Russian-American actor Sam Levene appeared in over 50 theatrical stage productions in the United States and abroad. A master of farce and comedy, Levene was equally effective in drama as well. Levene's Broadway credits include performances in 39 Broadway productions, 33 of which were performances Levene created in the original Broadway productions, and a 10-month USO tour. For 54 years, Sam Levene was a Broadway audience favorite playing cops, con men, theatrical types, businessmen, gamblers, hassled husbands, and even doctors.[1] [2]
Levene had 50 film credits. Levene worked with every major Hollywood studio over his five-decade Hollywood career; 14 of Levene's films were at MGM, which include two appearances as Police Lieutenant Abrams in the Thin Man series: After the Thin Man (1936) and Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), plus Yellow Jack (1938), The Shopworn Angel (1938), Married Bachelor (1941), Sunday Punch (1942), Grand Central Murder (1942), Whistling in Brooklyn (1943), I Dood It (1943), Shoe Shine Boy (1943 short), Dial 1119 1950, The Opposite Sex (1956), Designing Woman (1957) and The Champ (1979). Levene appeared in five RKO films, including The Mad Miss Manton (1938); Sing Your Worries Away (1942); The Big Street (1942) and A Likely Story (1947) and Crossfire, the first B picture to receive a best picture nomination. Levene appeared in six Universal Pictures films: Destination Unknown (1942), Gung Ho! (1943), The Killers (1946), Brute Force (1947), Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957), Kathy O'.
Other Hollywood actors who Levene worked with include Anthony Quinn: A Dream of Kings (1969); four films with Burt Lancaster: The Killers (1946), Brute Force, (1947), Three Sailors and a Girl (1953), Sweet Smell of Success (1957); Humphrey Bogart: Action in the North Atlantic (1943); two films with Henry Fonda: The Big Street (1942), The Mad Miss Manton (1938); Robert Ryan: Crossfire; Vincente Minnelli: Sing Your Worries Away (1942); two films with Myrna Loy & William Powell as Police Lt. Abrams: ‘’After the Thin Man’’ (1936), Shadow of the Thin Man (1941); Gregory Peck: Designing Woman (1957); two films with Red Skelton: Whistling in Brooklyn (1943), I Dood It (1943); Al Pacino: ...And Justice for All (1979); his final film role.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | The Talk of Hollywood | Film Buyer | uncredited |
| 1936 | Three Men on a Horse | Patsy | |
| 1936 | After the Thin Man | Police Lt. Abrams | |
| 1938 | Yellow Jack | Busch | |
| 1938 | The Shopworn Angel | "Leer" | |
| 1938 | The Mad Miss Manton | Lieutenant Brent | |
| 1939 | Golden Boy | Siggie | |
| 1941 | Married Bachelor | Cookie Farrar | |
| 1941 | Shadow of the Thin Man | Police Lt. Abrams | |
| 1942 | Sing Your Worries Away | Smiley Clark | |
| 1942 | Sunday Punch | Roscoe | |
| 1942 | Grand Central Murder | Inspector Gunther | |
| 1942 | The Big Street | Horsethief | |
| 1942 | Destination Unknown | Victor | |
| 1943 | Action in the North Atlantic | Abel "Chips" Abrams | |
| 1943 | I Dood It | Ed Jackson | |
| 1943 | Gung Ho! | Leo "Transport" Andreof | |
| 1943 | Shoe Shine Boy | Lucky | short |
| 1943 | Whistling in Brooklyn | Creeper | |
| 1944 | The Purple Heart | Lt. Wayne Greenbaum | |
| 1945 | The True Glory | Commentator | |
| 1946 | The Killers | Police Lt. Sam Lubinsky | |
| 1947 | Boomerang | Dave Woods | |
| 1947 | A Likely Story | Louie | |
| 1947 | Brute Force | Louie Miller | |
| 1947 | Crossfire | Samuels | |
| 1947 | Killer McCoy | Happy | |
| 1948 | The Babe Ruth Story | Phil Conrad | |
| 1948 | Leather Gloves | Bernie | |
| 1950 | Guilty Bystander | Capt. Tonetti | |
| 1950 | With These Hands | Alexander Brody | |
| 1950 | Dial 1119 | Dr. John D. Faron | |
| 1953 | Three Sailors and a Girl | Joe Woods | |
