Sam Levene

Born Scholem Lewin in Russia on August 28, 1905, Sam Levene originated the role of Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls — a part librettist Abe Burrows crafted specifically for him. His career stretched well beyond fifty years, and he was posthumously inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, the latter honoring the original Broadway cast recording of Guys and Dolls.

After his run in the original Broadway production, Levene continued playing Nathan Detroit across numerous productions: the Bristol Hippodrome in Bristol, England (May 19–25, 1953); the Coliseum, London (opening May 28, 1953); The Royal Nevada Crown Room, Las Vegas, NV (September 7–December, 1955); Mineola Theatre, Mineola, NY (October 21–November 7, 1965); and the Paper Mill Playhouse (November 23–December 19, 1965).

Among his other theatre credits: Horace Vandergelder in the premiere of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker at Scotland's Edinburgh Festival (1954) and London's Theatre Royal Haymarket (1955).

Radio credits include several episodes of Orson Welles's The Campbell Playhouse — Lefty in "Burlesque" (February 17, 1939) and Owen O'Malley in "Twentieth Century" (March 34, 1939). For Theatre Guild on the Air: Banjo in "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (November 17, 1946), Siggie in "Golden Boy" (December 8, 1946), Fred Stevens in "June Moon" (March 27, 1949), and Sidney Black in "Light Up the Sky" (April 10, 1951), among others.

Film credits: Siggie in "Golden Boy" (1939), "Action in the North Atlantic" (1943), a Doolittle Flyer and Japanese POW in "The Purple Heart" (1944), Lieutenant Lubinsky in "The Killers" (1946), "Brute Force" (1947), Samuels, the murdered GI, in "Crossfire" (1947), "Boomerang" (1947), "Killer McCoy" (1947), "Dial 1119" (1950), "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957), and "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" (1957).

Television credits: "The Ford Theatre Hour," "Medallion Theatre," "Rheingold Theatre," "The United States Steel Hour," "Studio One in Hollywood," and "The Royal Family."