June Carter Cash
Musical Monikers
Madonna
Justin Bieber
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
1 photo
Quick Facts
- NAME: Ira Levin
- OCCUPATION: Author, Playwright
- BIRTH DATE: August 27, 1929
- DEATH DATE: November 12, 2007
- EDUCATION: Drake University, New York University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: New York, New York
- PLACE OF DEATH: New York
- Full Name: Ira Marvin Levin
Best Known For
Author Ira Levin wrote some of the gripping novels of the 1960s and 1970s, including Rosemary's Baby and The Boys from Brazil.
Videos see all videos
Ira Levin - The Horror of Life
Ira Levin was the master of bringing horror into our everyday lives with novels such as "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Boys from Brazil." Click "buy Now" to learn more about books by Ira Levin. Video courtesy of Open Road Media.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowIra Marvin Levin. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:47, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551.
Ira Marvin Levin. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551 [Accessed 21 May 2013].
"Ira Marvin Levin." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 02:47 http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551.
"Ira Marvin Levin," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551 [accessed May 21, 2013].
"Ira Marvin Levin," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551 (accessed May 21, 2013).
Ira Marvin Levin [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551.
Ira Marvin Levin, http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551 (last visited May 21, 2013).
Ira Marvin Levin. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/ira-levin-20703551. Accessed May 21, 2013.
The success of Rosemary's Baby triggered a wave of satanic-themed horror movies. The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976) also enjoyed great popularity with moviegoers. Levin, however, sought out other genres.
Contents
1970s Novels and Plays
Levin continued to thrive as a novelist with such best-selling works as The Stepford Wives (1972) and The Boys from Brazil (1976). In The Stepford Wives, he explored a disturbing suburban town where wives have been replaced by androids. Again working with fantasy, Levin imagined that Dr. Josef Mengele, a Nazi who experimented on concentration camp victims, tries to bring the Third Reich back to power in The Boys from Brazil. The book explores the way-ahead-of-its-time issue of cloning.
Both novels ignited the imagination of Hollywood. Katharine Ross starred as a new arrival to the town of Stepford in The Stepford Wives (1975), a role later played by Nicole Kidman in the 2004 remake. A Nazi hunter played by Laurence Olivier tries to foil Dr. Mengele's (Gregory Peck) plot in the 1978 film version of The Boys from Brazil.
That same year, Levin experienced his greatest theatrical triumph. The comedic mystery Deathtrap opened on Broadway, and it became a smash hit. Levin successfully fused humor and clever plot twists in this tale about a washed-up writer who plans to kill another for his play. Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve starred in the 1982 film.
Later Years
Never a prolific writer, Levin wrote only two more novels during his lifetime. Sliver (1991) told the story of a woman being watched by the owner of her high-tech apartment building, and was later turned into a movie starring Sharon Stone. In 1998, Levin tried to capitalize on his earlier success with Son of Rosemary: The Sequel to Rosemary's Baby, but it didn't capture readers' interest as much as the original.
Levin died at the age of 78 of a heart attack on November 12, 2007, in his New York City apartment. Even after his death, his books have remained popular. In 2010 Corsair Publishing reissued several of his novels in paperback, including Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives.
Personal Life
Levin had three sons, Adam, Jared and Nicholas, during his first marriage, to Gabrielle Aronsohn. After that union ended, Levin married Phyllis Finkel; they later divorced.
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
profile name: Ira Levin profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Famous Virgoans
View groupMichael Jackson is one, so is Stephen King and Greta Garbo. Some say typical traits of Virgoans are helpful, critical, shy, and meticulous. Meet some famous people who share the astrological sign Virgo.
Famous Virgoans 561 people in this group
-
Famous Playwrights 131 people in this group
-
Famous Fiction Authors
View groupLike in Gone With the Wind, The Sun Also Rises after Twilight, even in a Pet Cemetary Where the Wild Things Are. But let's not be too morbid and discuss creepy things like The Satanic Verses or try to get an Interview With a Vampire from The Stranger Who Professes 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.' Going round in round like this, you may never know Where the Sidewalk Ends, and that would be unfortunate since Uncle Tom's Cabin is just around the corner...
Okay, we could go on, but we won't torture you. You get the point. Our attempt at creative writing is nothing compared to the imaginative minds of our Famous Fiction Authors Group.
Famous Fiction Authors 410 people in this group
