Richard Levinson
Born
Richard Leighton Levinson

(1934-08-07)August 7, 1934
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedMarch 12, 1987(1987-03-12) (aged 52)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeWestwood Village Memorial Park
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • producer
Years active1946–1987
Spouse
​
(m. 1969)​
Children1

Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link.[1][2]

Life and career

Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Economics in 1956. He served in the United States Army from 1957 to 1958 and married actress Rosanna Huffman in 1969. Levinson was of Jewish heritage.[3]

William Link and Richard Levinson began a 43-year-long friendship in 1946, on their first day of junior high school. Both were avid Ellery Queen fans from boyhood and enjoyed mental puzzles and challenges, a characteristic that would spill over into their work.

Beginning with radio scripts, the team wrote plays and then prime-time TV scripts. In 1965, they wrote three episodes of Honey West (TV series) including the final episode. They went on to co-create and sometimes produce the detective television series Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote (with Peter S. Fischer) and Scene of the Crime, as well as made-for-TV movies The Gun, My Sweet Charlie, That Certain Summer, The Judge and Jake Wyler, The Execution of Private Slovik, Charlie Cobb: A Nice Night for a Hanging, Rehearsal for Murder, Guilty Conscience, and the short-lived TV series Blacke's Magic. The team were proud of creating "intelligent" rather than violent programs.[4]

The partners also collaborated on two feature films, The Hindenburg (1975) and Rollercoaster (1977), and the Broadway show Merlin, featuring the magician Doug Henning.

The team occasionally used the pseudonym "Ted Leighton," drawn from each of their middles names—most notably on the telefilm Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You, (where their work was substantially rewritten by other screenwriters), and Columbo when they came up with stories to be scripted by their collaborators. They used the name as early as 1959 for short stories published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine[5] when the magazine already contained stories appearing as by Levinson and Link. They also used the name for their contribution to the script for Steve McQueen's final movie, The Hunter.

In 1979, Levinson and Link received a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for their work on Ellery Queen and Columbo. During the 1980s, they were three-time winners of the Edgar for Best TV Feature or MiniSeries Teleplay, and in 1989 they were given the MWA's Ellery Queen Award, which honors outstanding mystery-writing teams. In November 1995, they were jointly elected to the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

Death

Levinson died of a heart attack at his home in Brentwood, Los Angeles early on March 12, 1987.[6][7] He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.[8] The first Murder, She Wrote spin-off novel, Gin and Daggers, is dedicated to his memory.

In tribute to Levinson, Link wrote the script for the 1991 TV film The Boys, starring James Woods and John Lithgow.

Accolades

Awards and nominations
Year Association Category Work Result
1966Edgar AwardsBest Episode in a TV SeriesHoney West: "The Gray Lady"Nominated
1970Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Dramatic ProgramMy Sweet CharlieNominated
Outstanding Writing Achievement in DramaWon
1972Outstanding Drama SeriesColumboNominated
Outstanding New SeriesNominated
Outstanding Writing Achievement in DramaColumbo: "Death Lends a Hand"Won
1973Outstanding Single Program - Drama or ComedyThat Certain SummerNominated
Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama - Original TeleplayNominated
Writers Guild of America AwardsEpisodic DramaColumbo: "Étude in Black"Nominated
1974Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Special - Comedy or DramaThe Execution of Private SlovikNominated
Best Writing in Drama - AdaptationNominated
1978Outstanding Writing in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy - Original TeleplayThe StorytellerNominated
1980Edgar AwardsBest Television Feature or MiniseriesMurder by Natural CausesWon
1983Rehearsal for MurderWon
1985CableACE AwardMovie or MiniseriesThe GuardianNominated
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Drama SeriesMurder, She WroteNominated
1986Edgar AwardsBest Television Feature or MiniseriesGuilty ConscienceWon
Writers Guild of America AwardsLaurel Award for TV Writing AchievementWon

Posthumous

References

  1. ↑ Belkin, Lisa (March 13, 1987). "Richard Levinson, 52, Writer of Television Mystery Series". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "Levinson, Richard". Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2012 – via Museum.tv.
  3. ↑ Teicholz, Tom (February 22, 2011). "'Columbo' creator solves his own family mystery". Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Interview with screen writer William Link" from disk 6, Ellery Queen Mysteries, DVD release September 2010.)
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "OBITUARIES : Richard Levinson; Co-Wrote a String of Hits for Television". Los Angeles Times. March 13, 1987. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  7. ↑ Barnes, Mike (May 27, 2014). "Rosanna Huffman, Actress and Voiceover Artist, Dies at 77". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  8. ↑ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles cemeteries : a directory. McFarland. p. 218. ISBN 9780786409839.
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