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Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels A Kiss Before Dying (1953), Rosemary's Baby (1967), The Stepford Wives (1972), This Perfect Day (1970), The Boys from Brazil (1976), and Sliver (1991). Levin also wrote the play Deathtrap (1978). Many of his novels and plays have been adapted into films. He received the Prometheus Award and several Edgar Awards.
Levin's first produced play was No Time for Sergeants (adapted from the 1954 Mac Hyman novel), a comedy about a hillbilly drafted into the United States Air Force. It opened on Broadway theatre in 1955 and starred Andy Griffith, whose career it jumpstarted. The play was adapted as a movie of the same name, released in 1958, with Griffith reprising his role and co-starring Nick Adams. Later the concept was developed as a 1964 television comedy series starring Sammy Jackson. No Time for Sergeants is generally considered the precursor to Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C..Hugh Ruppersburg, The New Georgia Encyclopedia Companion to Georgia Literature, p. 220 (University of Georgia Press, 2007).
Levin's best-known play is Deathtrap (1978), which holds the record as the longest-running comedy thriller on Broadway. Levin won his second Edgar Award with this play. In 1982, it was adapted into a film of the same name, starring Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine.
Levin's best-known novel is Rosemary's Baby, a horror story of modern-day Satanism and other , set in Manhattan's Upper West Side. In 1968, it was adapted as a film written and directed by Roman Polanski. It starred Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes. Ruth Gordon won an Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance. Roman Polanski was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Levin said in 2002,
Other Levin novels that were adapted as films included the satirical The Stepford Wives in 1975, again in 2004. The Boys from Brazil was adapted as a film released in 1978.
In 1970, Levin wrote the science-fiction novel This Perfect Day about a technocratic dystopia, for which he won a Prometheus Award in 1992.
In the 1990s, Levin wrote two more bestselling novels: Sliver (1991) and Son of Rosemary (1997). Sliver was adapted as a film in 1993 by Phillip Noyce. It starred Sharon Stone, William Baldwin and Tom Berenger. Son of Rosemary (1997) was proposed as a film sequel to Rosemary’s Baby. It was never developed into a film.
Stephen King has described Ira Levin as the "Swiss made" of suspense novels: "Every novel he has ever written has been a marvel of plotting (...) he makes what the rest of us do look like those five-dollar watches you can buy in the discount drug stores."
Novels
Levin's first novel, A Kiss Before Dying (1953), was well received, and he won the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. A Kiss Before Dying was adapted twice as movies of the same name, first in 1956 and again in 1991.
"I feel guilty that 'Rosemary's Baby' led to The Exorcist, The Omen. A whole generation has been exposed, has more belief in Satan. I don't believe in Satan. And I feel that the strong fundamentalism we have would not be as strong if there hadn't been so many of these books ... Of course, I didn't send back any of the royalty checks."
Personal life
Levin was married twice, first to Gabrielle Aronsohn (from 1960 to 1968), with whom he had three sons, Adam, Jared, and Nicholas, and later to Phyllis Sugarman (died 2006). He had four grandchildren. Levin was a Jewish atheism.
Death
Levin died of a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, New York City on November 12, 2007.
Works
Novels
Short Stories
Plays
Musicals
Screenplays
Film and television adaptations
Further reading
External links
Categories: United States Army Signal Corps Personnel, 1929 Births, 2007 Deaths, 20th-century American Dramatists And Playwrights, 20th-century American Jews, 20th-century American Male Writers, 20th-century American Novelists, 21st-century American Jews, American Horror Writers, American Male Dramatists And Playwrights, American Male Novelists, American Mystery Writers, American People Of Russian-jewish Descent, American Satirists, American Satirical Novelists, Edgar Award Winners, Horace Mann School Alumni, Jewish American Atheists, Jewish American Military Personnel, Jewish American Novelists, Military Personnel From New York City, Military Personnel From New York, New York University Alumni, Novelists From Connecticut, Novelists From New York City, People From Wilton, Connecticut, United States Army Personnel Of The Korean War, Writers From Manhattan, Writers From The Bronx
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