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 Hall of Fame Award and several Edgar Awards. In 1996 he was given the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Early life

Levin was born on August 27, 1929, in Manhattan, New York City to a family of Russian-Jewish descent. He grew up in both Manhattan and the Bronx. He attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa from 1946 to 1948, and then New York University, where he majored in philosophy and English literature. He graduated in 1950. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the Korean War, from 1953 to 1955.

Professional life

Scriptwriting

As a student at New York University, Levin entered a contest for scriptwriting sponsored by the commercial television broadcaster CBS. His script was the basis for "The Old Woman", an episode of the TV series The Clock (Dec. 1, 1950). After college, Levin wrote training films and other scripts for radio and television.

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 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..

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. 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 watchmaker" 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."

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.

Death

Levin died of a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, New York City on November 12, 2007.

Works

Novels

  • A Kiss Before Dying (1953)
  • Rosemary's Baby (1967)
  • This Perfect Day (1970) – winner, 1992 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award
  • The Stepford Wives (1972)
  • The Boys from Brazil (1976)
  • Sliver (1991)
  • Son of Rosemary (1997)

Short stories

  • "Sylvia." Manhunt, April 1955. Repr. Deadly Doings, ed. Martin H. Greenberg, Ivy, 1989. Adapted as "Sylvia," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Jan 19, 1958.
  • "The Underground Gourmet." Ladies Home Journal, Jan. 1954. Adapted as "The Devil You Say," General Electric Theater, Jan. 22, 1962.

Plays

  • No Time for Sergeants (novel by Mac Hyman, 1954; expanded for Broadway by Levin, 1956)
  • Interlock (1958)
  • Critic's Choice (1960)
  • General Seeger (1962)
  • Dr. Cook's Garden (1968)
  • Veronica's Room (1974)
  • Deathtrap (1978) – Tony nomination for Best Play
  • Break a Leg: A Comedy in Two Acts (1979)
  • Cantorial (1982)
  • Footsteps (2003)

Musicals

  • Drat! The Cat! (1965) – lyricist and bookwriter

Screenplays

  • "The Old Woman." The Clock, Dec 1, 1950.
  • "Leda's Portrait." Lights Out, Mar. 12, 1951.
  • "The Pattern." Lights Out, May 28, 1951.
  • "The Notebook Warrior." United States Steel Hour, Sept 14, 1954; Matinee Theatre, Mar. 19, 1956.
  • "No Time for Sergeants," United States Steel Hour, Mar. 15, 1955.

Film and television adaptations

  • A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
  • No Time for Sergeants (1958)
  • Critic's Choice (1963)
  • Rosemary's Baby (1968)
  • Dr. Cook's Garden (1971)
  • The Stepford Wives (1975)
  • The Boys from Brazil (1978)
  • Deathtrap (1982)
  • A Kiss Before Dying (1991)
  • Sliver (1993)
  • Footsteps (2003)
  • The Stepford Wives (2004)
  • Rosemary's Baby (2014) – two-episode miniseries
  • The Boys from Brazil (2026) – Netflix miniseries

References

Further reading

  • John Grant, "Levin, Ira (Marvin)", in David Pringle, ed., St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers. London: St. James Press, 1998,
  • Official Website (IraLevin.org)