Michel Levesque was born on August 22, 1943, in Pennsville, New Jersey, to Canadian immigrant parents. He moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1961, after graduating from Cal State Northridge University. Prior to his film career, Levesque built sets for community theater productions.
Levesque's first film gig was for the legendary independent director/producer Roger Corman on the 1967 movie "The Trip." He also worked with Corman on the films "Naked Angels" and "Bloody Mama." In the early 1970s, Levesque teamed up with writing partner David M. Kaufman and directed two low-budget exploitation flicks: the horror film "Werewolves on Wheels" and the comedy "Sweet Sugar."
Levesque then moved to Europe and co-wrote two movies for the Dutch Cultural Commission. He returned to the United States and resumed his career as an art director in 1975, working on films such as "Supervixens," "Up!," and "Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens" for notorious soft-core cult director Russ Meyer.
Levesque also worked as a production designer on films like "The Incredible Melting Man," "The Night Before," "Homer and Eddie," and "The Package." He handled art director duties on projects including "Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw," "Cannonball!," "Foxes," "Borderline," and episodes of the TV series "Hunter" and "Renegade."
In 1989, Levesque quit working in the film industry and joined forces again with Kaufman to form Digital Video Theatre, producing and directing a series of digital video shorts. In recent years, Levesque pursued his love for music by studying jazz piano and composing a cabaret musical.
Levesque married his life partner, Colleen Kennedy, in September 2009. He died of cancer at the age of 66 on May 14, 2010, at his home in Los Angeles, California.
