—.”
He added of the “sweetest” surprise, “It just brought the house down. My mom, who doesn’t like the spotlight, absolutely nailed it. It was so nice.”
She and Eugene raised their children in Toronto
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Eugene credits Deborah with deciding toraise their family in Torontoinstead of a showbiz mecca like Los Angeles or New York City. “There’s something about raising kids in a show-bizzy kind of environment that’s a little scary,” he told PEOPLE in 2019. “Toronto is just a very normal town. They could grow up with all options open to them of what they wanted to do. We didn’t want them to be locked into show business. Of course the irony is they both went into acting — and now we’re all on a show together.”
She and Eugene were strict parents
Eugene and Deborah welcomed son Dan in 1983 and daughter Sarah in 1986, and the couple did not coddle their kids. Eugene described his relationship with his son as “standard” when Dan was growing up, telling PEOPLE, “Yes, I would ground him. The thing was for us, if you crossed the line, there was going to be some sort of punishment. It’s the way I was brought up, and it’s the way I brought up my kids.”
While Dan insisted he got grounded for minor offenses like not doing his homework, Eugene was undeterred in his approach. “It worked! Because honestly we’ve never had a problem with our kids,” he said. “It was fun as they got older, because then they’d start making us laugh. There were more times that Daniel had us laughing that I ever had anybody laughing.”
She called out Dan’s childhood bullies on Twitter
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Though her account is now deactivated, Deborah went viral on Twitter for calling out Dan’s childhood bullies ahead of hisSaturday Night Livehosting debut in February 2021.
“This goes out to the bully punks at Camp WTF who made life miserable for a certain cabin-mate back in the summer of ‘96 — just because he was different,” she wrote. “Well, after all these years I have just 7 words to say to you: ‘Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!’ "
Danretweetedher at the time, writing simply, “Moms.”
In April 2020, Deborah also tweeted her son, “Today I regret every single second of worry back in the uninformed 80’s-wondering how the world was going to treat my brilliant little boy who loved to twirl. Little did I know that he was going to kick that old world’s a– to the curb and create a brand new one.”
James Cordenread the tweet aloud onThe Late Late Show With James Corden. Dan recalled that it came during an emotional time toward the end ofSchitt’s Creek.
“I was a complete mess. It completely killed me. I was teetering on the brink of being okay. It was the last day [of filming], I was feeling a lot of emotions, I was trying to keep them in check,” he said. “And then my mom tweeted that and I read it and completely fell apart and had just a solid cry.”
She and Eugene have several famous friends
In January 2024, Eugene and Deborah werespotted grabbing dinnerin Los Angeles with their friends of many years,Tom Hanks,Rita WilsonandMartin Short.
She attended Eugene’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony
“You can’t have your name put on a star on Hollywood Boulevard without someone having your back, and Deb’s had mine for 47 years,” the actor said during his acceptance speech. “There would be no star today without you.”
source: people.com
