The Creator Of DeGrassi Suddenly Passed Away & Our Canadian Hearts Are Broken

One of the co-creators of DeGrassi and its many incarnations, Christopher "Kit" Hood, passed away this weekend while at his home in Nova Scotia. He was 76. Hood leaves behind a legacy of Canadian teen entertainment. 

The TV show creator was born in England and came to Canada during his 20s. Previously, he had worked as an editor for Walt Disney. After he arrived, he began working as a writer, director, editor and producer.

Along with Linda Schuyler, Hood founded Playing With Time, the production company behind the earliest days of DeGrassi.

"As Kit and I created Kids of Degrassi Street in the early 1980s, he shifted his focus to directing and brought his influence to the world of Degrassi," Schuyler said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"He added his trademark impish charm, and a kid’s-eye view, never letting the camera look down on our young protagonists."

The team's very first productions, The Kids of Degrassi Street and Degrassi Junior High both won international Emmy awards.

Its latest installment, Degrassi: Next Class has been on Netflix since 2016.

The original series came after a series of four after school specials aired on CBC.

Hood's work was known for taking on complex and deep issues that other teen shows shied away from. These included, pregnancy, suicide, and abortion.

Even well into the 2000s, the DeGrassi franchise had an effect on the industry. DeGrassi: The Next Generation helped to launch the careers of both Drake and Nina Dobrev.

Hood spent the final years of his life in Nova Scotia, according to an obituary from Arbor Memorial.

He had two daughters, Georgia and Fenella, and a grandson, Sylvester. He is survived by his wife Agnes Malouf and her daughter, July.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to Hope for Wildlife.