LEADER 02998cam  22003738a 4500001    ocm29550061
003    OCoLC
005    20141212112908.0
008    931123s1994    nyuaf    b    001 0beng  
010       93040647
020    0679404899
035    (Sirsi) o29550061
035    (OCoLC)29550061
040    DLC |cDLC |dJBO |dERE |dUtOrBLW
049    EREM
050 00 ML417.L64 |bK37 1994
082 00 780/.92B |220
100 1  Kashner, Sam. |=^A346075
245 12 A talent for genius : |bthe life and times of Oscar Levant / |cby Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger.
250    First edition.
260    New York : |bVillard Books, |c1994.
300    xii, 512 pages, 16 pages of plates : |billustrations ; |c25 cm
336    text |2rdacontent
337    unmediated |2rdamedia
338    volume |2rdacarrier
504    Includes bibliographical references and index.
505 0  Part I: An American in Pittsburgh. The unmentionable city ; The making of a chuchum ; The "Paderooski" of Colwell Street -- Part II: The emperors of Broadway. The main stem ; Stairway to paradise ; The emperors of Broadway ; "Sax-o-phun" ; One of the boys ; Burlesque ; The widening circle -- Part III: The dance of life. The Dance of Life ; Penthouse beachcomber ; Various debuts ; Oscar among the composers ; A New York divorce ; Exiles and Moguls ; Crimes without passion ; The lion in exile ; The great houses ; Concert of missed notes ; Someone to watch over me -- Part IV: Love and fame. "Dear Junie" ; The unknown celebrity ; Distant music ; "The future Mrs. L" ; Ghost music ; The talking pianist ; A bargain for a dedication ; "Again, the Rhapsody?" ; Endless bleeding ; Humoresque ; Romance on the High Seas -- Part V: The fabulous invalid. Freed at last ; Render unto Caesar ; The reign of terror ; Paradoxical excitement ; Chaos in search of frenzy ; The Oscar Levant Show ; Under Paar ; "Good night, Oscar Levant, wherever you are" ; The Memoirs of an Amnesiac ; Remembering and forgetting -- Coda -- Appendix [Filmography and discography].
520    An astonishingly gifted concert pianist, composer, film and stage presence, radio and television raconteur, insult wit, and bestselling author, Levant steered a maniacally masochistic course through seven glorious decades. His death in 1972, at the age of sixty-five, left the entertainment community shocked--largely with amazement that a four-pack-a-day smoker with a history of drug abuse and mental illness had lasted as long as Levant did. This book discusses his career as well as his tumultuous, self-destructive private life.
600 10 Levant, Oscar, |d1906-1972. |=^A645051
650  0 Musicians |zUnited States |vBiography. |=^A522159
700 1  Schoenberger, Nancy. |=^A206367
596    3
998    549906