Oscar Levant facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Oscar Levant
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Levant in the trailer for
Rhapsody in Blue (1945) |
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| Born | December 27, 1906 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Died | August 14, 1972 (aged 65) |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1923–1965 |
| Spouse(s) |
Barbara Woodell
(m. 1932; div. 1933)June Gale
(m. 1939) |
| Children | 3 |
Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906 – August 14, 1972) was a talented American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, and actor. He was also known for being a radio and TV personality and a comedian. People knew him for his roles in movies like Rhapsody in Blue (1945), The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and The Band Wagon (1953).
In 1960, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his amazing piano recordings. He was just as famous for his sharp wit and funny jokes on radio, in movies, and on TV, as he was for his music. The Broadway play Good Night, Oscar, written by Doug Wright, even featured him, with Sean Hayes playing his role.
Contents
Early Life
Oscar Levant was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1906. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.
In 1922, after his father passed away, Oscar moved to New York. There, he began studying piano with Zygmunt Stojowski, a well-known piano teacher. When he was 18, in 1925, Levant appeared with Ben Bernie in a short sound film called Ben Bernie and All the Lads. This film was made using an early sound system called De Forest Phonofilm. In the mid-1920s, Levant also made many recordings with the Ben Bernie Orchestra.
Career Highlights
Levant moved to Hollywood in 1928, which helped his career grow. While there, he met and became good friends with the famous composer George Gershwin. From 1929 to 1948, Levant wrote music for more than twenty movies. He also wrote or helped write many popular songs that became hits, like "Blame It on My Youth" (1934). This song is still popular today.
Around 1932, Levant started composing more seriously. He studied with Arnold Schoenberg, a very important composer. Schoenberg was so impressed that he offered Levant a job as his assistant, but Oscar felt he wasn't ready for it. These studies led to Aaron Copland, another famous composer, asking Levant to play at a music festival in 1932. After this success, Levant began writing a new orchestral piece called a sinfonietta.
In 1938, Levant made his first appearance as a music conductor on Broadway. He filled in for his brother Harry in a play called The Fabulous Invalid. In 1939, he worked on Broadway again as both a composer and conductor for The American Way. He was a very skilled pianist and was famous for his recordings of Gershwin's music and other classical pieces. For a time in the 1940s, he was one of the highest-paid concert pianists in the United States.
Around this time, Levant also became well-known to American audiences as a regular guest on the radio quiz show Information Please. He was originally just a guest, but he was so quick-witted and popular that he became a regular on the show in the late 1930s and 1940s. He often answered musical questions and impressed everyone with his deep knowledge and funny jokes. One of the show's panelists, John Kieran, said Levant had a "positive genius for making offhand cutting remarks."
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Levant appeared in many feature films from the 1920s to the mid-1950s, often playing a pianist or composer. He had important supporting roles in musicals from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, An American in Paris (1951) with Gene Kelly, and The Band Wagon (1953) with Astaire and Cyd Charisse.
Oscar Levant was also a regular on NBC radio's Kraft Music Hall, which starred singer Al Jolson. He played piano for Jolson, performing both classical and popular songs. They often joked and improvised together, even doing comedy skits. Both Levant and Jolson appeared as themselves in the Gershwin movie Rhapsody in Blue (1945).
In the early 1950s, Levant was sometimes a guest on the NBC radio and TV game show Who Said That?. From 1958 to 1960, Levant hosted his own talk show called The Oscar Levant Show on KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. It later became available in other cities. On his show, he played piano, told stories, and interviewed guests like Fred Astaire and Linus Pauling.
Personal Life
Levant married actress Barbara Woodell in 1932, but they divorced in 1933. In 1939, he married his second wife, singer and actress June Gale. They were married for 33 years until he passed away in 1972. They had three daughters: Marcia, Lorna, and Amanda.
Oscar Levant was known for talking openly about his worries and health concerns on television. Despite his challenges, many people thought he was a very smart and talented person. He once joked, "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."
Death
Oscar Levant passed away at his home in Beverly Hills, California, from a heart attack in 1972. He was 65 years old. His wife, June, found him when she called him for an interview with Candice Bergen, who was a photojournalist at the time.
Levant is buried in the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. There's a funny story that his gravestone says, "I told them I was ill." But actually, the plaque on his crypt only shows his name and the dates he was born and died.
Legacy
Actor John Garfield used Oscar Levant as an inspiration for the character of Mickey Borden in the 1938 film Four Daughters. Levant also inspired the character of Henry Orient, a nervous pianist, in Nora Johnson's novel and the 1964 Hollywood film The World of Henry Orient.
In April 2023, a play called Good Night, Oscar by Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright opened on Broadway. It stars Sean Hayes as Oscar Levant. The play is a fictional story based on true events, showing Levant getting a four-hour break from a hospital to appear on The Tonight Show in 1958. At the 2023 Tony Awards, Sean Hayes won the award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance.
Acting Credits
Filmography
- Ben Bernie and All the Lads (1925) as himself
- The Dance of Life (1929) as Jerry Evans
- Night Parade (1929) as Ann Pennington's piano player
- In Person (1935)
- Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) (he composed music for the film's opera)
- Rhythm on the River (1940) as Billy Starbuck
- Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941) as Dick Rayburn
- Rhapsody in Blue (1945) as himself
- Humoresque (1946) as Sid Jeffers
- You Were Meant for Me (1948) as Oscar Hoffman
- Romance on the High Seas (1948) as Oscar Farrar (first Doris Day film)
- The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) as Ezra Millar
- An American in Paris (1951) as Adam Cook, a bohemian pianist
- O. Henry's Full House (1952) as Bill Peoria (in The Ransom of Red Chief part)
- The I Don't Care Girl (1953) as Charles Bennett
- The Band Wagon (1953) as Lester Marton
- The Cobweb (1955) as Mr. Capp
Television
- The Oscar Levant Show (1958–1960, TV series)
- Jack Benny Program (1958, TV Series) as himself
- The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar (early 1960s)
- The Joey Bishop Show (1964, TV series) as himself
- Merv Griffin Show (1965, TV series) as himself
Theatre
- Burlesque (1927) – musical play – performer
- Ripples (1930) – musical – co-composer
- Sweet and Low (1930) – musical show – songwriter
- The Fabulous Invalid (1938) – musical play – replacement conductor
- The American Way (1939) – musical play – conductor and composer
Quotations
Here's another example of his quick wit:
- "It's not what you are; it's what you don't become that hurts."
See also
In Spanish: Oscar Levant para niños
