Sam Levene Created Some of The Most Legendary Comedic Roles In American Theatre History

by Joseph K. Levene

5 decade legacy created some of the most legendary comedic roles in American theatre history

Sam Levene was a Broadway, film, radio and television actor and director who in a career spanning 54 years created some of the most legendary comedic roles in American theatre history. 

Born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia August 28, 1905,  Sam Levene was recognized as Broadway royalty; for decades he  was one of Broadway's favorite character actors, amassing forty Broadway credits playing cops, con men, theatrical types, gamblers and hassled husbands. Sam Levene's celebrated legendary performances, the majority he originated, include:

• Nathan Detroit, a gambling promoter, in the landmark 1950 original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls, a role written specifically for Sam Levene by Abe Burrows that Levene performed over 2,000 times, including the first UK and first Las Vegas productions, the later in a scaled down 90 minute version performed 7 days a week.

• Patsy, a professional if not always successful gambler, in the 1935 original and longest running Broadway production ever of George Abbott's Three Men On A Horse which had a Broadway run of 835 performances, a role Levene reprised in the1936 Mervyn LeRoy film, three radio productions, 1945 USO tour, Let It Ride, a 1961 Broadway musical and 1969 all star Broadway revival. 

• Gordon Miller, the desperate small-time shoestring producer, in the 1937 original Broadway production of Room Service, a farce, directed by George Abbott, a role Levene performed 500 times on Broadway.

• Al Lewis, the retired vaudevillian in Neil Simon's 1972 original Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys, a role Levene performed 650 times, 466 times on Broadway first opposite Jack Albertson and later Jack Gilford before Levene and Albertson reprised their starring roles in the 1974 first national tour, performing the hit show 152 times. Levene also performed the role of Willie Clarke over 100 times when Albertson exited the tour, initially opposite Ned Glass as Al Lewis and later opposite Jack Somack in a production directed by Levene. 

• Sidney Black, a theatre producer based on legendary theatrical producer Billy Rose in Moss Hart's original 1948 Broadway production of Light Up The Sky, a role Levene performed over 600 times over 3 decades, including the 1949 first national tour Levene directed and several all-star 1970's productions co-starring Kitty Carlisle, Kay Medford, Vivian Blaine and Hayden Rorke.

• Horace Vandergelder opposite Ruth Gordon as Dolly Levi in the premiere 1954 UK, Scotland and German productions of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, a role Levene performed over 330 times and reprised on BBC TV.

• Officer Finkelstein, a Jewish policeman searching for the murderer of a Nazi diplomat in Otto Preminger's original 1939 Broadway production of Claire Booth's Margin For Error which opened November 3, 1939 and closed June 15, 1940, a role Levene performed 264 times at the Plymouth Theatre and the Majestic Theatre. 

• Veteran theatre producer Oscar Wolfe in the acclaimed 1975 all-star Broadway revival of The Royal Family directed by Ellis Raab in a cast that former New York Times drama critic Clive Barnes said Noel Coward would have called divine, a role Levene performed 233 times in the all star Broadway revival, reprised for PBS TV and performed 136 times in the 1976-77 national tour co-starring Eva LeGallienne.

• Businessman Boss Mangan in the acclaimed 1959 all-star Broadway comedy revival of George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, a role Levene performed 144 times including 112 times on Broadway and 32 times during its pre-Broadway tryout at The National Theatre, Washington, DC and Shubert Theatre, Boston. 

• Dr. Aldo Meyer, the kindhearted Jewish doctor, in the 1961 Broadway production of Dore Schary's The Devil's Advocate, a role Levene performed 117 times on Broadway for whichl Levene received a Tony Award® nomination for Best Actor in a play.

• Max Kane, a theatrical agent with a dud client in the 1932 original Broadway production of Dinner at Eight co-authored bv Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman, which Levene performed 408 times, including 232 times on Broadway during its 39 week run and 176 times during its post Broadway run, which included 19 week run at the Chicago Opera House, a 1750 theatre. 

• Morris Seidman, the wealthy Seventh Avenue garment manufacturer, a role Levene performed 216 times in Seidman and Son during the 1962/63 original Broadway production before starring and directing the 1963-1964 national tour which Levene also performed 216 times. 

• Sid Gray, a scheming quiz show TV producer, in the 1958 original Broadway production of Make a Million, a comedy, a role Levene performed 308 times at the Morosco Theatre and Playhouse Theater which he followed with a summer stock tour, performing Make a Million 88 times.  

Sam Levene as Al Lewis and Jack Albertson as Willie Clarke in The Sunshine Boys, 1972 original Broadway production 

Master of comedy, drama and farce

As Variety stated in his obituary, Levene "was among the quintessential stage impersonators of fast-talking, raffish Broadway types, in such hits as Room Service, Three Men on a Horse, Light Up The Sky, Guys and Dolls and The Sunshine Boys". A master of farce and comedy, Sam Levene was also a consummate dramatic actor who received critical praise for his comedic expertise and stage timing, even when the show itself was not top quality. For 54 years, theatergoers, critics, directors and producers were unanimous about Levene’s extraordinary gift as a performer who was equally at home in comedy, farce and drama. 

 Sam Levene Broadway, film and TV retrospective

Recognized as one of the great veteran actors of the American stage with an innate command of comedic timing and extraordinary stage savvy, Sam Levene earned a niche in American theatrical history by perfecting a certain species as a brilliant comedic actor who regularly received above the title star billing. Sam Levene was equally adept in segueing from comedy to farce to drama to musical comedy to fictionalized biographical assignments portraying infamous gangsters like Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and Patsy in Three Men On A Horse and dramatic roles like Officer Finkelstein, a Jewish policeman searching for the murderer of a Nazi diplomat, in Claire Booth's Margin For Error and Dr. Aldo Meyer, the kindhearted Jewish doctor, in The Devil's Advocate, a role that earned Levene a Tony Award® nomination for Best Actor in a Play. 

Sam Levene was posthumously inducted in the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 1960, Sam Levene received the Actors Fund Medal of Honor, a distinguished award which has been presented to individuals and organizations that are committed to enriching the entertainment community. 

Sam Levene window card retrospective

Over 250 productions on stage, radio, film and TV

A working actor for 54 years, Sam Levene was rarely at liberty with a range of projects; all told, Sam Levene appeared in over 250 productions on stage, radio, television and film. Best known for his sharply etched starring performances, Sam Levene was a Broadway and Hollywood favorite appearing in a variety of roles, including policemen, servicemen, gamblers, gangsters, newspaper reporters, theatrical producers, businessmen, hassled husbands, actor's agent, dress manufacturer and doctors, even a psychiatrist. Sam Levene was the archetypal New Yorker on stage and screen who shined in creating rough character parts, often playing working class roles with names like Patsy, Dino and Hymie and worked with who's who of legendary Broadway and Hollywood stars and directors. 

Over five decades on Broadway  

Sam Levene maintained an active Broadway presence from 1927 until 1980, always returning to the stage if a role was there, or took limited time off to do radio, film, TV while performing in the theatre. Sam Levene's longevity was due to his ability to show amiability and even sweetness beneath rough hewn tough exteriors of his characters, however bad they may have seemed. Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor observe “the theater has always embraced certain stars as one of their own, comedians who both ennoble and energize a live event with their presence" and include Sam Levene on a list of Broadway stars along with Beatrice Lillie, Carol Channing, Robert Morse, Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane. Sam Levene was dedicated to the theatre and truly loved performing on stages around the world; throughout his career, Sam Levene made a conscious effort to never abandon performing on the stage. 

  

Sam Levene as Sid Gray in Make A Million, 1958 original Broadway production, Playhouse Theater

Familiar Broadway face   

With 40 Broadway show credits, Sam Levene originated performances in 33 original Broadway productions. On Broadway alone Sam Levene performed a staggering 6,222 times in 40 Broadway productions at 30 Broadway theaters over 54 years from 1927 - 1980; that's equivalent to performing eight times a week for 15 years, 52 weeks a year. For the record, that does not include thousands of additional stage performances Levene performed across the pond in the first 1953 UK production of Guys and Dolls. the premiere 1954-55 production of The Matchmaker in the UK, Scotland and Germany, the first 1955 Las Vegas production of Guys and Dolls or the many thousand of performances Levene performed on the road in national companies, summer stock and productions on stages in the United States and Canada.

Shirley Booth as Mabel, William Lynn as Erwin Trowbridge and Sam Levene as Patsy in Three Men on a Horse, 
1935 original Broadway production

At Broadway's now demolished Playhouse Theater, Levene gave over 1600 performances in four original Broadway productions, three of which Levene had starring roles after first appearing in the 1929 original Broadway production of Street Scene. One of Levene's earliest starring roles was as Patsy in the 1935 original Broadway production of George Abbott's Three Men On A Horse, a role he performed 865 times; Sid Gray, the quiz show host, in the 1958 original Broadway production of Make a Million, which he performed over 308 times and Dr. Jack Kingsley in the original Broadway production of The Impossible Years when Levene replaced original star Alan King August 22, 1966, performing the role 322 times at the Playhouse Theatre.

18 Broadway productions had 100+ performances 

While not all of Sam Levene's Broadway shows were box office hits, Sam Levene appeared in 18 original Broadway productions that had Broadway runs exceeding 100 performances. 13 of those productions had Broadway runs of more than 200 performances. Most extraordinary Sam Levene starred in five Broadway shows he performed over 500 times on Broadway alone, which he then followed up with additional starring performances on the road. And that doesn't include thousands of performances Sam Levene performed on stages around the world, including 10 major theatrical productions at Washington, D.C.'s The National Theatre. A consistent headline performer, Sam Levene appeared on just about every stage in every major American city during his career. 

Sam Levene window card retrospective

Performed over 100 plays and musicals
Unlike most of his contemporaries who either abandoned performing on stage or did so occasionally, Sam Levene was dedicated to performing on stage from the age of 20, when he made his Broadway debut shortly after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, in Wall Street until 1980, the year he passed away. For 54 years, Sam Levene had an active presence on Broadway and on tour; often returning to a role if the producers welcomed him and the show was still running after taking limited time to perform in radio, film or TV. Remarkably, Sam Levene made his Broadway debut in 1927 with five line part in the play Wall Street at the Hudson Theater. Decades later Sam Levene recalled he relished every one of his five lines in the three act Broadway debut play that lasted a mere 21 performances. 54 years later in 1980, Levene had star billing in his final Broadway show, Henry Denker's Horowitz & Mrs. Washington at the John Golden Theater. Sam Levene described his dedication to the stage to Associated Press writer William Glover in just eight words, "Hard work, more hard work and hard work" Levene says morosely. Levene said the "only thing that bothers him is no audience". “I can make an audience laugh or cry. I prefer neither-just let me work."

Stage is sacred
The stage is sacred to Sam Levene; he loved performing, whether on Broadway or the road, it didn't matter. Although Levene achieved great acclaim creating sharply etched performances on stage, film, radio and television, there is no question Sam Levene favored performing live on a stage, sanctioning the theatre to a higher level. Levene said "I try to think of the theater as an art form". Levene loved performing on stage; it really didn't matter if he was performing on a Broadway stage or on a stage from one of the many hundreds of theaters Levene had performed on during every decade of his show business career, some of which he played 10 and 12 times over the decades. Levene said "an actor without a stage is a bum. If you're a painter or a writer, you can paint or write even if nobody buys or reads. But acting requires an outlet. The outlet is the stage - any stage". In a 1975 interview, Sam Levene said the most important thing an actor does is to relate, listen, project, to interpret as the director or author wishes you to. If you're only using memory, you are not playing a part, Everyone has his own method, but it's the digesting of a part that's so important. The listening, the most important thing is for an actor to listen, in order to create a character. Levene was a stickler for actors who are on stage, but are silent and not saying any lines; as a director, he always made sure that any actor that is on stage remains in character so they can listen and react. 

Theatre NOT glamorous
Sam Levene was quick to point out that the "theatre is not glamorous; it is hard work, getting a part, getting yourself up for the performance, night after night, keeping your concentration-and when it's over, they forget you". In a 1958 interview with the Kansas City Star, Levene observed "I'm one of the few who believes in schools for young actors. When I was in the dress business I had to go to school to learn to be a cutter. Anyone interested in acting should learn the technical things-how to walk, stand, sit. They also should understand what an actor brings to a part-imagination, humility, great love of work, a sense of humor". Sam Levene pointed out "the desire to act isn't enough, and neither is talent. You have to be able to take the heartaches-the parts you don't get, the plays that open and close the same week. After awhile, you realize, the play isn't the thing-its acting that's important and you have to eat, sleep and live it". When Sam Levene began his 1927 Broadway career, there were eighty theaters on Broadway. In a Newsweek Magazine interview, December 17, 1962, Sam Levene said when I got in the theatre, I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world. This is my life. This is where I'll die.

Acting precarious
Sam Levene said "acting is a precarious and insecure business, that lacks continuity. There's no recipe or magic formula. I can't say do such and such and you'll be a successful. Acting is like any other line of work. You might make a go of it or you might not". Levene also observed "No matter if the play is a hit or not, you are always beginning again. Even if the play lasts two or three years, it eventually closes and you have to get another part, go through another rehearsal period and another opening night". Levene said "first you want a small part, any part. You get that and you want a feature part. When you're featured, you want to be a star and when you're a star, you want to stay one. In this business, you can starve at any level. The theatre is one of the most difficult businesses anyone could choose. Even the money isn't as good as people think".

