Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was an American Broadway, films, radio, and television actor and director.

Since he had been in the class of Broadway for over five decades, the illustrious dropout was given a special award, his Stuyvesant High School diploma, in a 1976 ceremony held at the New York's Princeton Club.

A five-line role, Levene acted as District Attorney William Thompson in the original Broadway melodrama Wall Street,[7] a play that only ran for three weeks[8] at the Hudson Theatre.

One titled Solitaire (1929), was a Broadway play about a Coney Island midget that only ran four performances at the now demolished Waldorf Theatre, partially financed with a $500 last-minute investment from Levene's older brother Joe.

Six years later, Azenberrg and Wolsk were lead producers when Levene was cast as Al Lewis opposite Jack Albertson as Willie Clark to co-star in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys (1972); after performing the role of Al Lewis 466 times in the original Broadway production, Levene and Albertson headlined the subsequent national tour.

In his December 21, 1972, review of the original Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys in The New York Times, theatre critic Clive Barnes wrote, "Jack Albertson as the heart-stricken comic never puts a line wrong.

[18] In 1954, Sam Levene originated the role of Horace Vandergelder in the world premiere production of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker (1954), initially at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

[21] Hundreds of productions of Guys and Dolls are staged annually and Sam Levene's comedic performance as Nathan Detroit still makes headlines, largely because it became the gold standard classic.

"[23] Los Angeles Times Critic Emeritus Sylvie Drake reviewed the 1993 Guys and Dolls touring production also directed by Zaks at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre had a similar observation, comparing David Garrison's portrayal of Nathan Detroit to Sam Levene's original 1950 Broadway performance, writing: "The wiry Garrison's Detroit physically harks back more to the 1950 original played by Sam Levene, than to Nathan Lane, who played the role on Broadway last year.

In a 1969 review of the all-star Broadway revival of Three Men on a Horse, The New York Times theatre critic Clive Barnes wrote "Sam Levene originated the role of Patsy in 1935—by now it's his.

[38] The following year Levene appeared as Siggie in film version of Golden Boy (1939), replacing John Garfield who performed the role in the original Broadway production of the Clifford Odets play about the brutality of prizefighting; critics praised the performance of William Holden as boxer Joe Bonaparte, but it was 27-year-old Lee J. Cobb as the senior Bonaparte and Sam Levene as Holden's taxi driver brother-in-law who walked away with the picture and the reviews.

He is one of several veterans of the genre who are graduates of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, including Lauren Bacall, Hume Cronyn, Kirk Douglas, Nina Foch, Agnes Moorehead, Thelma Ritter and Edward G. Robinson.

Levene's best known film noir credits include his performance as Samuels, the murdered GI, in Crossfire (1947) and as Lieutenant Lubinsky in The Killers (1946).

[44] Other Sam Levene noir credits include: Dave Woods, as a newspaper reporter, "who gives a performance not to be missed who steals the show as a dirt digging journalist who is ultimately fighting for righteousness",[45] writing hard-hitting articles attacking the police[46] in Elia Kazan's crime film noir Boomerang (1947),[47][48] Dr. John Faron, a psychiatrist in Dial 1119 (1950),[49] Capt.

[52] Alan K. Rode observed "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue was bolstered by a terrific ensemble cast headed by Richard Egan, Jan Sterling, Julie Adams, Walter Matthau, Dan Duryea, Charles McGraw and Sam Levene, who performs yeoman work as a realpolitik Manhattan district attorney, forced to temper the hard-charging idealism of assistant Egan who inevitably triumphs in the end.

A third Three Men on a Horse production sponsored by Lady Esther for the Screen Guild Players aired February 28, 1944,[57] with Levene as Patsy and Charlie Ruggles as Erwin.

Other Theatre Guild on the Air radio appearances include performing the role of "Banjo" with Fred Allen as Sheridan Whiteside in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's The Man Who Came to Dinner.

[58] Levene reprised his film role as Dave Woods, the reporter in Elia Kazan's Boomerang for Theatre Guild on the Air; and appeared as Moody, the fight manager, in Golden Boy by Clifford Odets opposite long-time friend and co-star June Havoc and Dana Andrews whom Levene had just worked with filming Boomerang.

For Suspense Radio on CBS, Levene reprised his film role as Samuels, the murdered Jewish soldier in Crossfire, on April 10, 1948.

Sam Levene, along with 12 major Hollywood and Broadway stars including Helen Hayes, Fredric March and Ralph Bellamy, created 13 episodes of Lest We Forget, a series of radio programs that directly addressed prejudice and discrimination.

[60] Levene, along with Edward G. Robinson and Frank Sinatra, made a series of appearances in We Will Never Die, a memorial pageant dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust; performed around the country at major venues, including Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl.

On a lighter note, Levene made a New Year's Eve appearance on The Big Show with his Guys and Dolls co-star Vivian Blaine on December 31, 1950; Levene performed a skit with Tallulah Bankhead who had declined an invitation to appear on Ken Murray's show so that she could obtain theatre tickets to Guys and Dolls.

"[62] Unanimous raves greeted Sam Levene for his portrayal of the skeptical but good-hearted Jewish doctor, Dr. Aldo Mayer, in the 1961 Broadway production of The Devil's Advocate.

"You can't have a Jew playing a Jew; it wouldn't work on screen," producer Samuel Goldwyn argued, explaining why he wanted Sinatra rather than Levene—who had originated the role—to play the part of Nathan Detroit in the film, even though film director Joseph L. Mankiewicz wanted Levene, the original Broadway star.

[64] Mankiewicz said, "If there could be one person in the world more miscast as Nathan Detroit than Frank Sinatra that would be Laurence Olivier and I am one of his greatest fans; the role had been written for Sam Levene who was divine in it.

[67] A Hirschfeld caricature of Levene captures his performance as Nathan Detroit wearing his pinstripe suit designed by Alvin Colt in the original 1950 Broadway production of Guys and Dolls and published in The New York Times November 19, 1950.

[70][71] Hirschfeld created two caricatures of Levene's critically acclaimed performance as Max Gordon, the shoestring producer, in the original 1937 Broadway production of Room Service, published in the New York Herald Tribune[72] and The Brooklyn Eagle.

[73] Hirschfeld captured Levene's poignant performance as Al Lewis giving Willie Clark "the finger" in the original Broadway production of The Sunshine Boys published in The New York Times on December 13, 1972.

Other notable caricaturists who memorialized Levene's stage performances include Sam Norkin, Al Frueh and William Auerbach-Levy.

[84][85] In 1998, Sam Levene, Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, Isabel Bigley and Pat Rooney, Sr. were posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for the 1950 Decca original cast album of Guys and Dolls.