Harold A. Levey

Harold Albert Levey was an American composer, lyricist, arranger, orchestrator, clarinetist, and conductor born on June 17, 1894, in New York City. He came from a Jewish-American family and demonstrated exceptional musical aptitude from an early age, training as a clarinetist at the National Conservatory of Music of America. By the age of 13, he had begun his professional career as a clarinetist in the New York Symphony Orchestra under conductor Walter Damrosch. He subsequently studied composing and conducting with Victor Herbert.

Levey's early professional life moved quickly. At 19, he took on the role of band leader of the Brighton Beach Band. He went on to work as a conductor of radio orchestras, and later served as music director for Armstrong's Theatre of Today, a radio program that ran from 1941 to 1954. His work in broadcasting extended to television as well, with Levey composing the theme song for the 1963 television series The Dakotas.

His contributions to Broadway were concentrated in the 1920s and represent the most prominent chapter of his theatrical career. Levey composed the music for Lady Billy, which ran at the Liberty Theatre from 1920 to 1921, followed by The Clinging Vine at the Knickerbocker Theatre from 1922 to 1923. The Magic Ring opened at the Liberty Theatre in 1923, and The Magnolia Lady ran at the Shubert Theatre from 1924 to 1925. He also served as both composer and lyricist for The Greenwich Village Follies of 1925, which played at Chanin's 46th Street Theatre, and for Rainbow Rose, which opened at the Forrest Theatre in 1926. Lovely Lady, which ran at the Sam H. Harris Theatre from 1927 to 1928, rounded out his major Broadway work of the decade. His Broadway activity also included an appearance on Broadway in 1928.

Beyond the stage, Levey composed music for Warner Bros. during the early years of sound film. Among the pictures he scored were The Girl in the Glass Cage and The Royal Box, both released in 1929.

Levey died of a heart attack in New York City on June 18, 1967, one day after his 73rd birthday.