RIP Ira Levin
The author of A KISS BEFORE DYING, ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and several other bestselling novels is dead at the age of 78, according to his agent Phyllis Westberg. The cause of death was a heart attack and he is survived by three sons and three grandsons. Wow. I did not see this coming at all. What a loss.
And somehow, Levin's thoughts on his own work, taken from a 1989 New York Times profile on the eve of the opening of his final play CANTORIAL, seem appropriate:
''I don't mind the thriller label at all,'' he says. ''They're the kind of books I enjoy reading. I know I get pretty bored with books and plays that are about a writer's coming of age, or the breakup of a marriage. I mean, we've all been through that. We don't have to go to the theater or pick up a book to have that experience.
''When I was young and starting out,'' he says, ''I thought, 'Well, someday, I'm going to write the great American novel - or several of them.' But as I got older I was perfectly content with suspense, with thrillers. I think they very well may last longer than the more serious types of fiction.
''I think most of the classical novelists who are still popular were the popular writers of their day,'' he adds. ''Certainly Dickens. And I don't know what else was published the year 'Dracula' came out, but what other book from that year has lasted as long?''
UPDATE: More obits courtesy Playbill, Broadway World, the NYT, the New York Sun and the LA Times. The NYT also published Levin's last piece of writing, a letter in support of a high school student from Wilton, Connecticut - the basis for the setting of THE STEPFORD WIVES - whose play on the Iraq War was shut down. "I'm not surprised, therefore, to learn that Wilton High School has a Stepford principal, one who would keep his halls and classrooms squeaky-clean of any ''inflammatory'' material that might hurt some Wilton families," Levin remarked. "It's heartening, though, to know that not all the Wilton High students have been Stepfordized."
Also, though it's behind a paywall, Anthony Boucher reviewed Levin's A KISS BEFORE DYING for the October 25, 1953 "Criminals at Large" column and his thoughts are clear from the available opening paragraph: "The hardest thing for a reviewer to write, believably and persuasively, is an all-out, no - reservations rave; and that's the problem that faces me this week as the result, of all things, of the first novel of a 23-year-old writer."
And THE STEPFORD WIVES, which is great too. Very sad.
Posted by: Cornelia Read | November 13, 2007 at 06:19 PM
A Kiss Before Dying really was fantastic, wasn't it? And he wrote it when he was 23? Gawd. I think Times subscribers can click through to read the whole review for $0.
Posted by: Keith Raffel | November 13, 2007 at 07:43 PM
Sorry to hear. I saw "Deathtrap" with the original Broadway cast, and then again later with John Wood in the lead role - and with Marian Seldes in both productions!
Posted by: TEV | November 13, 2007 at 10:41 PM
Apropos of the Wilton, Ct letter, I was lucky enough to see the Wilton students perform an excerpt from Voices in Conflict last week at the National Coalition Against Censorship's annual dinner. The students (ages 14-18) were remarkable and the opposition they faced and still face was formidable. Although their school production was shut down, they were able to perform the play off-Broadway some months ago (according to Christopher Durang, who was one of the play's champions, and who spoke at the dinner.)
Posted by: Rosemary Harris | November 14, 2007 at 08:21 AM
Don't forget This Perfect Day, which was a liberal version of 1984.
Posted by: Phil | November 14, 2007 at 12:04 PM
This is dreadful news
I loved Ira's work from the moment I picked up A KISS BEFORE DYING....and read everything since
Best
Ali
Posted by: Ali | November 14, 2007 at 01:54 PM