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Sam Levene was a Broadway, film, radio and television actor who in a career spanning more than five decades created some of the most legendary comedic roles in American theatrical history, including Nathan Detroit, the craps-shooter extraordinaire, in the 1950 original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls (1950), Max Kane, the hapless agent, in the original 1932 Broadway production of Dinner at Eight (1932); Patsy, a professional if not always successful gambler, in the original and longest running Broadway production of Three Men on a Horse (1935); Gordon Miller, the shoestring producer, in the original Broadway production of Room Service (1937); Sidney Black, a theatrical producer, in Moss Hart's original Broadway production of Light Up the Sky (1948), Horace Vandergelder, the crotchety merchant of Yonkers, in the premier UK production of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker (1954), a play that became the basis for the musical Hello Dolly, Lou Winkler, a businessman in the original Broadway production of Fair Game (1957) a comedy by Sam Locke that Larry Gelbart attributed its 217 performance run mostly to the performance and drawing power of Sam Levene who starred in the comedy with Ellen McRae, a 25-year ingenue making her Broadway debut and would later change her name to Ellen Burstyn; and Al Lewis, the retired vaudevillian, in the original Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys (1972), Neil Simon’s salute to vaudevillians opposite Jack Albertson as Willie Clark, a role Levene performed 466 times on Broadway, first with Jack Albertson until October 28, 1974 and later opposite Jack Gilford, October 30, 1974 until February 10, 1975. In 1984, Levene was posthumously inducted in the American Theatre Hall of Fame and in 1998, Sam Levene along with the original Broadway cast of the 1950 Guys and Dolls Decca cast album posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Birth Name
Samuel Levine
Born
Monday, 28 August 1905
Died
Sunday, 28 December 1980
Actor Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
The Rules of Film Noir | Police Lt. Sam Lubinsky (clip from The Killers (1946)) | 2009 |
Broadway: The American Musical | Nathan Detroit | 2004 |
American Cinema | Samuels (clip from Crossfire (1947)) | 1995 |
And Justice for All | Arnie | 1979 |
Us Two | 1979 | |
Last Embrace | Sam Urdell | 1979 |
The Champ | Uncle Eddie | 1979 |
The Royal Family | Oscar Wolfe | 1977 |
God Told Me To | Everett Lukas | 1976 |
Atlantic City Jackpot | Lou Maurice | 1976 |
Actor Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
The Rules of Film Noir | Police Lt. Sam Lubinsky (clip from The Killers (1946)) | 2009 |
Broadway: The American Musical | Nathan Detroit | 2004 |
American Cinema | Samuels (clip from Crossfire (1947)) | 1995 |
And Justice for All | Arnie | 1979 |
Us Two | 1979 | |
Last Embrace | Sam Urdell | 1979 |
The Champ | Uncle Eddie | 1979 |
The Royal Family | Oscar Wolfe | 1977 |
God Told Me To | Everett Lukas | 1976 |
Atlantic City Jackpot | Lou Maurice | 1976 |
Such Good Friends | Uncle Eddie | 1971 |
A Dream of Kings | Cicero | 1969 |
What's My Line? | Self | 1968 |
Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon | Self (1967) | 1966 |
Act One | Richard Maxwell | 1963 |
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Noel Greb | 1963 |
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Himself - Guest | 1962 |
The Witness | Louis Buchalter | 1960 |
The Aquanauts | Lieutenant Maharis | 1960 |
Play of the Week | Mendele | 1959 |
Who Pays? | Self | 1959 |
The Untouchables | Larry Fay | 1959 |
Kathy O' | Ben Melnick | 1958 |
A Farewell to Arms | Swiss Sergeant | 1957 |
Slaughter on 10th Avenue | Howard Rysdale | 1957 |
The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar | Himself | 1957 |
Sweet Smell of Success | Frank D' Angelo | 1957 |
Designing Woman | Ned Hammerstein | 1957 |
The Opposite Sex | Mike Pearl | 1956 |
Three Sailors and a Girl | Joe Woods | 1953 |
3 Sailors and a Girl | Joe Woods | 1953 |
The United States Steel Hour | Reporter McArdle | 1953 |
Medallion Theatre | Fight Manager | 1953 |
Rheingold Theatre | Sam | 1953 |
Omnibus | Eddie | 1952 |
The U.S. Royal Showcase | Self | 1952 |
Dial 1119 | Dr. John Faron / John D. Faron | 1950 |
The Colgate Comedy Hour | Self - Actor | 1950 |
The Arthur Murray Party | Self | 1950 |
With These Hands | Alexander Brody | 1950 |
Guilty Bystander | Captain Tonetti / Capt. Tonetti | 1950 |
Leather Gloves | Bernie | 1948 |
Studio One | Ben Weber / Ben Selig | 1948 |
The Ford Theatre Hour | Sidney Black | 1948 |
The Babe Ruth Story | Phil Conrad | 1948 |
The Ed Sullivan Show | Actor - Dramatic Reading / Self / Self - Audience Bow / Self - Actor - Dramatic Reading | 1948 |
The Milton Berle Show | Self - Actor / Singer | 1948 |
Killer McCoy | Happy | 1947 |
Crossfire | Samuels | 1947 |
Brute Force | Louie Miller / Louie Miller #7033 | 1947 |
A Likely Story | Louie / Lennie | 1947 |
Boomerang! | Dave Woods / Morning Record's Reporter Dave Woods | 1947 |
The Killers | Police Lt. Sam Lubinsky / Lt. Sam Lubinsky | 1946 |
The True Glory | Self - Commentator / Commentator | 1945 |
Follow the Boys | Sgt. Leo Andreof | 1944 |
The Purple Heart | Lt. Wayne Greenbaum | 1944 |
'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders | Sgt. Leo Andreof - 'Transport' / Leo 'Transport' Andreof | 1943 |
Whistling in Brooklyn | Creeper | 1943 |
I Dood It | Ed Jackson | 1943 |
Action in the North Atlantic | Abel 'Chips' Abrams | 1943 |
Destination Unknown | Victor, Elena's Aide | 1942 |
The Big Street | Horsethief | 1942 |
Sunday Punch | Roscoe | 1942 |
Grand Central Murder | Inspector Gunther | 1942 |
Sing Your Worries Away | Smiley Clark | 1942 |
Shadow of the Thin Man | Lieutenant Abrams | 1941 |
Married Bachelor | Cookie Farrar | 1941 |
Golden Boy | Siggie | 1939 |
The Mad Miss Manton | Lieutenant Brent | 1938 |
The Shopworn Angel | 'Leer' | 1938 |
Yellow Jack | Busch | 1938 |
After the Thin Man | Abrams / Lt. Abrams | 1936 |
Three Men on a Horse | Patsy | 1936 |
The Talk of Hollywood | Film Buyer | 1929 |