Helen Slote Levitt; Blacklisted Television Writer, Historian

Helen Slote Levitt, 76, blacklisted television writer who scripted popular series under pseudonyms and served as unofficial historian of the blacklist era for the Writers Guild of America. Mrs. Levitt and her husband, Alfred, using the names Tom and Helen August, wrote episodes of such hits as “All in the Family,” “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” “Bewitched,” “That Girl,” “The Brady Bunch,” “The Donna Reed Show,” “The Bing Crosby Show,” “The Danny Thomas Show” and “Father Knows Best.” Careful to disguise themselves during the anti-communist 1950s, the Levitts later learned that many celebrities, including Donna Reed, knew their identity and kept them working. At the time of her death, Mrs. Levitt chaired a committee for the USC School of Film and Television to memorialize blacklist-era writers. On April 3 in Encino of cancer.