Sam Levene's 40th Broadway Anniversary saluted by David Black and Walter Hyman, producers The Impossible Years,
The New York Times ad, April 23, 1967

Sam Levene directed by theater giants 

Sam Levene said he has been directed by all the theater greats, including George Abbott, Alan Arkin, Tyrone Guthrie, Jed Harris, Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman, Brock Pemberton, Antonette Perry, Otto Preminger and Ellis Raab, Sam Levene said:

• "George Abbott is the greatest comedy director. He is very precise and taught me to play farce with sincerity."
• "Moss Hart had a great sense of what will work on a stage." 
• "Ellis Raab was the best. Ellis Raab has patience, creativity and an understanding of the actor's problem. Ellis Raab is always cool. He's the opposite of an Otto Preminger, who screams and upsets the actors."
• "Jed Harris, he never had the patience of anybody! He was impossible. He ranted and raved and tore his hair out." 
• "Alan Arkin was well prepared, and no one was screaming. If you start off with a script by Neil Simon, you're ahead right there", observed Sam Levene. 
• "George S. Kaufman was very quiet and he said very little but what he said was usually right."
• "Tyrone Guthrie was very articulate; one of the great men of the theater."

Sam Levene, William Powell & Myrna Loy in Shadow of A Thin Man, 1941 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke

On screen Sam Levene was also directed by film greats, including W.S. Van Dyke who directed Levene in two films, After The Thin Man and Shadow of A Thin Man; Mervyn LeRoy who directed Levene as Patsy in Three Men On A Horse, his film debut in 1936; Elia Kazan who directed Levene in Boomerang, the 1947 film; Jules Dassin who directed Levene in the 1947 film Brute Force starring Burt Lancaster; Vincent Minnelli, who directed Levene in two films, Red Skelton's I Dood It in 1943 and fourteen years later in Designing Woman starring Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck. 

Sam Levene as Oscar Wolfe in The Royal Family, 1975 all star Broadway revival directed by Ellis Raab

When Jerry Zaks directed acclaimed 1992 Guys and Dolls revival, Zaks recognized and respected Sam Levene's greatness. Zaks realized Sam Levene's original 1950 Broadway performance in Guys and Dolls left a permanent indelible stamp on the role of Nathan Detroit. Jerry Zaks understood Nathan Lane's performance as Nathan Detroit should never enter cartoon territory. Actors who perform a Sam Levene role as a cartoon quickly realize that never works. That also applies to actors who play a Sam Levene role just for laughs; play a Sam Levene role just for laughs and audiences and won't be engaged. Even worse, the actor's performance won't be funny.

It happens time and time again when critics review revivals from Levene's original Broadway show resume; invariably revival reviews often compare an actor's performance to Sam Levene's indelible original gold standard performance even decades later. Frequently critics of Sam Levene revivals will reference Sam Levene's classic, legendary performance as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Patsy in Three Men On A Horse, Al Lewis in The Sunshine Boys, Sidney Black in Light Up The Sky, Gordon Miller in Room Service, Oscar Wolfe in The Royal Family, etc., even though most of these Sam Levene performances are not preserved on film. 

Frank Rich, chief theatre critic, The New York Times, praised the 1992 Guys and Dolls revival directed by Jerry Zaks stating:“this is an enchanting rebirth of the show that defines Broadway dazzle. However, regarding Nathan Lane's performance as Nathan Detroit, Frank Rich observed “the supremely gifted actor Nathan Lane does not remotely echo the first Nathan Detroit, Sam Levene, for whose New York Jewish cadences the role was written. Mr. Lane is more like a young Jackie Gleason and usually funny in his own right, though expressions like 'all right, already' and 'so nu?' do not fall trippingly from his tongue.” 

Los Angeles Times critic emeritus Sylvie Drake reviewed the 1993 Guys and Dolls touring production also directed by Jerry Zaks at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre and had a similar observation writing: "The wiry Garrison's Detroit physically harks back more to the 1950 original played by Sam Levene, than to Nathan Lane, who played the role on Broadway last year. But unlike Levene, Garrison doesn't come across down, dirty or gritty. Knowing this actor's talent, one finds his amiable New York gangster surprisingly bloodless and almost genteel.

Producers and theatre owners in the United States and Canada knew advertising Sam Levene’s name  ensured ticket sales by loyal fans who enjoyed watching Sam Levene on stage. After Sam Levene's mega success as Nathan Detroit in the 1950 original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls, Levene repeatedly transformed several mediocre Broadway productions into productions that often played several hundred performances, largely due to the critical praise of Levene's performances. 

Sam Levene and Esther Rolle in Horowitz and Mrs. Washington, 1980 original Broadway production

Horowitz and Mrs. Washington - 1980 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene made his final Broadway appearance in 1980 starring in his 40th Broadway show at the John Golden Theatre opposite Esther Rolle in Horowitz and Mrs. Washington, a comedy written by Henry Denker and directed by Joshua Logan. Unfortunately, the Broadway production closed after 10 previews and 6 performances. However, Sam Levene's star power and comedic performance enabled a six month national tour of Horowitz and Mrs. Washington co-starring Claudia McNeil who replaced original co-star Esther Rolle. The show went on a Christmas hiatus, Saturday December 13, 1980, which turned out to be Sam Levene's final stage performance in Canada, just two weeks prior to his December 28, 1980 passing. Although Henry Denker's play Horowitz and Mrs. Washington was flawed and received mixed reviews, Sam Levene received consistent praise for his star performance as Samuel Horowitz on Broadway and during the show's post Broadway tour. During a stop at the Pocono Playhouse, theatre critic Elaine Moran wrote Sam Levene is definitely the star of this show. Samuel Horowitz played by Sam Levene is a Jewish Archie Bunker. Mr. Levene is marvelous as Horowitz and the play belongs to him. He could have laryngitis and still get his message across the the audience with his large piercing eyes and his body gestures. He got a lot of laughs as some members of the stage crew did not get off the stage before the lights were turned on.

 

Director Joshua Logan joins Broadway stars Esther Rolle and Sam Levene in Horowitz and Mrs. Washington,
1980 original Broadway production

Born Ekaterinoslav, Russia

Born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia August 28, 1905, Sam Levene emigrated with his mother and father to the United States when he was two years old. The youngest of three sisters and one brother, Sam and his family lived on the Lower East Side; until Sam was 12 years old, the family lived on the east side of Avenue D and eighth street. The family's apartment was five floors up, hot in summer, frightfully cold in winter and a halavah factory for a neighbor; Sam Levene recalled the smell was unbearable, and as a result Levene always hated halavah.

Sam Levene attended New York City's P.S. 64 

Young Sam might have also become a cantor, but that wasn't possible because Sam cannot sing. Sam Levene attended Stuyvesant High School and should graduated in 1923 but dropped out; ironically young Sam failed to qualify for the high school's dramatic society which was headed by J. Edward Bromberg, who later became a character actor. 27 years later J. Edward Bromberg appeared in 1950 film noir Guilty Bystander co-starring top billed Sam Levene as Captain Tonetti. The Broadway legend finally received his Stuyvesant High School diploma May 6, 1976 at New York's Princeton Club.

Other notable P.S. 64 alumni include screenwriter, producer and director Joseph Mankiewicz, who directed the film version of Guys and Dolls. Coincidentally Joseph Mankiewicz wanted original Guys and Dolls Broadway star Sam Levene to reprise the role of Nathan Detroit in the film version but producer Samual Goldwyn insisted on giving the part to Frank Sinatra.

After dropping out of Stuyvesant High School, 18 year old Sam Levene abandoned plans to attend Columbia Medical School and began working for his brother Joe who owned dress manufacturing business. Young Sam wanted to become a cracker jack salesman but Sam's brother Joe felt his younger brother needed poise and polish before he giving him a promotion. 

American Academy of Dramatic Arts

In 1925 Sam Levene enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts because he wanted "to learn how to walk, to talk and sell himself". One day after about three months at the Academy while Levene was having a lesson, Charles Jehlinger, director, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, thought Sam Levene had the requisite talent to become an actor and after that, Levene thought so too. Sam's determination to desert the dress business incurred the ire of his family and particularly of his brother Joe who thought young Sam was crazy while his father never said anything about Levene’s journey at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Sam Levene graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts on March 15, 1927. 

Sam Levene's American Academy of Dramatic Arts Invitation 1926-1927 Graduation Exercises, Lyceum Theatre, March 15, 1927 

A number of actors who studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the early part of the 20th Century had prolific Broadway careers and later Hollywood. Early graduates of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts include William Powell and Edward G Robinson, 1913; Thelma Ritter, 1922, Spencer Tracy and Pat O’Brien, 1923; Rosalind Russell, 1929;  Claire Trevor, 1929; Agnes Moorehead, 1929 and Sam Levene, 1927.

Sam Levene, known for originating some of the most important comedic roles in the American theater during his 54 year Broadway career had a starry show business career that paralleled Like Edward G. Robinson, William Powell and Spencer Tracy, Levene's career began on Broadway and then to Hollywood, ultimately becoming a respected film noir stalwart. In Levene’s case, his starring role as Patsy in the 1935 Broadway farce Three Men on a Horse led to his leading role in the 1936 film of the same name directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Sam Levene’s prolific career included 40 Broadway credits, 1927 to 1980; 50 film credits, 1936 to 1979, and over 60 television credits, 1949 to 1977.

Levene's father only saw one performance 

Sam Levene's father, Harry Levine, an orthodox Jewish cantor only saw one of his son's Broadway performances, his legendary comedic performance as Patsy in 1935 original Broadway production of Three Men On A Horse. 30 year old Levene was still living with his parents in 1935 when he asked his father how he liked his performance; Levene's father told the Broadway star “you holler in the house and now you holler on stage, so what's the difference?” Levene's mother, Beth Weiner, saw every one of Sam Levene's early performances.

Proud Jewish heritage

In Hollywood, where many names are changed to fit the marquise, numerous legendary directors and producers including Cecil B. DeMille tried to persuade Sam to Anglicize his last name. Sam Levene was stubbornly proud of his Jewish heritage and refused all requests by directors and producers who tried to persuade the actor to anglicize his last name, something that occurred frequently early in Levene's career. 

Changed spelling surname

Early in his stage career, Garson Kanin and Martin Gable persuaded Samuel Levine to change the "i" to an "e" in his surname to avoid confusion with another actor at Actor's Equity, the theatrical union who at the time was using the name "Sam Levine".  Accordingly, Sam decided to spell "Levene" phonetically. Sam Levene recognized his name "puts a kind of stamp on the kind of roles that producers think the actor can play". 

One of few actors with Jewish name

Notably in The Purple Heart, Sam Levene played the role of Lt. Wayne Greenbaum, a level headed, brave New York bred Jewish lawyer who is defender and spokesman for a group of eight aviators brought to trial when they are downed in Japanese held territory; in Crossfire Sam Levene was cast as Samuels, a Jewish civilian who was murdered at the start of the film; in a 1947 personal appearance, Levene said “Crossfire is a powerful denunciation of anti-Semitism and naturally I played the Jew and naturally I was killed."

Cecil B. DeMille asked Sam Levene to change his name

In 1967 interview with journalist Norton Mockridge for the The World-Telegram, Sam Levene recalled his 1944 audition for the role of Murdock, an Irishman in The Story of Dr. Wassell, the film written and directed by Cecil B. DeMille starring Gary Cooper. 

Sam Levene told Norton Mockridge "I lost the role twice!".

Levene recalled "ten or eleven other actors auditioned too" and afterwards, Cecil B. DeMille called Levene and said "Of all the actors who auditioned, you're my first choice". Levene replied, "I thanked him and said 'Did I get the part?" 

“No" said DeMille, who told Levene "I'm sorry but it would disturb me to have an actor named Sam Levene play the role of an Irishman".

 

Sam Levene asked DeMille:"Did you find anything Jewish in my audition?" to which DeMille replied "No, that's what disturbs me. You were a better Irishman than the Irishman. But I can't give you the part as I just can't see the film credits reading the part of the Irishman played by Sam Levene". 

Shortly thereafter Levene got another call from DeMille, who told the actor: "I just want you to know that I've let the actor go that I first picked for the role of the Irishman, Murdock, and if your name weren't Sam Levene, I'd have given you the role. Instead I am going to give it to Paul Kelly". Levene said, "you called to tell me that?" "Yes" said DeMille "I thought you'd like to know!,"  

Sam Levene facetiously told Cecil B. DeMille, “when actor Pat O'Brien changes his name, I'll change mine."

Cy Feuer, co-producer 1950 original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls said in a New York Times interview "Sam Levene was the ultimate Jew," referring to the original Nathan Detroit. "It was perfect casting. He created the character by living."

Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide and Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, 1950 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene won raves as Nathan Detroit 

Sam Levene got raves for legendary performance as Nathan Detroit on Broadway and across the pond in the first UK production of Guys and Dolls. But Hollywood didn't knock on Levene's door for the film version. Sam Levene lost the role of Nathan Detroit to Frank Sinatra. "You can’t have a Jew playing a Jew, it wouldn’t work on screen", producer Samuel Goldwyn argued, explaining he wanted Frank Sinatra rather than Sam Levene — who had originated the role — to play the part of Nathan Detroit in the film version even though film director Joseph L. Mankiewicz wanted to cast Sam Levene.

Susan Loesser, author A Most Remarkable Fella, a 1993 biography of her father, Frank Loesser, shared her father’s thoughts on Frank Sinatra’s singing in the film adaptation of Guys and Dolls. Susan Loesser observed that "Nathan Detroit is a very rough character, a Broadway character.  Sam Levene, the original Nathan Detroit, couldn't sing. He only had one song, Sue Me, and he came in wrong all the time on the first note. So my father had to write him a four-bar phrase - call a lawyer and - and if you listen to it, I will not sing it, it slides up to the correct note to come in on.That was how bad Sam sang, but he was also brilliant and wonderful and rough and tough and Runyonesque."  

Joseph L. Mankiewicz said "if there could be one person in the world more miscast as Nathan Detroit than Frank Sinatra that would be Laurence Olivier and I am one of his greatest fans; the role had been written for Sam Levene who was divine in it". Levene will break your heart when you listen to him sing 'All right, already, I’m just a no-goodnick . . .' on the original Guys and Dolls cast recording of Sue Me".

 
Fordham Professor of Music Larry Stempel, author Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater, said if given a choice, he would cast Sam Levene, who created the role on Broadway, as the ideal Nathan Detroit instead of Nathan Lane, who played the part in the 1992 Broadway revival or Frank Sinatra, who played the part on film, stating "Musically, he may have been tone-deaf, but he inhabited Frank Loesser’s world as a character more than a caricature."

Wall Street - 1927 original Broadway production

Sam Levene made his Broadway debut April 20, 1927 in the role of District Attorney in Wall Street, a melodrama, at Broadway's Hudson Theatre earning fifteen dollars a week. Before making his 1927 Broadway debut, Sam Levene was fortuitously hired by George Abbott for a role in the road company of George Abbott’s Broadway hit comedy Broadway, which Levene played in California in 1926.

Sam Levene 1927 Wall Street Actor's Equity contract, fifteen dollar salary, Hudson Theatre

5 Years Broadway flops transformed into 54 year Broadway career

Sam Levene's Broadway career began with five years of steady employment in nondescript roles in ten Broadway plays, including a successive series of Broadway flops. 

Jarnegan - 1928 original Broadway production 

Before coaxing his brother Joe to invest in Solitaire, Sam Levene appeared in Jarnegan, the 1928 play that launched the Broadway debut of Joan Bennett, that Levene performed at Broadway's Longacre Theatre, opening September 24, 1928.  

Tin Pan Alley -1928 original Broadway production 

Two months into the Broadway run of Jarnegan, Sam Levene exited the show to appear as a Telephone Troublemaker in Tin Pan Alley, a melodrama, his fourth Broadway credit, a three act Broadway show starring Claudette Colbert as Jill O'Dare which according to The New York Times was produced by a new theatrical organization, the Lang-Forbes Corporation. Staged by Lester Lonergan, Tin Pan Alley opened November 1, 1928 at the Biltmore Theatre; Tin Pan Alley did not run longer than the Broadway run of Jarnegan, clocking in with a Broadway run of only 69 performances. 

Sam Levene as Telephone Troublemaker in Tin Pan Alley starring Claudette Colbert, 1929 original Broadway production

Before its transfer to Broadway, Sam Levene performed the role of Telephone Troublemaker in two pre-Broadway tryouts of Tin Pan Alley, eight performances, at the Broad Street Theatre, Newark, NJ and two performances at the Springdale Theatre, Springdale CT.

Tin Pan Alley, Springdale Theatre, Springdale, CT, 2 performance pre-Broadway tryout

Though Tin Pan Ally had a brief Broadway run, the play was adapted into the 1929 United Artists pre-Code crime film New York Nights, directed by Lewis Milestone. While John Wray reprised his stage role as Joe Prividi, the gangster, Norma Talmadge replaced Claudette Colbert on screen. 

Solitaire - 1929 original Broadway production 

One of those flops was a 1929 Broadway play titled Solitaire about a Coney Island midget that ran for only four performances at the demolished Waldorf Theatre, partially financed with $500. last minute investment from Sam Levene's older brother Joe Levine. 

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Headquarters - 1929 original Broadway production

In 1929 Levene performed the role of Isadore Lipwitz in Headquarters 15 times at Broadway's Forrest Theatre which opened December 4, 1929. 

This Man’s Town - 1930 original Broadway production

A few months later, Sam Levene performed the role of Rosso for only eight performances in This Man’s Town starring Constance Cummings at Broadway's Ritz Theatre, a play produced by George Jessel before stepping into the role of Forrest in the long-running mega hit Broadway play Street Scene by Elmer Rice at Broadway's Playhouse Theatre. During the 1930's, Sam Levene had steady employment in numerous original Broadway shows produced by several theatrical legends, including four huge Broadway hits, and a few failures. 

The Up and Up - 1930 original Broadway production

Sam Levene had a 72 performance run in the Broadway comedy The Up and Up in the role of Solly at the Biltmore Theatre.

Wonder Boy - 1930 original Broadway production

After Three Times the Hour closed,  Sam Levene had a 44 performance run in Wonder Boy on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre working for producer Jed Harris. In November 1930, Brock Pemberton also directed Sam Levene in Made in Hollywood at Pittsburgh's Nixon Theatre. 

Three Times the Hour - 1931 original Broadway production

In 1931 Sam Levene was seen by Broadway audiences for three weeks at the Avon Theatre as Cooper, a police detective, in Three Times the Hour at the Avon Theatre co-directed by the legendary Antoinette Perry and Brock Pemberton. In an August 26, 1931 review by theater critic Edwin B. Stein observed "Three Times The Hour has been given a better production than it deserves and it is acted for more than it is worth....The piece is extremely well played by Charles C. Wilson as the chief detective, Ben Lackland, the most singular reporter you are liable to see; Aleta Freel, as the beauteous secretary and Sam Levene as the dumb detective." 

Dinner At Eight Playbill Music Box Theatre, 1932 original Broadway production

Dinner at Eight - 1932 original Broadway production

Sam Levene's Broadway struggle ended in 1932 when he landed the comedic role of Max Kane, a theatrical agent with a dud client in a bona-fide hit produced by Sam H. Harris in the original Broadway production of George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's Dinner at Eight which ran for 232 performances at the Music Box Theatre, directed by co-author George S. Kaufman. 

Dinner At Eight caricature featuring Sam Levene, 1932 original Broadway production, Music Box Theatre

After its 29 week run at Broadway's Music Box Theatre, Sam Levene and the original cast, with the exception of Jane Wyatt who replaced Marguerite Churchill in the role of Paula Jordan, began performing the Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman hit show in a post-Broadway run at Brooklyn's Majestic Theatre on May 8, 1933, just two days after the original Broadway production closed, which was then followed by a two week engagement at Philadelphia's Forrest Theatre. 

Dinner At Eight Playbill, Chicago Opera House

     

After the Philadelphia stint, the The Kaufman and Ferber smash hit began a 19 week engagement at the Chicago Opera House which Levene performed 152 times. Built as a legitimate theatre with seating for 1750, the regional engagement at the Chicago Opera House capitalized on the extraordinary buzz and steady stream of visitors generated by the Century of Progress International Exposition at the 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair which opened May 27, 1933. During his association with Dinner At Eight, Levene performed the role of Max Kane a total of 408 times. 

Yellow Jack - 1934 original Broadway production 

Yellow Jack is a docudrama play co-written by Pulitzer and Oscar winning screenwriter and playwright Sidney Howard and microbiologist and author Paul De Kruif. 

Yellow Jack Playbill featuring James Stewart as O'Hara & Sam Levene as Busch, Martin Beck Theatre, 1934 Broadway production

Produced and directed by Guthrie McClintic, the 1934 original Broadway production featured James Stewart as O'Hara and Sam Levene in the role of Busch, a role Levene reprised in the film version also authored by Sidney Howard. 

Sam Levene as Busch in Yellow Jack, 1934 original Broadway production

Although the original Broadway production received generally positive reviews, the play only ran for 79 performances as the tough subject had limited appeal. 

Al Frueh 1934 Yellow Jack caricature with Sam Levene, James Stewart, Edward Acuff, Katherine Wilson, Myron McCormick,
Edwardo Ciannelli, Robert Keith, Whitford Kaye, John Miltern, Burton MacLane, George Nash

New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson reviewed Yellow Jack, March 7, 1934 observing "To put it simply, Sidney Howard has accomplished something of tremendous importance to the stage. In "Yellow Jack," which was put on at the Martin Beck last evening, he has shown how one of the heroic epics of research science can be related with clarity, emotion and nobility in the theatre." 

"His play enlarges the scope of the modern theatre. seem After all, the members of the American Yellow Fever Commission in Cuba in 1900 deserve some credit. Against Mr. production sculptural settings the play has a sacred overtone. And when, after a long, full evening, the curtain finally comes down, the theatre goer has that rare sensation of feeling proud of the human race. If Mr. Howard has mastered a form of story-telling that is not familiar in this country Guthrie McClintic has mastered the art of staging it.” 

"Mr. McClintic has understood that overwrought acting would mar the fine spirit of the theme. So the actors play it almost tenderly. There are no fat parts in the manuscript. There are excellent performances by James Stewart, Edward Acuff, Samuel Levene and Myron McCormick, who are privates in the medical corps; and, in other rôles, by Geoffrey Kerr, George Nash, Whitford Kane, Millard Mitchell, Robert Shayne and Katherine Wilson, who is the only woman in the cast. In short, last night made theatrical history. For "Yellow Jack" is not only a profoundly moving piece of work, but a play of extraordinary significance. To every one concerned with its production on the stage this column offers its gratitude and respect."

The Milky Way - 1934 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene was cast as Gabby Sloan, a leading role, in Broadway production of The Milky Way, replacing Leo Donnelly who had suffered a severe and sudden medical emergency

Sam Levene replaced Leo Donnelly as Gabby Sloan in The Milky Way, May 24, 1934

Donnelly was compelled to immediately withdraw from the Broadway production due to a severe burst blood vessel caused by strenuous rehearsals, which left him in a perilous condition and as a result, John Brown performed the role until Levene was rehearsed and ready. Fortunately, Sam Levene was available as the Broadway production of Yellow Jack closed May 12, 1934. 

Donnelly had originated the role of Gabby Sloan, a conniving boxing manager in The Milky Way when the comedy opened May 8, 1934 at the Cort Theatre. The Milky Way ultimately marked the final Broadway credit of Donnelly's prolific stage career as the actor/director passed away in 1935. The Milky Way closed July 24, 1934, after a run of 63 performances. 

Spring Song - 1934 original Broadway production 

Legendary theatre producer Max Gordon employed Sam Levene for a 40 performance stint in Spring Song, a play by well known authors Bella and Samuel Spewack starring Francine Larrimore which opened at Broadway's Morosco Theatre October 1, 1934.

Sam Levene had 40 performance run in Spring Song, 1934 original Broadway production, Morosco Theatre 

Sam Levene’s performance as Milton in Spring Song, his 15th Broadway credit, was lauded by Jerry Franken in his opening night review of the play. 

Drama critic Jerry Franken lauded Sam Levene's 1934 Broadway performance as Milton in Spring Song, Morosco Theatre

Drama critic Jerry Franken observed "Although he was on the stage but a short time, Sam Levene gave a stand-out interpretation of his part as Florrie's friend. Sam Levene gave a stand-out interpretation of his part as Florrie's friend, a role performed by Francine Larrimore. In the second act he is self-satisfied, successful, assertive. After Florrie's affair he is bitter and frustrated. It is a difficult part to play, but Levene brought such ability to it that he should be credited with the best piece of work in the play. That opinion comes in view of the fact that, unlike Freiberg and Mrs. Solomon, it is not a part constructed to tug on the audience's heartstrings. 

Francine Larrimore and Sam Levene in Spring Song, !934 original Broadway production 

Frankel went on to write "the play is overwritten and in spots. It is also one which could easily be over-sentimentalized in reviewing which, it is hoped, has not been done. It has been well staged by Eddie Sobol, but not well enough to satisfy completely. As a matter of fact, the entire play, as an entity, doesn't satisfy sufficiently." Jerry Franken was a prominent American journalist known for his insightful reviews of both stage performances, and broadcast media on radio and later TV. 

Geraniums In My Window - 1934 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene recalled for a short time in 1934 he appeared in two Broadway shows at the same time; performing in the first act of the comedy Geraniums In My Window at the Longacre Theatre and the last two acts of Spring Song at the Morosco Theatre!

