Born in the Bronx in 1929 and educated in English and Philosophy at New York University, Ira Levin is one of the most successful and popular American writers of the twentieth century. A skilled craftsman in both fiction and drama, he is especially well known for his ventures into the macabre, the horrific, and the fantastic. He is the author of such novels as Rosemary’s Baby (1967), about the incarnation of Satan; The Boys from Brazil (1976), about the re-incarnation of Hitler; and The Stepford Wives (1972), about the creation of a race of compliant female androids. Each of these novels later became a smash-hit Hollywood movie, adding further to Levin’s stature as a Midas of popular entertainment.
His first play—written at the age of 26—was distinctly non-horrific. No Time for Sergeants (1955), a military comedy adapted from a novel by Mac Hyman, enjoyed a long run on Broadway and also became a hit movie, launching the career of actor, Andy Griffith.
In 1978 Levin blended his talent for the gruesome with his ability to crack a joke and produced Deathtrap, a comedy-thriller that ran for more than four years. At its closing in 1982, Deathtrap had racked-up 1,793 performances, which made it at the time the forth-longest-running play in Broadway history. (That record has since been surpassed by such long-running juggernauts as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and A Chorus Line.) Like his other top-selling titles, Deathtrap migrated from its original home on stage to the screen in an adaptation directed by Sidney Lumet, and starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.
But despite Levin’s early success on Broadway and his impressive roster of best-selling novels and long-running plays, his professional life has been anything but an unbroken string of triumphs. Following No Time for Sergeants and its run of 796 performances, Levin produced a string of six plays, all but two unmitigated disasters. The two exceptions, however, only rose to the level of semi-flops. The first of these was Critic’s Choice (1960), which lasted three months on Broadway, and later became a mediocre movie starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball. The second was Veronica’s Room (1973), which logged 76 performances. The other four plays from these years tell a dismal story. Interlock (1958) closed after four performances; General Seeger (1962) after two. Drat! The Cat! (1965) managed eight performances, as did Doctor Cook’s Garden (1967).
Writing teachers always tell their students to write about what they know. Thus in the mid-70’s Ira Levin, a once-successful playwright with a string of recent flops, sat down to write Deathtrap, a play about a once-successful playwright with a string of recent flops who finds himself working on a play about a once-successful playwright with a string of recent flops. In the process he created a kind of endlessly self-reflecting mirror which, for more than a quarter of a century, has been fascinating everyone who gazes into it. It has also become an endlessly successful money-making hit that has, by many estimates, earned its author multiple millions of dollars.
Perhaps Levin also meant Deathtrap to work as an exorcism, an act of sympathetic magic. By conjuring up failure on the stage, might he gain control over it, and cast the demon out of his life? If that was his purpose, it didn’t pan out. Not remotely. The low point of his Broadway career came fourteen months after the opening of Deathtrap with Break a Leg (1979), a thriller venting Levin’s wrath at drama critics. Unthrilled, one reviewer called it, “by far the worst play of the . . . season.” It closed on April 29, 1979—the same night it opened.
In 2003 Levin received the Grand Masters Award from the Mystery Writers of America in recognition of his lifetime achievement.
His first play—written at the age of 26—was distinctly non-horrific. No Time for Sergeants (1955), a military comedy adapted from a novel by Mac Hyman, enjoyed a long run on Broadway and also became a hit movie, launching the career of actor, Andy Griffith.
In 1978 Levin blended his talent for the gruesome with his ability to crack a joke and produced Deathtrap, a comedy-thriller that ran for more than four years. At its closing in 1982, Deathtrap had racked-up 1,793 performances, which made it at the time the forth-longest-running play in Broadway history. (That record has since been surpassed by such long-running juggernauts as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and A Chorus Line.) Like his other top-selling titles, Deathtrap migrated from its original home on stage to the screen in an adaptation directed by Sidney Lumet, and starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.
But despite Levin’s early success on Broadway and his impressive roster of best-selling novels and long-running plays, his professional life has been anything but an unbroken string of triumphs. Following No Time for Sergeants and its run of 796 performances, Levin produced a string of six plays, all but two unmitigated disasters. The two exceptions, however, only rose to the level of semi-flops. The first of these was Critic’s Choice (1960), which lasted three months on Broadway, and later became a mediocre movie starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball. The second was Veronica’s Room (1973), which logged 76 performances. The other four plays from these years tell a dismal story. Interlock (1958) closed after four performances; General Seeger (1962) after two. Drat! The Cat! (1965) managed eight performances, as did Doctor Cook’s Garden (1967).
Writing teachers always tell their students to write about what they know. Thus in the mid-70’s Ira Levin, a once-successful playwright with a string of recent flops, sat down to write Deathtrap, a play about a once-successful playwright with a string of recent flops who finds himself working on a play about a once-successful playwright with a string of recent flops. In the process he created a kind of endlessly self-reflecting mirror which, for more than a quarter of a century, has been fascinating everyone who gazes into it. It has also become an endlessly successful money-making hit that has, by many estimates, earned its author multiple millions of dollars.
Perhaps Levin also meant Deathtrap to work as an exorcism, an act of sympathetic magic. By conjuring up failure on the stage, might he gain control over it, and cast the demon out of his life? If that was his purpose, it didn’t pan out. Not remotely. The low point of his Broadway career came fourteen months after the opening of Deathtrap with Break a Leg (1979), a thriller venting Levin’s wrath at drama critics. Unthrilled, one reviewer called it, “by far the worst play of the . . . season.” It closed on April 29, 1979—the same night it opened.
In 2003 Levin received the Grand Masters Award from the Mystery Writers of America in recognition of his lifetime achievement.