Harold Albert Levey was born into a Jewish-American family on 17 June 1894 in New York City.
[1] A child prodigy, he was trained in his youth as a clarinetist at the National Conservatory of Music of America.
He began his professional career at the age of 13 as a clarinetist in the New York Symphony Orchestra under conductor Walter Damrosch.
He served as music director for Armstrong's Theatre of Today;[4] a radio program active from 1941-1954.
[12][13] Levy died of a heart attack at the age of 73 in New York City on 18 June 1967.