Three Men On A Horse - 1935 original Broadway production

New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson lauded Three Men On A Horse and Sam Levene's lead performance as Patsy in his 1935 review of the original Broadway production. Brooks Atkinson observed "To be completely enjoyable, a comedy should be spontaneous, Three Men On A Horse has its labored moments when the two jokes are rubbed bare, and the strain on the acting is apparent, but most of it is shrewd and jocular horseplay with Sam Levene, giving a dynamic performance as the most feverish of the feed buyers, and William Lynn, fainting in comic coils as the pony soothsayer." 

William Lynn, Sam Levene, Shirley Booth in Three Men on a Horse, Playbill cover,  Playhouse Theater, 
original 1935 Broadway production

Seven years after his Broadway debut, Sam Levene was recognized as a Broadway star when Alex Yokel hired Sam Levene to originate the now classic role of Patsy, the leader of the bar room turf, in Levene's 16th Broadway play in the 1935 original and longest running Broadway production ever of George Abbott's farce, Three Men On A Horse.

Three Men On A Horse, Playhouse Theatre window card, 1935 original Broadway production 

The lead role of Patsy made Sam Levene a Broadway star, and he began a long and memorable career playing Patsy like characters. 

Three Men On A Horse, 1935 caricature featuring Shirley Booth, William Lynn, Sam Levene, Teddy Hart and Millard Mitchell

Sam Levene was a master at portraying, lovable gamblers, small-time crooks, and similar low-lifes. The production was a massive hit running for a then record 835 performances which temporarily held a long-run record for a non-musical Broadway play. Warner Brothers Studios bought the movie rights to the Broadway play and also provided the money to mount the show on Broadway. 

George H. Clisbee, a caricaturist known as “Kliz”, celebrated Sam Levene, Millard Mitchell and Teddy Hart’s 1935 original Broadway performances in Three Men On A Horse shortly before Clisbee passed away in 1936. 

George H. Clisbee, caricaturist known as “Kliz”, celebrated Sam Levene, Millard Mitchell and Teddy Hart in 

Three Men On A Horse, 1935 original Broadway production 

New York Herald Tribune drama critic Percy Hammond reviewed the original 1935 Broadway production of Three Men on a Horse stating “one of George Abbott's crafty diversions, "Three Men on a Horse," enlivened the Broadway scene last night by making merry with what poets have termed the Sport of Kings.It told a playful tale about a meek white-collar clod and his adventures with the gee-gees, as you may have heard them called. The yarn was novei, its spinners apt and the fun was good. Although a boisterous ridicule of a serious recreation, it was deftly handled in Mr. Abbott's fine fingering, and It never got beyond his control. Alter enjoying "Three Men on a Horse" I move again that Mr.Abbott be nominated as the Theater's most able conjurer."

New York Herald Tribune Drama Critic Percy Hammond was effusive about the 1935 original Broadway production of George Abbott's Three Men on a Horse and the performances of Sam Levene as Patsy and Shirley Booth as Mabel

Percy Hammond who had a prose style as ornate as a Victorian bandstand was effusive about the original Broadway performances of Sam Levene and Shirley Booth, observing "It is possible for a reviewer to pat the shoulders of all the players in "Three Men on a Horse" in compliment to their skillful performance. Mr. Sam Levene as a gusty argonaut to the realms of chance is especially efficient; and Miss Shirley Booth as his female comrade, an ex-Shubert girl, is thoroughly humorous and human. None of them misses a bet in their performance of a cheerful, sagacious and expert comedy.'.

Ironically, Sam Levene recalled during rehearsals the cast felt Three Men On A Horse would run a week which was then revised to three weeks while the cast performed the show during its Washington D.C tryout at the National Theatre, and would have a  fair run after opening night on Broadway. Three Men On A Horse was so popular that at one time there were three simultaneous road companies and a London production, even a Milton Bradley board game!

Al Frueh 1935 ink drawing caricature Sam Levene, Shirley Booth, William Lynn in Three Men On A Horse,
original Broadway production

Sing Sing prison  

Alex Yokel, producer, Three Men on a Horse, and Lewis E. Lawes, warden, Sing Sing prison, jointly organized a special free performance of the hit Broadway show at Sing Sing on Sunday, January 12, 1936. 

Three Men on a Horse Sing Sing prison program gifted to Sam Levene 

A special performance of Three Men on a Horse was held in the chapel of Sing Sing prison in Ossing, New York, attended by 1800 prisoners. 

Three Men on a Horse Sing Sing prison program, January 12, 1936

Sam Levene reprised role of Patsy in three radio versions and two USO tours

Sam Levene also reprised the role of Patsy three times on radio and in two USO tours in which Three Men on a Horse was performed 200 times to 120,000 servicemen in the E.T.O., the first legitimate U.S. theatrical production mounted overseas. Due to security, the USO cast was reduced from 12 to 7 without losing a minute of running dialogue. In a1945 Billboard interview, Sam Levene said, "the G.I.s' gratefulness is absolutely embarrassing. They express it not only by applause but by meeting you personally and giving you objects which they have fought and bled for. They lose sight of the fact that they are the ones fighting the war."

Performed Patsy in two radio versions produced by Theatre Guild On The Air 

Sam Levene as Patsy and Shirley Booth as Mabel reprised their original Broadway roles in two ABC radio versions produced by the Theatre Guild On The Air, the first adapted by Arthur Miller, aired January 6, 1946; the second aired June 1, 1947 with David Wayne as Erwin. 

Sam Levene performed role of Patsy for 3 decades
For three decades Sam Levene reprised his original 1935 Broadway role as Patsy in Three Men On A Horse several times on stage, film, TV radio and even Sing Sing prison; the first time when he made his motion picture debut in the 1936 film, Three Men On A Horse directed by Mervyn LeRoy.  

 After completing the film version of Three Men On A Horse Levene worked for director W.S.  Van Dyke in the first of two Thin Man films in which he portrayed the role of Lieutenant Abrams. Van Dyke almost persuaded him to sign a Hollywood film contract. 

Not interested in starring film or stage roles. 

At the age of 33 in 1938 Sam Levene said  "I'm not Interested in motion picture contracts. I am interested in playing parts in pictures, between stage plays. I don't mind spending two or three months a year in pictures. but the rest of the year must he devoted to Broadway. Furthermore, I'm not Interested in starring rules either in films or on the stage, although 1 like good parts. What actor doesn't? 

But I've learned after many years in the theater that good character actors are always in demand. My alm is to be a good character actor, one so good that I'll have parts waiting for me instead of me searching for them."

 

Tue, May 17, 1938 – Page 8 · Times Herald (Olean, New York) · Newspapers

Because George Abbott offered Levene good part in the Broadway farce Room Service, Levene said he couldn't turn down the stage role. Levene had extraordinary foresight as had a successful 54 years show business career with steady employment in the theatre, amassing 40 Broadway and 50 film credits in some of the most important comedic roles on Broadway and in many important film noirs. 

Room Service - 1937 original Broadway production

After starring as Patsy in George Abbott's original 1935 Broadway production of Three Men On A Horse which ran for 835 performances, Sam Levene had back to back Broadway smash hit success when legendary director, author and producer George Abbott cast Sam Levene in the starring role as Gordon Miller, the shoestring producer in the original Broadway production of the farce,

Sam Levene, Alexander Asro, Eddie Albert and Philip Loeb in Room Service, 1937 original Broadway production 

Room Service opened May 19, 1937 at the Cort Theatre by then unknown playwrights John P. Murray and Allen Boretz which had a 500 performance long-run.

Sam Levene transformed 1937 Room Service Playbill into Broadway scrapbook featuring Levene's Actor's Equity contract,
Broadway reviews, caricatures, photographs, telegrams, MGM and George Abbott correspondence 

Ralph Morehouse, Sam Levene and Donald MacBride in Room Service, 1937 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene's 1937 Room Service Broadway contract 

Before Room Service premiered on Broadway, Sam Levene earned a substantial salary of a thousand dollars a week for his role in the 1936 film Three Men On A Horse where Levene reprised his original Broadway performance as Patsy. While Broadway offered lower pay compared to Hollywood, Sam Levene’s 1937 contract for Room Service included a unique stipulation. His weekly salary was contingent upon box office receipts. The contract stipulated if receipts reached or exceeded six thousand dollars ($6,000), Levene’s salary would increase by one hundred dollars ($100). If the receipts were equal to or exceeded eight thousand five hundred dollars ($8,500), his salary would increase by two hundred dollars ($200). And if the box office receipts were equal to or exceeded ten thousand dollars ($10,000), Levene would receive an additional three hundred dollars ($300) in addition to his base salary. For reference, in 1937, Actors' Equity Association maintained a tiered double minimum of $40.00 weekly for senior members and $25 weekly for junior members.

Sam Levene's 1937 Room Service Broadway contract stipulated salary contingent upon gross box office proceeds

New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson lauded Room Service original Broadway production

Legendary New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson lauded George Abbott's 1937 production of Room Service,"Just as everyone was mentally closing the season and planning the annual villeggiatura, George Abbott put on Room Service. This is an item worth a little discussion at this languid time of the theatrical year....It is also further proof of an extraordinary talent in comic versatility. Mr. Abbott has produced "Boy Meets Girl”and "Brother Rat", which have been convulsing audiences in this laugh-starved bailiwick for a long time; he directed "Three Men On A Horse” which became a national institution and made many friends in London, and he has been up to his ears in fooling for years.”

Brooks Atkinson "Stage Lunacy' Room Service' as Further Evidence George Abbott's Mastery of Fooling"
 The New York Times, May 30, 1937

Brooks Atkinson observed "As an actor Mr. Abbott's choice in actor's is infallible and he treats them like follow-craftsmen.....Sam Levene who won his spurs in Three Men On A Horse,  fairly leans on the comedy; his anxiety during the crises is a physical burden and mental torment. In the pauses as well as in the moments of action he gives himself completely to the succession of alarms that pursue him."

Like many roles Levene created in the original Broadway productions, Levene’s original Broadway performance as Gordon Miller in Room Service has left an indelible mark on film and drama critics for decades. When the RKO film version of Room Service premiered at New York’s Rivoli Theatre in 1938, New York Post film critic Archer Winsten reviewed it; Winsten observes: "Those who saw the play will surely feel that Sam Levene got a great deal more out of the producer's role by playing in straight than Groucho Marx does with his manner fooling. To get the full comic effect of the producer's long line of predicaments you must believe in him. Groucho's mustache and rolling eyes are footnotes in phoniness. And at the same time the demands of the dramatic role prevent Groucho from reaching his own best levels of insanity".

In 1986, Roundabout Theatre mounted a revival of Room Service directed by Alan Alda. New Yorker drama critic Edith Oliver reviewed the revival; in her opening paragraph, Oliver observed "The Roundabout's revival of 'Room Service', haunted by the ghosts of Sam Levene in the original production and the Marx Brothers in the subsequent movie, is a major disappointment. It is no excuse to say that the play is dated-it is sturdy foolishness, with a period charm that her goes entirely by the board. "Room Service" by John Murray and Allen Boretz opened on Broadway in 1937 with Mr. Levene as the shyster producer Gordon Miller, and Eddie Albert as the first-time playwright Leo Davis. The setting is Miller's room in a Broadway hotel, where eventually he, his director, the playwright and the rest of the staff are holed up, along with the cast of twenty-two actors who have been rehearsing hi show in a theatre downstairs. There is not a cent among them, they cannot even order food (the play's title is the tipoff), and opening night seems to be an impossibility." Oliver's review goes on to observe "I never realized more keenly, though I suppose I've always known it, that farce demands as much precision and discipline in the playing as does for example 'King Lear'--maybe more."

Margin For Error Playbill excerpt, 1939 original Broadway production 

Margin For Error - 1939 original Broadway production

Sam Levene received unanimous praise as Officer Finkelstein in Claire Booth's satirical melodrama Margin For Error, the original 1939 Broadway production directed by Otto Preminger which opened  at the Plymouth Theatre November 3, 1939, running for 264 performances, making it the first anti-Nazi play to be a financial success. 

2 pages Sam Levene's Margin For Error Playbill scrapbook featuring telegrams, clippings, Clifford Odets note,
William Auerbach-Levy's caricature of Sam Levene and Otto Preminger

Author Claire Booth's Margin For Error was inspired by New York's Mayor La Guardia’s decision, in response to the German consul’s demand for police protection, to provide only a Jewish policemen, is a comedy-mystery with serious undertones.

Margin For Error, 1939 original Broadway production window card

The Associated Press review for Margin For Error observed Woman Writes Stages First Anti-Nazi Hit; Sam Levene's performance as Officer Finkelstein also received overwhelming critical praise, "It is Patrolman Finkelstein played to the hilt of his nightstick by Sam Levene from whom flows some of the most devastating quips Broadway has heard without bitterness, but with sarcasm that is somehow warmly human. Finkelstein proceeds to demolish Nazism as he solves the crime. They are verbal pyrotechnics of a high order in Miss Booth’s best writing to date".

Otto Preminger and Sam Levene in Margin For Error, 1939 original Broadway production 

Margin For Error was named one of the best plays during the 1939–40 season by theatre critic Burns Mantle; it was made into a 1943 film with Milton Berle in the role created by Levene on Broadway and Otto Preminger reprising his role as the consul.

