Levene, Sam(uel)

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre | 2004 | 700+ words | Copyright

Levene, Sam[uel] [né Levine] (1905–80), actor. The sour‐faced comedian, who spoke with the pronounced accent of his native New York, studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making his professional debut in Wall Street (1927). Major recognition came eight years later when he played the racing addict Patsy in Three Men on a Horse (1935). Successes followed in a series of noteworthy performances: the shoestring producer Gordon Miller in Room Service (1937), the Jewish policeman Officer Finkelstein in Margin for Error (1939), the aggressive, foul‐mouthed producer Sidney Black in Light Up the Sky (1948), and gambler Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (1950). Levene then portrayed stereotypical New York Jewish types in such plays as Fair Game (1957), Make a Million (1958), Paris Is Out! (1970), and Horowitz and Mrs. Washington (1980), all of which owed what runs they achieved to his clowning. More interesting interpretations were his Boss Mangan in Heartbreak House (1959) and veteran producer Oscar Wolfe in a 1975 revival of The Royal Family.

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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Levene, Sam(uel)." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Levene, Sam(uel)." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LeveneSamuel.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Levene, Sam(uel)." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LeveneSamuel.html

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