Oscar Levant Oscar Levant playing the piano Oscar Levant Pittsburgh December 27 August 14 ) was a pianist and an actor , better known for his character than his music . Born into a musical family, Levant moved to New York with his mother in after the death of his father. He began studying under Zygmunt Stojowski , a well established piano pedagogue. In 1928 Levant traveled to Hollywood where his career turned for the better. During his stay, he met and befriended George Gershwin . Around Levant began composing on a serious note. This led to a request by Aaron Copland to play at the Yaddo Festival of contemporary American music on April 30 of that year. Successful, Levant began on a new orchestral work, Sinfonietta . During the years of and , Levant had a syndicated talk show The Oscar Levant Show . The show was highly controversial, finally being taken from the air after a comment in regards to Marilyn Monroe : "Now that Marilyn Monroe is kosher, Arthur Miller can eat her." He later refuted he "hadn't meant it that way." Several months later, the show was rebroadcast in a slightly revised format. The show was now taped to use as a buffer to Oscar's antics. This however, failed to prevent Levant from making some comments of | |
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