Richard Levinson ( born Richard Levinson ; - , ) is an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link . [4] [5]
| Richard Levinson | |
|---|---|
| Richard Levinson | |
| Birth name | Richard L. Levinson |
| Date of Birth | August 7, 1934 |
| Place of Birth | Philadelphia , PA, USA |
| Date of death | March 12, 1987 (52 years old) |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship | |
| Profession | screenwriter , producer |
| Career | 1946–1987 |
| Awards | Edgar Allan Poe Prize |
| IMDb | |
Content
Life and career
Levinson was born in Philadelphia , the capital of Pennsylvania. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1956, Levinson received a bachelor's degree in economics. He served in the U.S. Army from 1957 to 1958 and married actress Rosanna Huffman in 1969. Levinson was of Jewish origin. [6]
William Link and Richard Levinson began a 43-year friendship in 1946, and on the first day of high school. Both were ardent fans of Ellery Queen, and enjoyed mental puzzles and challenges that could have entered their work.
Starting with radio scripts, the team wrote plays, and then television scripts in prime time. They continued to co-create and sometimes release a series of detective stories Colombo , Mannix , Ellery Queen , She wrote the murder (with Peter S. Fisher) and Scene of the Crime , as well as films made for TV Weapons (1974) , My Sweet Charlie , That Certain Summer , The Judge and Jake Wyler , The Execution of Private Slovik , Charlie Cobb: A Nice Night for a Hanging , Rehearsal for Murder , and the short-lived Blacke's Magic series. The team took pride in creating “smart” rather than violent programs. [7]
The partners also collaborated in two feature films, The Hindenburg (1975) and Rollercoaster (1977), and the Broadway show Merlin, featuring the wizard Doug Henning.
The team sometimes used the pseudonym Ted Leighton, especially on the television movie Ellery Queen: Do not Look Behind You, where their work was substantially rewritten with other hands and Colombo when they came up with stories written by their employees. They used this name back in 1959 for short stories published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine [8] when the magazine already contained stories appearing by Levinson and Link. They also used the title for their contribution to the script for the final film of Steve McQueen: "The Hunter (1980 film)." Leighton was Levinson's middle name.
In 1979, Levinson and Link received a special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for their work on Ellery Queen and Colombo. In the 1980s, they were three-time Edgar winners for the best television feature or MiniSeries Teleplay, and in 1989 they were awarded the MWA Ellery Queen Award, which distinguishes outstanding riddle writing teams. In November 1995, they were jointly elected to the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Death
Levinson died of a heart attack at his home in Brentwood on March 12, 1987. [9] [10] He was buried in the cemetery of Westwood Village Memorial Park. [eleven]
In deference to Levinson, Link wrote the script for the 1991 television movie The Boys, starring James Woods and John Lithgow.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 138361061 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ 1 2 BNF identifier : Open Data Platform 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ Belkin, Lisa . RICHARD LEVINSON, 52, WRITER OF TEVELSION MYSTERY SERIES , The New York Times (March 13, 1987).
- ↑ Museum of Broadcast Communications (unavailable link) . Museum.tv. Date of treatment January 17, 2012. Archived January 24, 2009.
- ↑ Teicholz, Tom . 'Columbo' creator solves his own family mystery , Jewish Journal (February 22, 2011). Archived February 25, 2011.
- ↑ "Interview with screen writer William Link" from disk 6, Ellery Queen Mysteries, DVD release September 2010.)
- ↑ Stories, Listed by Author
- ↑ OBITUARIES: Richard Levinson; Co-Wrote a String of Hits for Television , Los Angeles Times (March 13, 1987).
- ↑ Barnes, Mike . Rosanna Huffman, Actress and Voiceover Artist, Dies at 77 , The Hollywood Reporter (May 27, 2014). Date of treatment June 16, 2016.
- ↑ Ellenberger, Allan R. Celebrities in Los Angeles cemeteries: a directory. - McFarland, 2001 .-- P. 218. - ISBN 9780786409839 .
Links
- Richard Levinson at the Internet Movie Database
- Richard Levinson on Find a Grave