Levant Bio: Still Miserable After All These Years

Oscar Levant was magnificent in his misery. And he loved company, at least to the extent that he was willing to share that misery with the world--especially on television during the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Levant died in 1972, but he’ll be back on the air for an hour Monday, as the subject of one of the “Biography” episodes on the A&E; network.

Levant was a gifted piano prodigy who was eclipsed in his youth by the gigantic shadow of his best friend, George Gershwin. After Gershwin died in 1937, Levant became known as the preeminent interpreter of Gershwin’s work. His old recording of the “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Philadelphia Orchestra is still in circulation, now on CD.

Levant seems a fascinating study in the little-understood relationship between madness and genius. His friend Gershwin, so spectacularly prolific and inspired, died young of a brain tumor, sending Levant into a deep depression. Levant, a brilliant wit as well as a talented musician, made his neuroses and their various treatments part of his public persona.

The nation got its best exposure to this during Levant’s memorable appearances with Jack Paar in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.

In a famous quip not included in the “Biography” program, Paar once asked Levant what he did for exercise. Levant replied: “I stumble and fall into a coma.” Some priceless Levantisms are included, however, including one clip from long ago in which Levant chided TV perennial Zsa Zsa Gabor: “I hate to say this, but you seem to have learned the secret of perpetual middle age.”

The marriage of June and Oscar Levant produced three daughters and numerous headlines; their fights were legendary and sometimes physical. He once called the police because, he claimed, June threatened him with a pair of scissors.

Levant became addicted to Demerol and other drugs. The script blames some of his woes on medication. But if he had only lived longer, modern drugs, developed later, might have been able to stabilize him and lessen his suffering. And then again, if he hadn’t suffered, he wouldn’t have been the Oscar Levant the world loved.

Yes, he was loved. And this “Biography,” while far from excellent, will show you why.

* The “Biography” profile of Oscar Levant airs Monday at 5 and 9 p.m. on A&E; cable.