Michel Levesque(1943-2010)
- Art Director
- Production Designer
- Director
Michel Levesque was born on August 22, 1943 in Pennsville, New Jersey.
His parents were Canadian immigrants. Levesque moved to Los Angeles,
California in 1961. After graduating from Cal State Northridge
University, Michel built sets for community theater productions. His
first film gig was for legendary independent director/producer Roger
Corman on Corman's 1967 movie "The Trip." Michel also worked for Corman
on the films "Naked Angels" and "Bloody Mama." In the early 70s
Levesque teamed with writing partner David M. Kaufman. Michel directed
two low-budget 70s exploitation flicks: the cruddy horror clunker
"Werewolves on Wheels" and the enjoyable chicks-in-chains outing "Sweet
Sugar." Levesque then moved to Europe and co-wrote two movies for the
Dutch Cultural Commission. Michel went back to America and resumed his
career as an art director in 1975. He worked for notorious soft-core
cult director Russ Meyer on three pictures: "Supervixens," "Up!," and
"Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens." Among the films he worked as
a production designer on are "The Incredible Melting Man," "The Night
Before," "Homer and Eddie," and "The Package." Moreover, Levesque
handled art director duties on a handful of projects that include
"Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw," "Cannonball!," "Foxes," "Borderline," and
episodes of the TV series "Hunter" and "Renegade." In 1989 Michel quit
working in the film industry and joined forces again with Kaufman to
form Digital Video Theatre so he could produce and direct a series of
digital video shorts. In more recent years Levesque pursued his love
for music by studying jazz piano and composing a cabaret musical. In
September, 2009 he married Colleen Kennedy, who was his life partner
for thirty years. Michel died of cancer at age 66 on May 14, 2010 at
his home in Los Angeles, California.