| 1956 | The Opposite Sex | Mike Pearl | |
| 1957 | Designing Woman | Ned Hammerstein | |
| 1957 | Sweet Smell of Success | Frank D' Angelo | |
| 1957 | Slaughter on Tenth Avenue | Howard Rysdale | |
| 1957 | A Farewell to Arms | Swiss Sergeant | uncredited |
| 1958 | Kathy O' | Ben Melnick | |
| 1959 | The World of Sholom Aleichem | Mendele | TV movie |
| 1963 | Act One | Richard Maxwell | |
| 1966 | A Small Rebellion | Noel Greb | TV movie |
| 1969 | A Dream of Kings | Cicero | |
| 1971 | Such Good Friends | Uncle Eddie | |
| 1976 | Atlantic City Jackpot | Lou Maurice | |
| 1976 | God Told Me To | Everett Lukas | |
| 1977 | The Royal Family | Oscar Wolfe | TV movie |
| 1979 | The Champ | Uncle Eddie | uncredited |
| 1979 | Last Embrace | Sam Urdell | |
| 1979 | Us Two | ||
| 1979 | ...And Justice for All | Arnie | |
| Date | Program | Network | Title | Character | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2, 1949 | John Chapman Video Show | WPIX-TV | John Chapman interviews Sam Levene, Moss Hart[3] | Himself | |
| June 14, 1949 | The Ford Theatre Hour | CBS | "Light Up the Sky" | Sidney Black | |
| December 19, 1950 | The Milton Berle Show | TV | Texaco Star Theatre, season 3 episode 14[4] | Himself | |
| January 27, 1952 | The U.S. Royal Showcase | TV | season 1 episode 3 | Himself | |
| July 24, 1952 | All Around the Town: Mike and Buff (Cobb) Wallace | CBS | "Backstage at Guys and Dolls" | Himself | |
| November 9, 1952 | Frontiers of Faith[5] | NBC | "The World of Sholom Aleichem" | Sam Levene as Tevye, Aline MacMahon as Goldie, Joseph Wiseman as Reb Yosifel and Prefect | |
| June 1, 1953 | The Passing Show | BBC | "All Our Yesteryears"[6] | Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit and Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide performing in Guys and Dolls | |
| March 27, 1954 | Medallion Theatre (Chrysler Medallion Theater) | CBS | "The Alibi Kid"[7] | Sam Levene and Ben Gazzara | |
| May 26, 1954 | Douglas Fairbanks Presents Rheingold Theatre | TV | "Johnny Blue"[8] Season 2 Episode 26 | Sam | |
| June 22, 1954 | The United States Steel Hour | ABC | "Fearful Decision" | Reporter McArdle | |
| August 25, 1954 | BBC | Excerpt[9] from The Matchmaker | Horace Vandergelder | ||
| December 11, 1955 | The Colgate Comedy Hour | TV | "Salute to George Abbott" | Himself | |
| April 8. 1957 | Studio One | CBS | "The Playwright and the Stars" | Ben Weber | |
| June 10, 1957 | Studio One | CBS | "The Mother Bit"[10] | Ben Selig | |
| September 11, 1957 | Kraft Television Theatre | NBC | "The Old Ticket" | Lou Winkler | |
| December 26, 1957 | Tonight starring Jack Paar | NBC | Himself | ||
| March 9, 1958 | Omnibus | NBC | "Mrs. McThing"[11] | Eddie | |
| November 25, 1958 | Tonight starring Jack Paar | NBC | Himself | ||
| December 14, 1959 | Play of the Week | PBS | "The World of Sholom Aleichem" | Mendele | |
| August 21, 1960 | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS | Dramatic reading of "The Yom Kippur Scandal"[12] | ||
| November 16, 1960 | The Aquanauts | CBS | "Night Dive" | Lieutenant Maharis | |
| November 17, 1960 | The Witness | CBS | "Louis 'Lepke' Buchalter" | Louis Buchalter | |
| November 22, 1960 | The Wonderful World of Little Julius[13] | CBS | Pilot | Agent | |
| December 15, 1960 | The Untouchables | ABC | "The Larry Fay Story" | Larry Fay | |
| January 22, 1961 | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS | Dramatic reading of "How Tevya Became a Dairyman", a Sholom Aleichem story.[14] | ||
| June 18, 1961 | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS | 13th Anniversary Celebration[15] | Himself | |
| November 26, 1961 | Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | NBC | Patsy | ||