Bert Lytell as Dr. Jennings and Sam Levene as Officer Finkelstein in Margin For Error, 1939 original Broadway production 

Sam Weisbord, chairman emeritus, William Morris Agency, who had 57 year career at William Morris Agency wrote Sam Levene, November 30, 1939 stating "I am not in the habit of writing fan letters to actors, but I believe your performance in 'Margin For Error' is one of the finest performances I have seen this year in any play, and I have seen every play that has opened so far." P.S. Before you know it, I 'll be asking for an autographed photo. Levene placed the original letter from William Morris Agency talent agent Sam Weisbord in his 'Margin For Error' Playbill scrapbook. 

William Morris Agency agent Sam Weisbord sent 1939 letter to Sam Levene about his fine performance in Margin For Error

Light Up the Sky  - 1948 original Broadway production

Producer Joseph M. Hymen employed Sam Levene twice, the first time when the legendary Broadway actor originated the role of Sidney Black, the theatrical producer of a flop show, based on theatrical producer Billy Rose, in the original Broadway production of Moss Hart's comedy hit show Light Up the Sky which ran for 214 performances. Hymen also produced the 1949/1950 first national tour which Levene directed. 

Sam Levene is Sidney Black, a theatrical producer, based on Billy Rose, in Light Up The Sky, 1948 original Broadway production 

Live TV debut, June 14, 1949

On June 14, 1949, Sam Levene recreated his legendary starring Broadway performance as Sidney Black in Ford Theatre's TV production of Light Up The Sky, a scant eight months after the first broadcast of Ford's Theatre on CBS, a monthly event during the Golden Age of TV. Levene's debut on live TV was fortuitous as Light Up The Sky was a last minute fill-in on CBS's Ford TV Theatre after MGM would nor allow planned TV adaptation of Edward, My Son to air on Ford's TV Theatre because MGM felt the TV adaptation would significantly reduce box office revenue for the Spencer Tracy film which was soon to open at Radio City Music Hall. 

With only four days’ notice, the original 1948 Broadway cast of Moss Hart's Light Up the Sky, starring Sam Levene as Sidney Black, Barry Nelson as Peter Sloan, Glenn Anders as Carleton Fitzgerald, and Audrey Christie as Sam Levene's wife Frances Black, was recruited as a last-minute replacement for the Ford Theatre. It was the first time any of these actors had appeared on live TV. Since Light Up the Sky had just closed three weeks earlier on Broadway, the cast only had four days to rehearse, sign contracts, and "unlearn" their parts for the one-hour Ford's Theatre live broadcast. Variety called it one of the top TV treats of the season, containing a spark seldom found in the comedy department of video dramatics.

Sam Levene as Sidney Black in Light Up The Sky, company photo, 1948 original Broadway production 

For three decades, Levene performed the comedic role of Sidney Black over 600 times including the original Broadway production, the 1949/1950 first national tour and various tours of Moss Hart's Light Up The Sky during 1971-72 and 1975 with a who's who of stage, film and TV stars in including Anne Baxter, Vivian Blaine, Kitty Carlisle, Selma Diamond, Paul Ford, Celeste Holm, Jean Kean, Kay Medford, Russell Nype, Hayden Rorke, Martha Scott.

Vivian Blaine, Harold J. Kennedy, Kitty Carlisle, Sam Levene, Hayden Rorke, Ruth McDevitt in
Light Up The Sky 1971 touring production

Guys and Dolls  - 1950 original Broadway production

Cy Feuer and Ernst Martin were co-producers of the original Broadway 1950 production of Guys and Dolls which gave Sam Levene International stardom, acclaim and four years of steady employment in the United States and United Kingdom. The role of Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls was written specifically for Sam Levene by Abe Burrows, the esteemed writer of the 11th and final Guys and Dolls script for the 1950 original Broadway production.The role of Nathan Detroit was based on Sam Levene’s distinctive New York Jewish cadences, a creative decision that parallels Burrows’s approach when he wrote Cactus Flower for Lauren Bacall. In Honest, Abe: Is There Really No Business Like Show Business?, Burrows recounts “I had the sound of their voices in my head. I knew the rhythm of their speech, and it helped make the dialogue sharper and more real”.

Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls,1950 original Broadway production 

Performed role of Nathan Detroit over 2,000 times

Abe Burrows engaged in extensive discussions with Sam Levene regarding the role of Nathan Detroit, fostering a close friendship with both Levene and his wife, Constance, Abe Burrows wrote the role of Nathan Detroit after Levene signed for the project, so Burrows had the added opportunity of tailoring the role from scratch around Levene's persona, recognizing Levene was going to star as Nathan Detroit. In other words, there was no script to read when Sam Levene signed a contract to star in Guys and Dolls. 

Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Stubby Kaye in Guys and Dolls, 1950 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene performed the role of Nathan Detroit, the craps-shooter extraordinaire, over 2,000 times, first in the 1950 original and seminal and longest running 1950 original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls. After 7 decades, Sam Levene's original performance as Nathan Detroit is considered among the classic comedy portrayals in legitimate musical theatre. 

Sam Levene performed role of Nathan Detroit for over two years on Broadway plus the original five week Philadelphia try-out at the Shubert Theatre and Erlanger Theatre. Six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Alan Alda, son of Guys and Dolls co-star Robert Alda, recalls watching Sam Levene perform Nathan Detroit while standing in the wings. In Never Have Your Dog Stuffed; And Other Things I’ve Learned, Alan Alda recalls watching Sam Levene was thrilling. He could ride a moment as if a wild animal…New meanings occurred to him on the spot.

Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls,1950 original Broadway production 

Not only did he play the same lines differently every night, but the laughs rolled in from the audience in different places. How did he do it? This kind of spontaneity and this utter commitment to the moment became what I wanted to have. As good as my father was, what I was seeing as they played together a few feet away was the difference between burlesque and theatre, between performing and acting. I chose acting. I wanted to be Sam.

Alvin Colt costume design for Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls,1950 original Broadway production,

           adhesive tape, gouache, graphite pencil, pasteboard, swatch, tracing paper, watercolor on paper

Sam Levene performed role of Nathan Detroit for over two years on Broadway plus the original five week Philadelphia try-out at the Shubert Theatre and Erlanger Theatre. Six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Alan Alda, son of Guys and Dolls co-star Robert Alda, recalls watching Sam Levene perform Nathan Detroit while standing in the wings. In Never Have Your Dog Stuffed; And Other Things I’ve Learned, Alan Alda recalls watching Sam Levene was thrilling. He could ride a moment as if a wild animal…New meanings occurred to him on the spot.

Sam Norkin Guys and Dolls 1950 caricature featuring Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Isabel Bigley, Robert Alda, B.S. Pully,
Johnny Silver, Stubby Kaye, Tom Pedi, original Broadway production 

Not only did he play the same lines differently every night, but the laughs rolled in from the audience in different places. How did he do it? This kind of spontaneity and this utter commitment to the moment became what I wanted to have. As good as my father was, what I was seeing as they played together a few feet away was the difference between burlesque and theatre, between performing and acting. I chose acting. I wanted to be Sam.

Guys and Dolls - 1st UK 1953 production

In May 1953 Sam Levene reprised his Broadway role of Nathan Detroit in the first UK production of Guys and Dolls at the UK Coliseum opposite Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide. 

Vivian Blaine, Robert Alda, Sam Levene in Guys and Dolls Las Vegas production, 1st Broadway musical performed on the strip

Guys and Dolls - 1st Las Vegas production 

Sam Levene reprised the role of Nathan Detroit in the first 1955 Las Vegas production, a scaled down 90 minute production that Levene performed twice a day seven days a week, the first time a Broadway musical was performed on the strip. Because the running time was reduced, the show was performed 14 times a week versus the 8 performance Broadway standard.

The Matchmaker - 1954 UK premiere production

Sam Levene made his second appearance across the pond when he originated the role of Horace Vandergelder, the crotchety merchant of Yonkers in the 1954 premiere UK production of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker opposite Ruth Gordon as Dolly Levi, a play that became the basis for the musical Hello Dolly.

  

               Eileen Hurlie, Sam Levene, Ruth Gordon in Thorton Wilder's The Matchmaker, 1954 UK premiere production

Levene originated and performed the role of Horace Vandergelder for 330 performances opposite Ruth Gordon across various theaters in the premiere production of The Matchmaker in numerous theaters in the UK, Scotland and Germany, under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie. The production was a resounding success. 

Ruth Gordon, Eileen Herlie and Sam Levene in The Matchmaker, Haymarket Theatre

When Sam Levene was presented with the opportunity to direct and star in the 1955 Broadway comedy The Hot Corner, he declined reprising the role of Horace Vandergelder when The Matchmaker transferred to Broadway, in a production presented by producer David Merrick. 

Levene ultimately regretted his decision as The Hot Corner was an immediate Broadway flop and the Broadway production of The Matchmaker was a two year bona fide hit. Additionally, due to his commitment to The Hot Corner, Levene also declined co-starring role as Rocky's manager in the 1956 film Somebody Up There Likes Me. 

Fair Game - 1957 original Broadway production

Sam Levene starred as Lou Winkler, a businessman in the original Broadway production of Fair Game, 1957 comedy by Sam Locke that Larry Gelbart solely attributed its Broadway run of 217 performances due to the extraordinary performance and star box office power of Sam Levene.

Ellen Burstyn and Sam Levene in Fair Game, 1957 Broadway comedy by Sam Locke

Fair Game co-starred Ellen Burstyn, who was then credited as Ellen McCrae for her Broadway debut. Ms. Burstyn fondly recalls her co-starring role in Fair Game enabled her to get her first Equity card.

Sam Levene in Fair Game,1957 original Broadway production, was a hit due to Sam Levene's box office power

New York Daily News drama critic John Chapman reviewed the original Broadway production of Fair Game at the Longacre Theatre, November 3, 1957; Chapman observed "Perfect ease is what Sam Levene has most of. He set about his wolfish pursuit with the utmost cunning, and every time he gets a rebuff he tries another devilish tack. What makes Levene so funny in anything he does is the absolute sincerity with which he plays. No matter how light or comic the role, he plays it as honestly as though it was Richard II, and he is a master of timing, right down to the twitch of a brow or the pop of an eye."

Sam Levene on Fair Game Playbill cover, 1957 original Broadway production

Make A Million - 1958 original Broadway production

Sam Levene transformed a critical flop into a bona fide Broadway smash hit solely on the basis of his star performance and ability to sell tickets in Make a Million, a 1958 Broadway comedy staged by Jerome Chodorov that was produced by Joel Spector. Sam Levene's critically received star performance as Sid Gray, a television producer, enabled co-authors Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore to enjoy a run of 308 performances for their 3-act Broadway comedy Make A Million, a run so successful, it surprised the authors. Joel Spector also produced the 1960 summer tour of Make a Million starring and directed by Sam Levene. 

             Conrad Janis, Sam Levene and Ann Wedgeworth in Make a Million, 1958 original Broadway production

Barasch and Moore originally wrote Make A Million for Sam Levene who initially was unavailable and turned the project down, never reading the script. At one point Jackie Gleason agreed to star in Make A Million but withdrew when he got a high paying offer to headline his CBS variety TV show.  When Jackie Gleason became unavailable, Sam Levene became available and agreed to do the three act comedy which he later headlined and directed when the comedy launched its national tour. Make A Million was performed at two Broadway theaters, initially the Playhouse Theatre until April 11, 1959 and subsequently transferred to Broadway’s Morosco Theatre until it closed July 11, 1959.

Sam Levene as Sid Gray in Make A Million, 1959 Playhouse Theatre Playbill cover 
 

The Broadway production of Make A Million mostly received pans and mixed reviews, but Sam Levene’s lead performance won universal critical praise. Chief theatre critic Walter Kerr reviewed Make A Million for The New York Herald Tribune, stating this is not so much a review as a confession. I spent a good deal of last evening laughing at a very bad play. Robert Coleman, theatre critic for The Daily Mirror, wrote, “ Sam Levene can boot home a show like Acaro and Willie Shoemaker do horses. The only trouble is the latter are usually on good mounts, while Sam has recently been drawing only fair to middling entrees. Still, he gives them a heck of a ride. Take Make A Million, for instance, which premiered at the Playhouse last night. It's an old-fashioned, frantic farce. But with Sam in the saddle, there were moments when it was in contention.”If you want to see a great comedian in action and are willing to overlook his vehicle, you might visit the Playhouse. Now, don't get us wrong. Make A Million is unabashed hokum, innocent of true characterization, as lush with corn as Iowa’s acres, but it sports the colors of the one and only Sam Levene.  

New York Times chief theatre critic Lewis Funke wasn’t a fan of the play writing Sam Levene is still is one of the funniest men on Broadway. With those goggle eyes, those flailing arms, expressive hands, that gravely voice that undertone of skepticism and dismay he can give a twist of humor to some of the plainest lines even make them sound hilarious. One of these seasons he will find a comedy or farce that will match his talents and then we had all better look to our sides.

