TORONTO – Teacher-turned-comedian Gerry Dee says returning to his old school to preview an upcoming episode of his sitcom “Mr. D” was an emotional homecoming.
The wisecracking TV star visited his alma mater Wednesday to speak to students and recall the days he walked those same halls as a student, and later as a teacher.
Following his 20-minute address at De La Salle College, Dee said he struggled to stifle emotions that emerged when he saw a packed auditorium and was hit by a flood of memories.
“I saw where the (students) were sitting, I envisioned sitting where the teachers were sitting (along) the walls, I envisioned the days I would stand there and lead the assembly in prayer,” said Dee, who taught phys-ed and coached hockey during nearly 10 years at the Catholic school.
“It was a lot of emotions going through (me). I always get emotional when I think of all that stuff for some reason.”
Dee, who left teaching in 2003, notes that many of his school days inspired scenes in his farcical CBC sitcom, about an ill-prepared instructor who often seems to know less than his young charges.
They include the episode he screened Wednesday in which his fictional character holds a charity boxing match and enters the ring with another instructor.
In the real-life boxing match, Dee said he and fellow phys-ed teacher Steve Mason pummelled each other mercilessly.
Mason, now the school’s athletic director, confirmed the account, noting the brawl unfolded despite pre-fight promises to keep it clean.
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“We said before the fight: ‘No haymakers.’ And of course, as soon as we went in the ring we just started wailing on each other,” said Mason, among several former colleagues who still work at the school.
“It took me a good month to recover from that fight, I’m not even joking.”
Dee insisted he was never as ridiculous as the pompous teacher he portrays on TV, but Mason said he caught glimpses of Mr. D’s over-the-top egotism back when the two teachers would pit their classes in soccer battles.
“Of course (Dee) would join in the game, we would both join in the game. And then he started scoring all the goals and I’d have to say, ‘Gerry, you’ve got to chill out a little bit here, you’ve got to let the kids play. They’re Grade 6, you know,'” Mason said chuckling.
Former student Dave Stratton, now a 25-year-old phys-ed teacher at the school, said he remembers Dee as a funny teacher who made class more enjoyable.
But he also recalled a competitive spirit that would prompt spontaneous rule changes in the middle of a soccer game.
“All of a sudden a goal might be worth two goals and it seemed to happen when his team would score,” said Stratton, who had Dee as a phys-ed teacher in Grade 10 and a hockey coach in Grade 11.
Despite any apparent similarities to his on-air persona, Dee stressed that gags on the show are not meant to represent what life was actually like at De La Salle College.
Any incidents that inspired funny storylines were greatly exaggerated for comic effect, he added.
Still, the CBC series is filled with tributes to actual students and teachers who made an impact on Dee’s life.
“There are homages everywhere in the show,” Dee admitted.
They include salutes to his old hockey coach, favourite instructors, favourite students and former colleagues whose names are attached to fictional characters including Mason, Cheeley, Hunt, Maya and Callaghan.
So far, the show has been a hit with De La Salle College’s faculty.
“The first thing we do Tuesday morning is talk about the episode and we laugh about certain scenes,” said Mason, pointing to a joke about a staff member hogging the lunchroom microwave and an episode about a 24-hour famine as among the jabs that hit close to home.
Meanwhile, Mason said some students are intrigued by the prospect that the show’s off-the-wall characters may actually be based on real teachers.
“They’re always asking: ‘Who’s that? What teacher is that from our school?’ And I said, ‘Nobody’s actually a character, they’re just some ideas from certain teachers here.'”
Dee marvelled at how drastically his life has changed since his teaching days – back when he would spend hours driving to low-paying standup gigs after class and then stumble in late the next morning.
He credited the school with giving him a solid grounding in life.
“I’m living the dream that I wasn’t supposed to be doing,” he said.
Mason said he’s watched Dee come a long way from his days at De La Salle College.
“From Day 1, I was with him going to Yuk Yuk’s and sitting through some tough shows and I just sort of watched him progress. And it doesn’t surprise me that he got where he is today.”
“Mr. D” airs Mondays on CBC-TV.
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