Oscar Levant | |
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| Born | (1906-12-27)December 27, 1906 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | August 14, 1972(1972-08-14) (aged 65) |
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| Years active | 1923–1965 |
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| Children | 3 |
Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906 – August 14, 1972) was an Americanconcert pianist, composer,conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian, and actor. He had roles in the filmsRhapsody in Blue (1945),The Barkleys of Broadway (1949),An American in Paris (1951), andThe Band Wagon (1953). He was awarded a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for recordings featuring his piano performances.[1] He was portrayed bySean Hayes in theBroadway playGood Night, Oscar, written byDoug Wright.[2][3] Levant appeared as himself in the GershwinbiopicRhapsody in Blue (1945).
Levant was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1906, toOrthodox Jewish Max, a watchmaker, and Annie, who emigrated from Russia.[4] Levant's parents were married by his maternal grandfather, who was a rabbi.[4]: 4–5
Levant moved to New York in 1922. He began studying underZygmunt Stojowski. In 1925, Levant appeared withBen Bernie in a short sound film,Ben Bernie and All the Lads, made in New York City with the De ForestPhonofilmsound-on-film system. In the 1920s, Levant recorded with the Ben Bernie Orchestra.
Levant traveled to Hollywood in 1928, where his career took a turn for the better. During his stay, he met and became friends withGeorge Gershwin. From 1929 to 1948, Levant composed the music for more than twenty movies. During this period, he also wrote or co-wrote numerous popular songs that made thehit parade, the most noteworthy being "Blame It on My Youth" (1934), now considered a standard.
Levant began composing seriously around 1932. He studied underArnold Schoenberg and impressed Schoenberg sufficiently to be offered an assistantship (which he turned down, considering himself unqualified).[5] These formal studies led to a request byAaron Copland to play at theYaddo Festival of contemporary American music on April 30 of that year. Successful, Levant began composing a new orchestral work, asinfonietta.
Levant made his debut as amusic conductor in 1938 onBroadway, filling in for his brother Harry in sixty-five performances ofGeorge S. Kaufman andMoss Hart'sThe Fabulous Invalid. In 1939, he was again working on Broadway as composer and conductor ofThe American Way, another Kaufman and Hart production.[6] He was a talented pianist and was well known for his recorded works of Gershwin, and numerous classical composers. During a time in the 1940s, he was the highest paid concert pianist in the United States.[7]
Also, at this time, Levant was becoming known to American audiences as one of the regular panelists on the radio quiz showInformation Please. Originally scheduled as a guest panelist, Levant proved so quick-witted and popular that he became a regular fixture on the show in the late-1930s and 1940s, along with fellow panelistsFranklin P. Adams andJohn Kieran and moderatorClifton Fadiman. "Mr. Levant", as he was always called, was often challenged with musical questions, and he impressed audiences with his depth of knowledge and facility with a joke. Kieran praised Levant as having a "positive genius for making offhand cutting remarks that couldn't have been sharper if he'd honed them a week in his mind. Oscar was always good for a bright response edged with acid."[8] Examples include "I knewDoris Day before she was a virgin", "I think a lot of [conductor/composer Leonard]Bernstein—but not as much as he does", and (after Marilyn converted to Judaism when she married playwrightArthur Miller), "Now thatMarilyn Monroe is kosher, Arthur Miller can eat her."[9][10][11]
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Levant appeared in feature films, starting from the 1920s until the mid-50s, often playing a pianist or composer. He had supporting roles in theMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicalsThe Barkleys of Broadway (1949), starringFred Astaire andGinger Rogers;An American in Paris (1951), starringGene Kelly; andThe Band Wagon (1953), starring Astaire andCyd Charisse. Oscar Levant regularly appeared onNBC radio'sKraft Music Hall, starring singerAl Jolson. He not only accompanied Jolson on the piano with classical and popular songs, but often joked and ad-libbed with Jolson and his guests. This included comedy sketches. Their individual ties toGeorge Gershwin—Jolson introduced Gershwin's "Swanee"—undoubtedly had much to do with their rapport. Both Levant and Jolson appeared as themselves in the Gershwin biopicRhapsody in Blue (1945).
In the early 1950s, Levant was an occasional panelist on the NBC radio and television game showWho Said That?.[12] Levant hosted a talk show onKCOP-TV in Los Angeles from 1958 until 1960,The Oscar Levant Show,[13] which was latersyndicated. It featured his piano playing along with monologues and interviews with guests such asFred Astaire andLinus Pauling. Full recordings of only two shows are known to have survived,[14] one with Astaire, who paid to have a kinescope recording of the broadcast made so that he could assess his performance.
Levant married actressBarbara Woodell in 1932. The couple divorced in 1933.[15] In 1939, Levant married singer and actressJune Gale; they had three daughters, Marcia, Lorna, and Amanda.[16][17]
Levant talked publicly about hisneuroses andhypochondria.[18] Levant became addicted to prescription drugs and was committed to psychiatric hospitals by his wife.[19]
On August 14, 1972, Levant died of a heart attack at his home inBeverly Hills, California, at the age of 65. Levant's body was discovered by his wife, June, when she went to wake him from a nap for a scheduled interview withCandice Bergen, who was then working as a photojournalist. Bergen had shot photos of Levant on a previous visit, one of which was published in her memoir,Knock Wood.[20]
Levant is interred in thePierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Several plays have been written about Levant includingAt Wit's End: A Play with Music by Joel Kimmel (performed byStan Freeman in a one-man show) andFor Piano and Harpo byDan Castellaneta, chronicling Levant's friendship withHarpo Marx.[21]
ActorJohn Garfield used Levant as a model when creating the character of troubled genius Mickey Borden in the 1938 filmFour Daughters.[22] Levant was the inspiration for the neurotic, womanizing pianist Henry Orient inNora Johnson's novelThe World of Henry Orient (1964).[23]
In April 2023, a play about Levant's life written byPulitzer Prize winnerDoug Wright premiered on Broadway. The play,Good Night, Oscar, premiered at theBelasco Theatre and starredSean Hayes, who received aTony Award forBest Actor in a Play for his performance.[24]Good Night, Oscar was a fictionalized version of a true event in Levant's life, when he was given a four-hour leave of absence from a psychiatric hospital to allow him to appear on a TV game show (in the play it's portrayed asThe Tonight Show.)[25][26]
Levant had an extensive musical career with over 75 composer credits and 33 albums that he recorded as a pianist.[27][28]
Examples of his repartée:
Photograph caption dated March 10, 1964, reads, "Posed amidst and dwarfed by huge Easter bunnies, Amanda Levant, daughter of wit-pianist Oscar Levant, prepares for her duties as a hostess at the Teen-Age Fair, due March 20–29 at the Hollywood Palladium."
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