Seven Broadway theatre critics confused Sam Levene when they unanimously panned Make A Million but agreed to a press agents dream, an unprecedented New York Times ad that extolled Sam Levene's performance to the heavens with the headline: "Sam You Made Us Laugh Out Loud" agreed: Fred Aston, World Telegram, Robert Coleman, The Daily Mirror, Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune, John McClain, Journal-American, Charles McHarry, The New York Daily News, Richard Watts, Jr., The New York Post. 

Leveraging Sam Levene's stellar critical notices worked; the original Broadway production of Make A Million ran 308 performances, an extraordinary run for a mediocre comedy that would no doubt flop today. The 1950's quiz show scandal short-circuited the possibility of adapting Make A Million for film or TV.

 

Make A Million New York Times ad touting Sam Levene's stellar reviews, 1959 original Broadway production
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Make A Million was so successful that Jack Benny said he would enjoy performing Make A Million for a month in summer stock. Jack Benny said, “ I’d like a play, such as ‘Make a Million,’ which Sam Levene did on Broadway.” Sam and I don’t think alike, and our delivery is different, yet almost all of his comedies would be good for me without changing a word.

Heartbreak House - 1959 all star Broadway revival 

Sam Levene was the only American actor in company of UK legends when actor and co-producer Maurice Evans cast Sam Levene as businessman Boss Mangan in George Bernard Shaw's 1959 all star Broadway revival of Heartbreak House, a comedy directed by Harold Clurman which had a strictly limited Broadway run of 14 weeks along plus a 4 week pre-Broadway try-out at the National Theatre, Washington DC and the Shubert Theatre, Boston. 

Sam Norkin caricature starring Sam Levene in George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, created during pre-Broadway try-out Shubert Theatre, Boston, one of two caricatures Sam Norkin created of 1959 Broadway revival 

To perform in Heartbreak House, Levene exited the original Broadway production of the comedy hit Make A Million after a run of 308 performances at the Playhouse and Morosco Theatre over the prior 39 weeks at which time the Broadway show closed as the producers were unable to find a replacement for Levene. Heartbreak House was the first of three all star Broadway revivals starring Sam Levene, the other two, the all star revivals of Three Men On A Horse and The Royal Family. 

 Maurice Evans, Pamela Brown, Sam Levene, Diana Wynyard, Alan Webb, Diane Cilento, Dennis Price in 
Heartbreak House, 1959 all star Broadway revival window card, Billy Rose Theatre 

In an interview with Ward Morehouse, Sam Levene said he had "never played Shakespeare, or Sophocles, or Ibsen. It might even be said that he is a classic example of the non-classical. So it is surprising, not to say startling, to learn that Sam will be seen this coming season in Bernard Shaw’s “Heartbreak House”. Sam will play the role of the capitalistic Boss Mangan, co-starred along wit Maurice Evans, Pamela Brown and Diane Cilento."

Sam Norkin created second Heartbreak House caricature starring Maurice Evans, Diana Wynyard, Sam Levene and
Diane Cilento when 1959 Broadway revival opened at the Billy Rose Theatre

He's now mildly terrified by the whole project. “I don’t know what I’m doing in it with all those Englishmen in there,” he said fretfully, eyes wide with  apprehension. But I guess it’s time I got acquainted with some of the world’s best plays. It’ll be okay if I get away with it Otherwise, I’ll fall on my face and you guy’s might begin thinking—and talking. I’ve seen some of the Shaw plays—l get around— but I’d read practically nothing of his until I read ‘Heartbreak House.’ Still a Worrier “I hope I won’t embarrass myself."

Al Frueh created Heartbreak House caricature of 1959 all star Broadway revival with Maurice Evans, Pamela Brown and Sam Levene, one of six Frueh caricatures memorializing Sam Levene's original Broadway performances

Maurice Zolotow interviewed Sam Levene for The New York Times on November 8, 1959. When Robert L. Joseph, the co-producer of Heartbreak House, invited Levene to play Boss Mangan, Levene was perplexed and told "Joseph he was crazy".  Finally, he read the play. "I didn't know what the hell it was all about," Levene said "I read it twice. I told them I had no business playing Shaw. But they kept insisting."

During rehearsals Levene kept urging that he be fired, but they insisted on paying him and the critics, much to his anguish, gave him: high praise for his brilliant repertoire of gestures, frowns, takes, shrugging and strident nasal speeches.

Zolotow observes George Bernard Shaw in a stage direction, describes Boss Mangan, the bewildered capitalist of "Heartbreak House," as "a man with a careworn, mistrustful expression." Sam Levene, whose comic expertise has been delighting Broadway audiences for thirty-two years, does not have to use wild imagination to create the suspicious belligerence of Mangan in the current revival at the Billy Rose Theatre. The most prominent aspect of Levene's character has long been a world-weary distrust of the universe. Whether the notices are good or bad, and they are rarely bad, Levene always feels he is in some sort of vague trouble, that there is a world-wide ambiguous conspiracy to bewilder him."

Sam Levene as Boss Mangan Diane Cilento as Hesione in George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, 1959 Broadway revival

For his role as Boss Mangan in Heartbreak House, Levene has written a three-page memorandum to himself regarding his present role. It contains such caveats as 

• Don't externalize too much. 
• Don't embellish above the truth. 
• Don't exaggerate beyond the real interest of character. 
• Don't be too farcical

At first, Levene says, the fact that he couldn't alter Shaw's lines to fit his improvisations on stage made him feel straitjacketed. 

"This is the first play I've been in," Levene confesses, "where I wasn't able to change the lines to build to a laugh or point a gag. You can't improve on Shaw. It holds me down. It's miserable. I keep worrying a lot about what Mangan is doing when he's offstage, when, say, he's walking in the garden with Mrs. Hushabye."

• "Do I really fall in love with Mrs. Hushabye? 
• "What did Mrs. Hushabye say to me at the dinner table, offstage, to make me change my mind about marrying Ellie Dunn?"
• "Why does Boss Mangan have this feeling of desperation and confusion in the last act?”

New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson, praised the performances of Maurice Evans as Captain Shotover and Sam Levene as Boss Mangan writing "it is best when Mr. Evans goes at it with clarity and vigor of a veteran Shavian."

"And when Sam Levene applies his startled eyes and rising vocal inflections to the part of Boss Mangan, the merchant. Mr. Evans is capital. In the first place he speaks lines intelligibly. Every word is emphatically stated by an actor who has always been meticulous about speech. In the second place, he  does not depart from common sense in his characterization. He is not playing a figure in comedy, he is playing a human being. And Mr. Levene also adheres to reality. His coarse cautious blustering man of affairs is frustrated by the agile conversation he hears on every side and he reacts spontaneously."

According to The New York Times, James Joseph Myers, a retired Con Edison guard, thinks nothing of seeing a Broadway show more than once. “Generally the shows's the thing with Mr. Myers, but sometimes he will take in a performance because of his interest in a star. Myers saw Heartbreak House four times because of his admiration for Sam Levene. I remember him when he was a detective in films he said with a nostalgic twinkle in his eyes. He was a rough guy at that time but he has gotten a little older.”  

The Good Soup - 1960 original Broadway production 

Producer David Merrick cast Sam Levene in two Broadway production flops, each directed by Garson Kanin which also co-starred Kanin's wife Ruth Gordon. The second flop was the original Broadway production of Dreyfus in Rehearsal in 1974. 

Ruth Gordon, Sam Levene, Diane Cilento, Mildred Natwick in The Good Soup, 1960 original Broadway production 

The Good Soup was a Broadway flop that only ran for 21 performances.

Norkin caricature The Good Soup starring Ruth Gordon, Sam Levene, Diane Cilento, Jules Munshin, 1960 Broadway production

The Devil's Advocate - 1961 original Broadway production
In 1961, Sam Levene's long-time friend and former head RKO Studios, Dore Schary, cast Sam Levene as Dr. Aldo Meyer in The Devil's Advocate, a role that earned Sam Levene 1961 Tony Award® nomination for Best Actor in a play. After a try-out at Boston's Colonial Theatre, The Devil's Advocate directed and produced by Dore Schary transferred to the Billy Rose Theatre where it had a run of 1 preview and 116 performances from March 9, 1961-June 17, 1961. 

Sam Levene, Leo Genn, Edward Mulhare, Tresa Hughes and cast in The Devil's Advocate, 1961 original Broadway production 

Regrettably, Sam Levene did not receive the 1961 Tony Award® for his leading performance as Dr. Aldo Meyer in The Devil's Advocate. In 1961, Levene’s good friend Zero Mostel received the Tony for his leading role in Rhinoceros. 

Sam Norkin caricature Tresa Hughes, Leo Genn, Edward Mulhare, Sam Levene in The Devil’s Advocate
original 1961 Broadway production, collection Joseph K. Levene 

Let It Ride - 1961 original Broadway production 

Let It Ride, was a Broadway musical comedy based on George Abbott and John Cecil Holm's enormously successful 1935 play Three Men on a Horse that Sam Levene also originated on Broadway in 1961. The musical opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on October 12, 1961, starring television favorite George Gobel as Erwin Trowbridge, an unassuming greeting card writer with an extraordinary ability to predict winning racehorses, and legendary Broadway star Sam Levene as Patsy, the wisecracking gambler who recognizes the value of Erwin's remarkable gift. Let It Ride had a 3 week tryout at Philadelphia's Erlanger Theatre from September 7, 1961 through September 30, 1961. 

George Gobel Sam Levene Barbara Nichols in Let It Ride, 1961 original Broadway production 

The score was composed by the celebrated songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, whose career included some of America's most recognizable popular songs. Livingston and Evans are best known for three Academy Award-winning hits, Buttons and Bows, Mona Lisa and Que Sera, Sera; two smash hit songs from movies, Silver Bells and Tammy, and  theme songs for two popular 60’s tv shows, Bonanza and Mr. Ed. The 1961 musical adaptation of Levene's Broadway and film hit Three Men On A Horse, co-starring George Gobel was produced by Joel Spector. R.C.A. Victor Records, a division of R.C.A. made an angel investment of more than $100,000 in the 1961 Broadway musical production of Let It Ride to secure the recording rights of the original cast album starring George Gobel and Sam Levene.

The musical was adapted from one of Broadway's greatest comedy successes. When the original Broadway production of Three Men on a Horse premiered in 1935, it became an immediate sensation. The original cast featured William Lynn as Erwin, Sam Levene as Patsy and Shirley Booth as Mabel. The original Broadway production had an extraordinary run of 835 performances, making it one of the longest-running Broadway comedies of its era. At the time it closed in 1936, only Abie's Irish Rose, the 1922 comedy, 2327 performances and Lightnin’, the 1918 original Broadway production, 1218 performances, had longer Broadway runs.

George Gobel and Sam Levene in Let It Ride, 1961 original Broadway production 

George Gobel, whose comic persona had made him one of television's biggest stars through The George Gobel Show, which ran from 1954–1960, was cast as the shy and self-effacing Erwin. His understated style and "Lonesome George" character made him a natural choice for the modest greeting-card poet whose quiet confidence concealed an uncanny talent. 

Returning to the role that had helped establish his stature as Broadway royalty, Sam Levene recreated the role of Patsy twenty-six years after originating the role in the original Broadway production. Few actors have been as closely associated with a single role. 

In addition to starring in the original Broadway production, Sam Levene reprised the role of Patsy in the 1936 MGM film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, performed the role during two USO tours that entertained more than 200,000 servicemen and women during World War II, and appeared as Patsy in three radio adaptations, one adapted by esteemed playwright Arthur Miller. 

Barbara Nichols was cast as Mabel. Movie audiences knew Nichols from numerous film roles, particularly from the 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success in which she portrayed the vulnerable girlfriend of Tony Curtis's Sidney Falco. Coincidentally, Sam Levene co-starred in that acclaimed film.

The story centers on Erwin Trowbridge, a greeting card writer whose specialty is composing sentimental verses. Although he has no interest in gambling, Erwin possesses an inexplicable knack for selecting winning horses simply by studying the racing pages. Because he never places bets himself, his remarkable predictions remain little more than a private curiosity.

George Gobel and Sam Levene in Let It Ride, 1961 original Broadway production 

After growing frustrated with the demands of his employer and the pressures of home life, Erwin wanders into a neighborhood bar, where he casually reveals his unusual ability. Patsy and his fellow gamblers immediately recognize the opportunity before them and persuade Erwin to share his selections. Before long, Erwin finds himself swept into a world of bookmakers, racetracks, and fast-talking horse players. Meanwhile, Patsy's girlfriend Mabel becomes increasingly concerned that Erwin is being exploited, and Audrey, Erwin's wife, grows suspicious as his new friendships begin to complicate his personal life.

 New York Times drama critic Howard Taubman reviewed the 1961 Broadway production of Let It Ride observing "as a straight play, "Three Men on a Horse” was a galloping champion. Why shouldn't a musical with similar blood lines be an easy winner? But the parlay doesn't come off. "Let It Ride!" the musical derived from "Three Men on a Horse," ran hard at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre last night but didn't have the staying power. As the chart makers would say, it had foot but only in bursts. 

Unhappily, Mr. Gobel rarely ceased to be Mr. Gobel. People kept calling him Oiwin; he insisted he was Erwin, But the pleasIng, recent personality remained Mr. Gobel's, Erwin just did not register in the framework of a theatre proscenium like George Gobel.

