Oscar Levant

Oscar Levant

Born: December 27, 1906
Died: August 14, 1972
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906 – August 14, 1972) was an American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor.

He was more famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, than for his music.

Movies for Oscar Levant...

Public Speaking
Title: Public Speaking
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: November 22, 2010
Type: Movie
A feature-length documentary starring Fran Lebowitz, a writer known for her unique take on modern life. The film weaves together extemporaneous monologues with archival footage and the effect is a portrait of Fran's worldview and experiences.
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Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
Title: Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: March 15, 2005
Type: Movie
Documentary on the 1953 musical "The Band Wagon."
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Jack Paar: Smart Television
Title: Jack Paar: Smart Television
Character: Self
Released: November 29, 2003
Type: Movie
PBS documentary examining the work of Jack Paar.
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That's Entertainment! III
Title: That's Entertainment! III
Character: (archive footage)
Released: July 1, 1994
Type: Movie
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
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The Fred Astaire Songbook
Title: The Fred Astaire Songbook
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: March 8, 1991
Type: Movie
A loving tribute to Astaire the singer, hosted by Audrey Hepburn.
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That's Entertainment, Part II
Title: That's Entertainment, Part II
Character: (archive footage)
Released: May 16, 1976
Type: Movie
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
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The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Title: The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 1, 1973
Type: Movie
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Title: The Merv Griffin Show
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 1962
Type: TV
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to August 15, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in first-run syndication from February 14, 1972 to September 5, 1986.
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Title: Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Character: Self
Released: July 29, 1957
Type: TV
Tonight Starring Jack Paar is an American talk show hosted by Jack Paar under The Tonight Show franchise from 1957 to 1962. It originally aired during late-night. During most of its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B inside the RCA Building. The same studio would also host early episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Its theme song was an instrumental version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", and the closing theme was "So Until I See You" by Al Lerner.
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The Cobweb
Title: The Cobweb
Character: Mr. Capp
Released: June 7, 1955
Type: Movie
Patients and staff at a posh psychiatric clinic clash over who chooses the clinic’s new drapes - but drapes are the least of their problems.
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The Band Wagon
Title: The Band Wagon
Character: Lester Marton
Released: August 7, 1953
Type: Movie
A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.
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The I Don't Care Girl
Title: The I Don't Care Girl
Character: Charles Bennett
Released: January 14, 1953
Type: Movie
This semi-film within a film opens in the office of producer George Jessel, who never saw a camera he couldn't get in front of, who is holding a story conference to determine the screen treatment for the life of Eva Tanguay, and Jessel is unhappy with what the writers present him.He tells them to look up Eddie McCoy, Eva's one-time partner, for the real inside story on the lusty and vital Eva. Eddie's version is that he discovered her working as a waitress in an Indianapolis restaurant in 1912, wherein singer Larry Woods and his partner Charles Bennett get into a fight over her and both land in the hospital, and McCoy convinces the manager to put Eva on as a single to fill their spot. She flopped, but McCoy arranges for Bennett to be her accompanist, and she went out of his life. The writers look up Bennett, now head of a music publishing company, who says McCoy's story is phony, and it was Flo Zigfeld who discovered Eva for his Follies.
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O. Henry's Full House
Title: O. Henry's Full House
Character: William Smith (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief")
Released: August 7, 1952
Type: Movie
Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".
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An American in Paris
Title: An American in Paris
Character: Adam Cook
Released: September 26, 1951
Type: Movie
Jerry Mulligan is an exuberant American expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as a painter. His friend Adam is a struggling concert pianist who's a long time associate of a famous French singer, Henri Baurel. A lonely society woman, Milo Roberts, takes Jerry under her wing and supports him, but is interested in more than his art.
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Title: What's My Line?
Character: Self - Mystery Guest
Released: February 2, 1950
Type: TV
Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
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The Barkleys of Broadway
