THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 4, 1994 TAG: 9407020057
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY KEITH MONROE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
A TALENT FOR GENIUS: The Life and Times of Oscar Levant SAM KASHNER AND NANCY SCHOENBERGER Villard Books. 512 pp. $25.
IF OSCAR LEVANT is remembered, it is likely to be for his roles in two immortal screen musicals - ``An American in Paris'' and ``The Bandwagon.'' In each he plays a variation on a character familiar to audiences at the time - Oscar Levant, master of dark wit and light piano.
But this useful biography takes Levant quite seriously and shows there was much more to the man than Gershwin tunes and wisecracks. At the peak of his fame in the 1940s, Levant was a concert pianist who earned more than Horowitz. He had been a kind of gofer to George Gershwin, then an informal assistant and, after Gershwin's untimely death, the foremost interpreter of his work.
Levant was also a hugely popular celebrity as a result of his appearances on the quiz show ``Information, Please'' where he was rarely stumped by a question and always quotable. Several collections of his reminiscences, tart opinions and gibes sold well in their day.
And he created a public persona that was surprisingly influential: the tough, smart-mouthed, urban, world-weary, street kid who is steeped in pessimism but holds to an uncompromising code of honor. In short, the anti-hero.
At the same time, Levant was a serious classical composer who earned his bread in Hollywood by day, studied with Arnold Schoenberg by night and was praised by Aaron Copland. He recorded dozens of records, wrote one movie, scored many and even helped pioneer the TV talk show. His Los Angeles effort in the '50s is remembered for its edgy sense of danger - Levant might say anything - and its intellectual distinction, with guests including Aldous Huxley and the first TV appearance by Fred Astaire.
Of course, those who remember Levant often recall most vividly not his varied accomplishments but his endless public disintegration. He was a mass of neuroses, phobias and tics which he had no compunction about revealing. Indeed, by exploiting his self-doubt and drug troubles for comic effect he created a second public persona, Levant the Neurotic. And in a case of be-careful-what-you-pretend-to-be, he was consumed by the role.
This book makes clear how harrowing his battle with prescription drugs and manic-depression was for Levant and his family. It was no laughing matter at a time when bipolar disorder was poorly understood and drug addiction incompetently treated.
Levant was the youngest of four sons of a stern watchmaker father and a music-loving mother, orthodox Jews from Pittsburgh. The authors make a good case that Levant suffered all his life from the feeling that he couldn't live up to his parents' expectations. His father wanted his sons to acquire professions, not enter the arts. His mother encouraged Oscar's precocious musical talent, while assuring him he'd never be another Paderewski.
Instead, Levant turned himself into a basket case. And his fear of failing often seems to have persuaded him to throw away success. He fought with the producers of ``Information, Please'' and pushed ``The Oscar Levant Show'' beyond acceptable limits. By the time he was 50, his film and concert careers were over. He lived as a virtual recluse for his last decade, dying in 1972 at 65, largely forgotten.
If this book helps make him known to new generations it will have served a useful purpose. Levant was a remarkable man who might have achieved continuing fame if he'd concentrated his energy in a single direction. Instead, he excelled briefly in one thing after another.
He remains a remarkably attractive figure. He wrestled many of his demons to a draw, and told the truth in a series of memorable one-liners.
When asked what he wanted to be as a kid, Levant shot back: ``An orphan.'' In describing his divorce, he said ``besides incompatibility, we hated each other.''
A man that witty deserves to be remembered. And as this book's subtitle suggests, the times he inhabited were also of interest. Levant was at the center of two extremely glamorous eras: New York during the '20s and Hollywood during the '30s and '40s.
This well-researched and readable biography gives us those glittering times and a life filled with talent used and talent squandered, the famous and the infamous, funny lines, sadly self-destructive impulses and courageous survival. by CNB