"Let It Ride!" picked up speed when Sam Levene appeared. Playing his old role as Patsy, the tinhorn gambler of fond memory, he was shrewd and weary and immensely comic. Having discovered Erwin's arcane powers, he showered him with tender loving care. When his buddies moved to shake Erwin, his voice became hoarse with protective fury."

Despite its distinguished pedigree and talented cast, Let It Ride failed to duplicate the phenomenal success of its source material. The musical closed after a run of Broadway of 69 performances. Sam Levene also performed the title song from Let It Ride on the Let It Ride float in the 1961 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Seidman and Son  - 1962 original Broadway production

Producer Joel W. Schenker hired Sam Levene to star as Morris Seidman in the original Broadway production which opened at the Belasco Theatre October 15, 1962.

Sam Levene in Seidman and Son, Belasco Theatre, premiere performance October 15, 1962

Legendary newspaper columnist Leonard Lyons reported Seidman and Son brought in $300,000 advance due to the giant talents of Sam Levene.  Levene's Broadway performance was box office magic as Seidman and Son had a 216 performance run at the Belasco Theatre prior to mounting the 1963 first national tour of Seidman and Son which Levene also directed. 

Sam Levene in Seidman and Son, Belasco Theatre, 1962 original Broadway production 

Drama and film critic Jay Carmody reviewed the national tour production of Seidman and Son at the National Theatre, Washington, DC, observing author Elick Moll was able to get a two season run of Seidman and Son in New York and a chance for Sam Levene to reaffirm that there is no other comedian really like him. Carmody observed the most interesting thing about the two hours is that Mr. Levene takes the theatergoer on the complete tour of the dilemmas that have made most other playwrights furious or miserable. 

These include loneliness, lack of communication between parents and children, labor management relations, the housing shortage, the loss of zest in marriage, and even how not to sow the last few wild oats a middle-aged man usually finds in his pocket...Smartly, and generously, director-Star Levene keeps Seidman and Son from looking like a one-character play. He is almost never off-stage and al ways the funniest presence on it.

The Last Analysis - 1964 original Broadway production

Sam Levene in The Last Analysis, Belasco Theatre, 1964 original Broadway production

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum - 1964 Mineola Playhouse

Sam Levene starred as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, the musical, which opened December 25, 1964 at the Mineola Playhouse, New York. The Mineola company featured many performers from the original Broadway cast. 

Sam Levene is Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Mineola Playhouse

Originally scheduled for a two week run, the musical broke box office records and was so successful,  the producers extended Levene's starring engagement in the role originated on Broadway by his close friend Zero Mostel. 

Sam Levene in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, ad, Mineola Playhouse

The Impossible Years - 1966 original Broadway production 

Emanuel Azenberg and Eugene V. Wolsk worked with Sam Levene twice in two Broadway productions and two national tours; the first time as company managers when Sam Levene replaced Alan King on August 22, 1966 in the starring role of Dr. Jack Kingsley in the original Broadway production of The Impossible Years at the Playhouse Theatre. 

Norkin caricature announcing Sam Levene is replacing Alan King, in The Impossible Years, 1966 original Broadway production 

Due to Sam Levene's box office draw and star power, ticket sales for the Broadway production of The Impossible Years, a very average comedy written by Arthur Marx, son of Groucho Marx, remained strong after Sam Levene replaced TV comedian Alan King in the 1966 original Broadway production.

Telegram Sam Levene received from playwright Arthur Marx, August 22, 1966

Sam Levene in The Impossible Years, Playbill cover, Playhouse Theatre, original 1966 Broadway production 

Sam Levene performed The Impossible Years 388 times on Broadway prior to starring and directing the first national tour of the Arthur Marx comedy. 

Sam Levene invites Walter Kerr to see his performance in The Impossible Years

In March 1967, Sam Levene extended an invitation to the renowned New York Times drama critic Walter Kerr, inviting him to witness his performance in the play The Impossible Years. However, despite their shared collaboration in Walter Kerr’s television adaptation of Mrs. McThing, where Sam Levene and Helen Hayes co-starred, Walter Kerr declined Levene’s invitation. 

Walter Kerr declines Sam Levene's invitation to see Levene's performance in The Impossible Years

 Sam Levene in The Impossible Years, Souvenir Book, 1966 original Broadway production

Emmanuel Azenberg and Eugene V. Wolsk were lead producers when Sam Levene originated the role of Al Lewis opposite Jack Albertson in Neil Simon's original 1972 Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys which had a pre-Broadway tryout in Washington DC and New Haven, CT.  

Sam Levene headlined and directed The Impossible Years, 1967 1st national tour, Morris A. Mechanic Theatre 

Three Men On A Horse - 1969 all star Broadway revival 

Sam Levene received first place over title star billing as Patsy, in the 1969 all-star Broadway revival of Three Men On A Horse, a role Levene originated in 1935 in the original Broadway production.

Sam Levene reprised role of Patsy in Three Men On A Horse, Lyceum Theatre, 1969 all star Broadway revival

New York Times drama critic Clive Barnes, drama critic, gave a favorable review to the all star Broadway revival stating "Three Men on a Horse Revived; All-Star Cast Excels in Betting Tale". Clive Barnes lauded Sam Levene's performance as Patsy writing "Sam Levene originated the role of Patsy in 1935-by now it's his. Still looking like a man whose eyes have been allocated the wrong size eyelids, still mugging, double-taking, offering his celebrated impersonation of an actor impersonating a character who had based himself on Damon Runyon, Mr. Levene is great. No one in the world plays Mr. Levene as he does, and what's more, no one ever will."

Although Sam Levene received positive critical acclaim for reprising the role of Patsy, the all-star revival was not a commercial success. Box office sales were negatively impacted because two days after the opening of Three Men On A Horse, the all-star revival of The Front Page starring Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, and Helen Hayes reopened and ran for an additional 158 performances. Regrettably, the all-star Broadway revival of Three Men On A Horse had a run of only 104 performances, co-starring Jack Gilford as Erwin, compared to the original 1935 Broadway production’s 835 performances. Directed by George Abbott, the 1969 all-star Broadway revival of Three Men On A Horse also featured Dorothy Loudon as Mabel, Hal Linden, Rosemary Prinz, Butterfly McQueen and Paul Ford.

Paris is Out - 1971 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene joined Molly Picon as co-stars in the 1971 original Broadway production of Paris Is Out at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, a slight comedy written by Richard Seff directed by Paul Aaron. 

Sam Levene, Molly Picon and Broadway cast in Paris Is Out, 1970 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene and Molly Picon were cast as Daniel and Hortense Brand, a married couple planning a vacation in the comedy produced by David Black, a veteran Broadway producer in association with 24 year old Donald J. Trump. Trump invested $70,000 in the show which was his first and only investment in a Broadway production. Sam Levene had just closed on Broadway in Three Men On A Horse on January 10, 1970 and nine days later he was co-starring in his thirty-sixth Broadway show when the preview curtain rose on January 16, 1970 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. 

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Molly Picon and Sam Levene in Paris Is Out, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 1970 original Broadway production 

Producer, David Black, hit on a novel idea, there would be no traditional opening night. Instead, the play would run for two weeks of previews, starting on January 16, after which critics, should they choose, could attend the show gratis. “This is an audience play,” There were a few good reviews. Marilyn Stasio, then with Cue magazine, wrote: “The delightful pair, Picon and Levene, have enough comic know-how to keep a matinee audience in happy convulsions.” 

What finished off Paris Is Out! after 112 performances was a blizzard on Easter Sunday that decimated ticket sales for a week; the producers, including Trump, lost their entire investment.

The Sunshine Boys - 1972 original Broadway production

Sam Levene originated the role of Al Lewis, the retired vaudevillian, opposite Jack Albertson as Willie Clark in the 1972 original landmark Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys, Neil Simon’s beloved salute to vaudevillians. 

Jack Albertson and Sam Levene in The Sunshine Boys, Broadhurst Theatre, 1972 original Broadway production

Three days after The Sunshine Boys premiered on Broadway on December 20, 1972, Sam Levene received a heartfelt letter from playwright Neil Simon. Neil Simon wrote "Thanks so much for your lovely and thoughtful gift. I really loved it. And the same goes for the one you gave me on stage Wednesday night. Much love, Neil"

Neil Simon letter Sam Levene received December 23, 1972 

In his December 21, 1972 review of the original Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys in The New York Times, Theatre critic Clive Barnes said “Jack Albertson as the heart stricken comic never puts a line wrong. He is always pathetic but never enough to make you cry. Lovely. His acerbic partner, Sam Levene, is as tough as vintage chewing gum.”

Sam Norkin caricature Lewis J. Stadlen, Jack Albertson and Sam Levene in The Sunshine Boys, 
1972 original Broadway production for The New York Daily News

Sam Levene performed the role of Al Lewis a total of 487 times during its original Broadway production and during its pre-Broadway try-out in Washington DC and Hartford, CT, first opposite Jack Albertson as Willie Clarke from December 20, 1972 through October 28, 1974.

Sam Levene as Al Lewis and Jack Albertson as Willie Clarke in The Sunshine Boys, 1972 original Broadway production 

Sam Levene also performed the role of Al Lewis opposite Jack Gilford in the original Broadway production after Jack Albertson left the production from October 30, 1973 until November 14, 1973. 

Jack Gilford and Sam Levene in The Sunshine Boys, 1973 publicity photograph, original Broadway production 

In the first act of The Sunshine Boys, Sam Levene as Al Lewis asks Willie Clarke "if he gets fan mail?” to which Willie says, "Don't you?" to which Al Lewis responds, getting a huge laugh, "I don't even get jury duty".

       Unofficial letter + Jury Duty summons sent to Mr. Al Lewis c/o Sam Levene, The Sunshine Boys, Broadhurst Theatre

Former New York County Clerk, Norman Goodman and his wife attended the February 19, 1973
performance of The Sunshine Boys starring Sam Levene and Jack Albertson and apparently liked Sam Levene's performance so much Mr. Goodman sent a February 20, 1973 personal and unofficial letter with a jury duty summons to Mr. Al Lewis c/o Sam Levene at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre acknowledging Al Lewis' comedic line that he no longer receives even a jury duty notice.

Jury Duty Summons sent to Mr. Al Lewis c/o Sam Levene, The Sunshine Boys, Broadhurst Theatre

Facetiously, Mr. Goodman's letter stated so that you will not feel neglected we have arranged for you to be notified that on February 19, 1983, (10 years from the date of the letter), your jury duty in this County will commence.

The Sunshine Boys - 1974 1st national tour

Sam Levene performed in the 1st national tour of The Sunshine Boys 176 times, initially reprising the role of Al Lewis in the first leg of the 1st national tour co-starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark which included an eight week engagement at the Shubert Theatre, CA - January 26, 1974 - March 23, 1974.  

Jack Albertson and Sam Levene caricatures The Sunshine Boys, cover Shubert Theatre, one stop 1974 1st national tour

Sam Levene later performed the role of Willie Clark opposite Ned Glass as Al Lewis in the second leg of the 1st national tour of The Sunshine Boys in Cleveland and Chicago. Levene also performed the role of Willie Clarke opposite Jack Somack in a production Levene directed. 

Sam Levene as Willie Clarke, The Sunshine Boys, 1974 first national tour

Sam Norkin caricature The Sunshine Boys starring Michael Durrell as Michael Silverman, Sam Levene as Willie Clarke,
Ned Glass as Al Lewis, 1974 1st national tour

The Royal Family - 1975 all star Broadway revival 

Sam Levene received critical acclaim as Oscar Wolfe in the 1975 all star Broadway revival at Helen Hayes Theatre directed by Ellis Raab. George Grizzard was replaced by director Ellis Rabb shortly after the  all star revival opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre, December 30, 1975. 

Rosemary Harris, Eva LeGallienne, George Grizzard and Sam Levene in The Royal Family, Helen Hayes Theatre 

opening night December 30, 1975, all star Broadway revival 

New York Times drama critic Clive Barnes observed The Royal Family is an old comedy that has come up as fresh as a newly minted Bicentennial quarter—better, because it has real silver in it. Eva LeGallienne, Rosemary Harris, Ellis Rabb and Sam Levene are just four of its many gems. The Royal Family had a 233 performance run on Broadway plus 60 performance pre-Broadway tryout at the McCarter Theatre Center, NJ, Eisenhower Theater, Washington D.C. and Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. In addition, Sam Levene and Eva LeGallienne reprised their Broadway roles as Oscar Wolfe and Fanny Cavendish in a 1976-1977 national tour for 136 performances opposite Carole Shelly in the role created by Ms. Harris and Leonard Frey in the role performed on Broadway by Ellis Raab.

 Rosemary Harris, George Grizzard, Eva LeGallienne and Sam Levene in The Royal Family, all star 1975 Broadway revival 

Al Pacino, wow, that's an entrance, recalling Sam Levene's performance in the 1975 all-star Broadway revival of The Royal Family. Sam Levene’s entrance as Oscar Wolfe in the 1975 all star Broadway revival of The Royal Family made an indelible impression on 35 year old Al Pacino. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Al Pacino recalls with extraordinary clarity how Sam Levene’s Broadway entrance in The Royal Family affected him when he watched the legendary star make his entrance in the 1975 Broadway production of The Royal Family starring Eva LeGallienne, Rosemary Harris, Ellis Raab and Sam Levene.     