| January 14, 1962 | Directions | TV | "Sam Levene interviews Dore Schary"[16] | Himself | |
| February 27, 1962 | The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson | NBC | Himself | ||
| October 25, 1962 | The Joe Franklin Show | Interview | Himself | ||
| November 5–9, 1962 | Password | TV | Joan Fontaine vs Sam Levene Five episodes | Himself | |
| December 22, 1962 | The Jerry Lester Show | Interview | Himself | ||
| April 14, 1963 | The Jerry Lester Show | Interview | Himself | ||
| April 28, 1963 | 17th Tony Awards | WWOR-TV | Presenter[17] | Himself | |
| January 5, 1965 | The Les Crane Show | ABC | Himself | ||
| January 11, 1965 | The Les Crane Show | ABC | Himself | ||
| January 18, 1965 | The Les Crane Show | ABC | Himself | ||
| February 8, 1965 | The Les Crane Show | ABC | Himself | ||
| November 1, 1965 | The Merv Griffin Show | NBC | Himself | ||
| November 1, 1965 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | NBC | "A Small Rebellion" | Noel Greb | |
| October 30, 1969 | What's My Line? | CBS | Himself | ||
| February 15, 1970 | The Ed Sullivan Show | CBS | Dramatic reading | ||
| December 26, 1973 | The Dick Cavett Show | ABC | Himself | ||
| December 28, 1973 | What's My Line? | CBS | Himself | ||
| November 9, 1977 | Great Performances | PBS | Oscar Wolfe |
| Date | Program | Network | Title | Character | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 May 1934 | The Rudy Vallee Variety Show (radio series) | WEAF | Busch | ||
| 17 February 1939 | CBS Radio | Burlesque adapted from play by Arthur Hopkins & George Manker Watters | Lefty | ||
| 24 March 1939 | CBS Radio | Twentieth Century adapted by Charles Bruce Millholland | Owen O’Malley | ||
| 25 February 1940 | The Pursuit Of Happiness (radio series) | Columbia Broadcasting | Miriam Hopkins, Betty Hutton, Sam Levene guest star | Himself | |
| 25 May 1940 | NBC Radio | Three Thousand Miles to Glory[19] | Himself | ||
| 9 April 1941 | CBS Radio | Shortcut to a Nervous Breakdown | Himself | ||
| 21 July 1943 | NBC Radio | Hollywood Bowl, Broadcast live | Himself | ||
| 21 November 1943 | CBS Radio | Algie and Gus | |||
| 24 December 1943 | Christmas Roundup | CBS Radio | Romance in the Roaring Forties Sam Levene narrates Damon Runyon story | Himself | |
| 28 February 1944 | CBS Radio | Three Men on a Horse | Patsy | ||
| 6 January 1946 | ABC Radio | Three Men on a Horse | Patsy | ||
| 13 January 1946 | Eternal Light | NBC Radio | "The Parable of Reb Yisroel" | Himself | |
| 17 November 1946 | ABC Radio | The Man Who Came to Dinner | Banjo | ||
| 24 November 1946 | ABC Radio | Burlesque adapted by Arthur Hopkins & George Manker Watters | Lefty | ||
| 6 December 1946 | Lest We Forget These Great Americans | Radio | Hey Cabbie, Institute for Democratic Education syndication[20] | Cabby | |
| 8 December 1946 | ABC Radio | Golden Boy | Moody | ||
| 1 January 1947 | ABC Radio | Three Men on a Horse | Patsy | ||
| 10 August 1947 | Reunion | Tribute American Academy of Dramatic Arts Director Charles Jehlinger[21] | Himself | ||
| 10 April 1958 | Suspense Radio | CBS Radio | Crossfire | Samuels | |
| 27 March 1949 | ABC Radio | June Moon[22] | Maxie | ||
| 25 September 1949 | ABC Radio | The Gentle People[23] | Jonah Goodman | ||
| 17 December 1950 | ABC Radio | Boomerang | Dave Woods | ||
| 31 December 1950 | NBC Radio | Variety Show hosted by Tallulah Bankhead | Himself | ||
| 15 April 1951 | ABC Radio | Light Up the Sky | Sidney Black | ||
| 1952 | The Human Heart Radio Series | Radio | Too Careful starring Sam Levene[24] | Himself | |
| 20 December 1957 | The Barry Gray Show | Radio | Interview | Himself | |
| 26 August 1960 | Studs Terkel | WFMT Radio | Studs Terkel interviews Sam Levene & Monica May[25] | Himself | |
| 1973 | George Jessel | WEVD-AM | History of Show Business[26] | Himself |