Timothy "Speed" Levitch (born 1970) is an American actor, tour guide, speaker, philosopher, author and voice actor. 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.
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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.[1] 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 City 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. In 2000, Levitch was a citizen of the art project Quiet, We Live in Public.
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 is starting a tour business called "Taste of KC."