Title: The Barkleys of Broadway
Character: Ezra Millar
Released: May 4, 1949
Type: Movie
Josh and Dinah Barkley are a successful musical-comedy team, known for their stormy but passionate relationship. Dinah feels overshadowed by Josh and limited by the lighthearted musical roles he directs her in. So she decides to stretch her skills by taking a role in a serious drama, directed by another man.
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Romance on the High Seas
Title: Romance on the High Seas
Character: Oscar Farrar
Released: June 25, 1948
Type: Movie
Georgia Garrett is sent by jealous wife Elvira Kent on an ocean cruise to masquerade as herself while she secretly stays home to catch her husband cheating. Meanwhile equally suspicious husband Michael Kent has sent a private eye on the same cruise to catch his wife cheating. Love and confusion ensues along with plenty of musical numbers.
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You Were Meant for Me
Title: You Were Meant for Me
Character: Oscar Hoffman
Released: January 28, 1948
Type: Movie
A bandleader falls in love and marries a small town girl.
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Humoresque
Title: Humoresque
Character: Sid Jeffers
Released: January 25, 1947
Type: Movie
A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.
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Rhapsody in Blue
Title: Rhapsody in Blue
Character: Oscar Levant
Released: June 27, 1945
Type: Movie
Fictionalized biography of George Gershwin and his fight to bring serious music to Broadway.
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Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Title: Kiss the Boys Goodbye
Character: Dick Rayburn
Released: August 1, 1941
Type: Movie
New York chorus girl Cindy Lou Bethany becomes frustrated when she prepares for an audition for a Broadway musical, but the auditions close and her roommate, Gwen Abbott, is hired to be secretary to Top Rumson, the show's financial backer. Gwen tells Cindy that the director, Lloyd Lloyd, and composer, Dick Rayburn, have been sent to the South on a talent search for a classic Southern belle type to star in the show, although their shows usually feature Myra Stanhope, an actress whose style is hopelessly inappropriate for this show. Desperate for work, Cindy returns to her aunt Lily Lou and uncle Jefferson Davis Bethany's home in the South and schemes to get Lloyd and Rayburn to audition her.
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Information Please: Series 2, No. 12
Title: Information Please: Series 2, No. 12
Character: Self - Panelist
Released: July 11, 1941
Type: Movie
We have writer Fadiman, regulars Franklin P. Adams, Oscar Levant, and John Kieran, with Boris Karloff as the guest panelist for this edition of Information Please.
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Information Please Series 2, No. 2
Title: Information Please Series 2, No. 2
Character: Self - Resident Expert
Released: October 4, 1940
Type: Movie
This issue of RKO's Information Please series, based on the radio program featuring most of the same people, has Howard Lindsay, co-author and co-star of the then-current Broadway play, "Life With Father", as a visiting guest expert. Questions involved football plays, license plates and plays that dealt with family relationships.
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Rhythm on the River
Title: Rhythm on the River
Character: Billy Starbuck
Released: August 28, 1940
Type: Movie
Popular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers meet at an inn, they fall in love and then try to sell their songs under their own name. The problem is every song publisher thinks they're copying Courtney's style.
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Information Please: Series 1, No. 10
Title: Information Please: Series 1, No. 10
Character: Himself - Resident Panel Expert
Released: May 17, 1940
Type: Movie
Deems Taylor joins Clifton Fadiman and the Information Please regular panel members, Oscar Levant, Franklin P. Adams and John Kieran, for this entry in the series based on the radio program.
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Information Please: Series 1, No. 1
Title: Information Please: Series 1, No. 1
Character: Himself - Panelist
Released: September 8, 1939
Type: Movie
Information Please: Series 1, No. 1 is a 1939 short film of the famous show from RKO Radio. The segment stars Clifton Fadiman, Rex Stout, and John Kieran.It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-Reel, a rare instance of a game show being nominated for an Academy Award.
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Night Parade
Title: Night Parade
Character: Ann Pennington's Piano Accompanist
Released: October 27, 1929
Type: Movie
Bobby Martin, a young middleweight champion boxer, is an honest and decent fighter. However, a dishonest but beautiful woman uses every trick to ensnare him.
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The Dance of Life
Title: The Dance of Life
Character: Jerry Evans
Released: August 16, 1929
Type: Movie
A vaudeville comic and a pretty young dancer aren't having much luck in their separate careers, so they decide to combine their acts. In order to save money on the road, they get married. Soon their act begins to catch on, and they find themselves booked onto Broadway. They also realize that they actually are in love with each other, but just when things are starting to look up, the comic starts to let success go to his head.
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Ben Bernie and All the Lads
Title: Ben Bernie and All the Lads
Character: Himself
Released: April 15, 1923
Type: Movie
Early music video.