                   

Sam Levene's done it for 50 years, that's a big thing, Al Pacino recalling Levene's celebrated performance as Oscar Wolfe in 1975 revival of The Royal Family

Al Pacino: "Remember the great actor Sam Levene."

"I was watching "The Royal Family" once in the theatre. Sam Levene comes in, and just opens the doors and comes in. And I was a young actor and I thought Wow...."

"As soon as I saw that. I said wow that's an entrance."

Charlie Rose: "That's an entrance".

Al Pacino: "It wasn't an entrance it was something else. It was a gift. It was something else. He was opening the doors to something spectacular with light in it and adding everything and energy and joy and you know what it was?"

"He's done it for 50 years that's a big thing" 

UPI arts editor Glenne Currie reviewed the Broadway revival of The Royal Family which opened December 30, 1975, writing "Sam Levene is magnificent as the aging agent, and is the only cast member who manages to make the sentimentality affecting, when he learns Fanny is too ill ever to act again.”

Sam Levene and Rosemary Harris in The Royal Family, 1975 all star Broadway revival

Two time Tony Award® winner Nathan Lane said watching the 1975 Broadway all star revival of The Royal Family was one of his favorite theatre-going experiences. “Well, Rosemary Harris in everything, but she was particularly brilliant in what may be the greatest evening of theater I have ever had. So was Ellis Rabb as Tony,  Sam Levene as Oscar Wolfe, Eva LeGallienne as Fanny Cavendish, Joseph Maher and Mary Louise Wilson. It was theatrical heaven. At the end of the second act Rosemary had this incredible speech which ended in her collapsing in the fastest pratfall I have ever seen and then leaping up realizing she would be late for her half-hour. She stopped the show.”

Sam Levene starred in 5 musicals, 3 on Broadway!

Not a singer, Sam Levene starred in 5 musicals, the most important, his legendary role as Nathan Detroit, a part written and crafted for him by Abe Burrows in the original 1950 Broadway production of Guys and Dolls, a role Sam Levene reprised and originated in the first UK productions and the first Las Vegas production. Sam Levene also had starring roles in Cafe Crown, the 1964 Broadway musical co-starring Theodore Bikel and Let It Ride, the 1961 Broadway musical co-starring George Gobel. 

 Sam Levene starred in 5 musicals, including 3 original Broadway productions!

The Prince of Grand Street - 1978 pre-Broadway tryout

Sam Levene co-starred with Robert Preston in the musical The Prince Of Grand Street, which closed out of town during its 1978 pre-Broadway engagement after a run of 48 performances. 

The Prince of Grand Street, Shubert Theatre, 1978 pre-Broadway tryout

Horowitz and Mrs. Washington - 1980 original Broadway production 

In 1980 Joel Schenker hired Sam Levene to star in the original Broadway production of Horowitz and Mrs. Washington opposite TV star Esther Rolle, which turned out to be Sam Levene's final Broadway role in his 54th year as a working actor on Broadway.

Sam Levene's observations as director

In an 1967 interview with E.B. Radcliffe, Sam Levene said that he figures a major reason for his success as a director stems from the his ability to forget about his problems as an actor when he functions as a director getting the play ready. When I am blocking out a scene or plotting a specific piece of business I forget all about my problems as an actor and think only of the various characters I am directing on stage. As a director, I can't afford to pay favorites, not even for myself. Later when I feel that the scene is working right I can think about the nuances of my own performance. If the director is any good, the part should play itself.

Sam Levene performed and directed numerous national tours 

Throughout his illustrious career, Sam Levene was a highly accomplished and devoted stage performer. In addition to his 40 Broadway credits, Levene was widely recognized by audiences across the United States for his performances on numerous stages. Over five decades, he graced the stages of the National Theater in Washington, DC, the Westport County Playhouse in Connecticut, the Royal Alexandria Theater in Canada, New York's Mineola Playhouse, New Jersey's Papermill Playhouse, and many others, performing in eight to twelve productions on each stage. 

Stage productions directed by Sam Levene: 

The Big Story, 1940 

Out West, It's Different, 1940

Light Up The Sky, 1949

Light Up The Sky, 1st national company, 1949-1950

The Hot Corner, 1955-56

Make A Million, summer tour, 1960

Seidman and Son, 1st national company, 1963-64

The Impossible Years, 1st national company, 1967-68

Don't Drink The Water, 1st national company, 1968-69

Don't Drink The Water, 2nd national company, 1968-69

Three Men On A Horse, summer tour, 1969

Other noteworthy national tours include Sam Levene and Jack Albertson in The Sunshine Boys, in which the two legendary stars recreated their original Broadway performances as Al Lewis and Willie Clark in the 1974 first national tour which included stops at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto and the Shubert Theatre, California. Sam Levene also starred in The Royal Family 1976 first national tour reprising his 1975 Broadway performance as Oscar Wolfe co-starring Eva LeGallienne as Fanny Cavendish.

Eva LeGallienne, Sam Levene, Carole Shelley, Leonard Frey in The Royal Family, Wilbur Theatre, Boston, Mass,
one of the stops 1976 national tour 

Sam Levene demonstrated age doesn't matter 

Remarkably Sam Levene had an uncanny ability to reprise several of his original Broadway performances long after he first created the respective role, demonstrating age didn't matter. Thirty-five years after Sam Levene first originated the role of Patsy in the original Broadway production of the 1935 Broadway production of Three Men On A Horse, Sam Levene reprised his sharply etched comedic portrayal performance as Patsy in a 1969 pre-Broadway summer stock tour of Three Men On A Horse in a production co-produced by Ken Gaston, Leonard Goldberg and Budd Filippo; the summer stock tour co-starred Tom Poston who was later replaced by Bert Parks in the role of Erwin. Fun fact, Abe Vigoda was cast as Mr. Carver in the 1969 stock production of Three Men On A Horse directed by Sam Levene long before Abe Vigoda became a household name on Barney Miller.

Sam Levene agreed to star and direct the well-received 1969 summer stock tour of Three Men On A Horse, with the understanding he would star and direct the all-star Broadway revival. However,  Sam Levene was replaced as director when co-author and original Broadway director George Abbott decided to helm the all-star Broadway revival which opened October 16, 1969 at the Lyceum Theatre which also starred Levene reprising his original 1935 Broadway role as Patsy. In 1971 Sam Levene reprised the role of Sidney Black in the 1970-1971 all star tour production of Light Up The Sky also starring Kitty Carlisle, Ruth McDevitt and Vivian Blaine directed by Harold J. Kennedy, a role Levene originated in the 1948 original Broadway production. Levene subsequently reprised the same role in 1975 in another touring production of Light Up The Sky.

9 Hirschfeld caricatures memorialize Sam Levene original Broadway performances

Al Hirschfeld, one of the greatest caricaturists of the 20th century, created nine caricatures memorializing Sam Levene performances from seven of Levene's original Broadway productions. The most iconic Sam Levene caricature created by Hirschfeld captures Sam Levene's original Broadway performance as Nathan Detroit wearing the iconic pinstripe suit designed by Alvin Colt in the 1950 Broadway production created for The New York Times, November 19, 1950. 

                                    Nine Al Hirschfeld caricatures memorialize Sam Levene's original Broadway performances

Hirschfeld's Guys and Dolls caricature featured in numerous museum exhibitions
Al Hirschfeld's iconic Guys and Dolls caricature featured in several museum exhibitions including Guys and Dolls: The Fabled Musical of Broadway in 2000 at The Museum of The City of New York and in 2013 in Hirschfeld, The Line King's Library, exhibited at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

The first time Al Hirschfeld captured one of Sam Levene's legendary performances was original Broadway performance as Patsy opposite Shirley Booth as Mabel in 1935 original Broadway production of Three Men On A Horse directed and co-authored by George Abbott.

              Al Hirschfeld's first caricature of Sam Levene, 1935 original Broadway production of Three Men On A Horse. 

A second caricature of Sam Levene and Shirley Booth starring in the original Broadway production of Three Men On A Horse along with the Broadway casts from Tobacco Road and The Children's Hour was published in the Herald Tribune June 7, 1936 celebrates Broadway long-runs. Al Hirschfeld also created two caricatures of Sam Levene's critically acclaimed performance as Max Gordon, the shoestring producer, in the original 1937 Broadway production of Room Service, published in the Herald Tribune and Brooklyn Eagle.

Al Hirschfeld caricature Sam Levene and Shirley Booth in Three Men On A Horse, 
celebrate Broadway long runs, June 7, 1936 Herald Tribune

Al Hirschfeld captured Sam Levene's poignant performance as Al Lewis giving Willie Clark "the finger" in the original Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys published in The New York Times, December 13, 1972 prior to the play's opening at the Broadhurst Theatre, December 20, 1972.  

Al Hirschfeld captured Sam Levene as Al Lewis giving Jack Albertson as Willie Clark "the finger"
 in The Sunshine Boys, 1972 original Broadway production 

Al Hirschfeld also captured Sam Levene's 1939 original Broadway performances as Officer Finkelstein in Clair Booth's Margin For Error and Sidney Black in Moss Hart's 1948 original Broadway production of Light Up The Sky. 

Other caricaturists who memorialized Sam Levene's original Broadway performances include William Auerbach-Levy, Sam Norkin, Al Frueh, William Auerbach-Levy and Doug Anderson.

William Auerbach-Levy caricature Sam Levene as Officer Finkelstein & Otto Preminger as Karl Baumer in Margin For Error, 1939 original Broadway production 

Al Frueh memorialized six Sam Levene original Broadway performances

Al Frueh, who created caricatures of Broadway shows, mostly for The New Yorker for three decades until 1962, captured six of Sam Levene's original Broadway performances, including Busch from the original Broadway production of Yellow Jack (1934), Patsy from the original Broadway production of Three Men on a Horse (1935), Sidney Black from the original 1948 Broadway production of Light Up the Sky, Nathan Detroit from the 1950 original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls; Boss Mangan in the 1959 all-star Broadway revival of Heartbreak House directed and co-starring Maurice Evans and Officer Finkelstein, the Jewish policeman, in the 1939 original Broadway production of Margin for Error. 

Al Frueh caricature, original 1950 Broadway production of Guys and Dolls starring Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit, one of six caricatures Frueh created celebrating Sam Levene's original Broadway performances

William Auerbach-Levy created 15 caricatures celebrating Sam Levene's Broadway performances. Over four decades William Auerbach-Levy (1889-1964) created 15 caricatures celebrating ten Sam Levene original Broadway starring performances including: Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (1950), five caricatures; Patsy in Three Men on a Horse (1935), Officer Finkelstein in Margin for Error (1939), Pvt. Dino Collucci in A Sound of Hunting (1945), Sidney Black in Light Up The Sky (1948), Lou Winkler in Fair Game (1957), Sid Gray in Make A Million (1958), Odilon in The Good Soup (1960), Patsy in Let It Ride (1961), Dr. Aldo Meyer in The Devil's Advocate (1961), Morris Seidman in Seidman and Son (1962).

Celebrated caricaturist Sam Norkin memorialized almost two dozen Sam Levene productions including three caricatures alone of Sam Levene's legendary performance as craps-shooter extraordinaire Nathan Detroit in the original 1950 Broadway production of Guys and Dolls. 

Norkin created 3 caricatures memorializing Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, 1950 original Broadway production 

Actor Robert Redford memorialized Sam Levene's performance in Fair Game, 1957 original Broadway production. In 1957 Robert Redford was Art Director of Americada, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts' (AADA) yearbook. Robert Redford's portrait of Sam Levene accompanied an article An Interview with Sam 'Fair Game' Levene.

Actor Robert Redford portrait of Sam Levene, created for 1957 Americade, published by AADA

Sam Levene posthumously inducted American Theater Hall of Fame

Sam Levene was posthumously inducted April 9, 1984 into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Letter Earl Blackwell sent Joseph K. Levene about 1984 Theater Hall of Fame ceremony. 

Sam Levene was inducted posthumously in The American Theater Hall Of Fame at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre, April 9, 1984 

Joseph K. Levene, Sam Levene's son accepted the Theater  Hall Of Fame award from the late Dorothy Loudon who co-starred as Mabel in Sam Levene's 1969 all-star Broadway revival of Three Men On A Horse, and said if my father were here today, he would say why did it take you guys so long to give me this award?

 Sam Levene posthumous induction American Theatre Hall of Fame, April 9, 1984

Sam Levene posthumously inducted 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame

Sam Levene along with the original Broadway cast of the 1950 Guys and Dolls Decca album was posthumously inducted in 1998 into Grammy Hall of Fame even though Sam Levene was not a singer. Although Sam Levene only sings two songs on the original Guys and Dolls cast album, his legendary portrayal of Nathan Detroit in the landmark musical is so popular, his duet performance of Sue Me with Vivian Blaine can be heard on over 38 Guys and Dolls albums and compilations!

Sam Levene, 1998 Inductee Grammy Hall of Fame, 1950 original Broadway cast Guys and Dolls Decca album