# Ira Levin
**Ira Levin** (Ira Marvin Levin; August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter whose seven novels of suspense and horror, including *Rosemary's Baby*, *[The Stepford Wives](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-stepford-wives)*, and *The Boys from Brazil*, sold tens of millions of copies and were almost all adapted for the screen, some more than once[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html) • [2](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79045184.html). The Library of Congress records his birth in Manhattan on August 27, 1929, and his death there on November 12, 2007[2](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79045184.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | August 27, 1929, Manhattan; November 12, 2007, his home in Manhattan, aged 78[2](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79045184.html) • [1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html) |
| Novels | Seven novels in four decades, together selling tens of millions of copies[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html) |
| Breakthrough | *A Kiss Before Dying* (1953), which won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award in 1954[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin) • [4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html) |
| Bestseller | *Rosemary's Baby* (1967) sold more than five million copies in the United States[5](https://ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/ira-levin/) |
| Theater | *Deathtrap* (1978), the sixth-longest running play in Broadway history, earned a 1978 Best Play Tony Award nomination[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html) |
| Adaptations | Nearly all of his books were made into Hollywood movies, some more than once[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html) |
| Honors | Edgar Awards (1954, 1980), Bram Stoker Award (1997), Mystery Writers of America Grand Master (2003)[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin) • [4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html) |
## Life and career
Levin attended the [Horace Mann School](https://www.edgepedia.org/horace-mann-school), spent two years at [Drake University](https://www.edgepedia.org/drake-university) in [Des Moines, Iowa](https://www.edgepedia.org/des-moines-iowa), and transferred to New York University, where he earned an A.B. in 1950[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin). While at NYU he won a CBS television writing contest, which brought him his first professional credit and an agent and led to work writing half-hour fantasy and suspense television during the medium's early years[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html).
**Military service and early plays.** Levin served in the United States Army Signal Corps from 1953 to 1955[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin). While drafted he scripted the teleplays *Notebook Warrior* and *No Time for Sergeants*; the latter became a Broadway hit[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html). His stage plays include *Interlock* (1958), *Critic's Choice* (1960), *General Seeger* (1962), and the musical *Drat! The Cat!* (1965), which yielded the song "He Touched Me," later a [Barbra Streisand](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbra-streisand) standard[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html).
He married Gabrielle Aronsohn in 1960; the marriage ended in divorce in 1968 and produced three sons. He married Phyllis Finkel in 1979 and they divorced in 1982[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin). He died on November 12, 2007, at his home in Manhattan[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html).
## Novels
Levin's output as a novelist was small and deliberate: seven novels across four decades, published by Simon and Schuster, Random House, and Bantam, which together sold tens of millions of copies[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin).
- ***A Kiss Before Dying*** (Simon and Schuster, 1953), written fresh out of college and set in a fictionalized version of Des Moines, won the Edgar Award in 1954[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin) • [4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html).
- ***[Rosemary's Baby](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosemarys-baby-novel)*** ([Random House](https://www.edgepedia.org/random-house), 1967) sold more than five million copies in the United States and became a classic of the horror genre[5](https://ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/ira-levin/).
- ***This Perfect Day*** (Random House, 1970) envisions a "benign" dystopia that the author's estate describes as increasingly aligned with today's technology-heavy world; it received the Libertarian Futurist Society's Prometheus Award[6](https://www.iralevin.org/index.html).
- ***The Stepford Wives*** (Random House, 1972)[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin).
- ***The Boys from Brazil*** (Random House, 1976), whose central character, the Nazi-hunter Yakov Liebermann, is a fictionalization of [Simon Wiesenthal](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-wiesenthal); Forbes called it "One of the greatest (if not the greatest) thrillers of all time"[6](https://www.iralevin.org/index.html).
- ***Sliver*** (Bantam, 1991)[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin).
- ***Son of Rosemary*** (1998), a sequel to his best-known novel[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin).
Across these books Levin combined elements of mystery, Gothic horror, science fiction, and the techno-thriller, conjuring what *The New York Times* described as a world full of quietly looming menace in which anything could happen to anyone at any time[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html). The estate credits him with helping cultivate emergent sub-genres including modern horror, dark suburbia, and feminist dystopia and horror[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html).
## Plays and other work
Levin sustained a parallel career in the theater. Beyond the early plays listed above, his comedy-thriller *Deathtrap* opened in 1978 and became the sixth-longest running play in Broadway history, earning him a 1978 Best Play Tony Award nomination[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html). [Penguin Random House](https://www.edgepedia.org/penguin-random-house)'s catalog calls it the longest-running thriller in Broadway history[7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/17417/ira-levin/). He also wrote television, including the *No Time for Sergeants* teleplay that reached Broadway[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html), and served as a Dramatists Guild Councilmember for thirty years[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html).
## Adaptations
Nearly all of Levin's books were made into Hollywood movies, some more than once[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html). The screen record includes *A Kiss Before Dying* (1956 and again in 1991), *Critic's Choice* (1963), *Rosemary's Baby* (1968), *The Stepford Wives* (1975) with three television sequels, *Revenge of the Stepford Wives* (1980), *The Stepford Children* (1987), and *The Stepford Husbands* (1996), *The Boys from Brazil* (1978), *Deathtrap* (1982), and *[Sliver](https://www.edgepedia.org/sliver-film)* (1993)[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin). Penguin Random House states that each of his works was made into a major motion picture[7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/17417/ira-levin/).
## Style and themes
The novelist [Peter Straub](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-straub) described Levin's prose as "clean, precise, and unfussy specifically in order to be as transparent as possible: he wishes to place no verbal static between the words on the page and the events they depict"[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html). Levin himself cited the painter [Edward Hopper](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-hopper)'s clarity and "mysterious and powerful underlying sense of drama" as qualities he sought in his own writing[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html).
## By the numbers
Seven novels in four decades sold tens of millions of copies[1](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html). *Rosemary's Baby* alone sold more than five million copies in the United States[5](https://ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/ira-levin/). *Deathtrap* ran long enough to rank as the sixth-longest running play in Broadway history[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html). *The Stepford Wives* traveled widely in translation, with ISFDB listing German (*Die Roboterfrauen*, 1977) and French (*Les femmes de Stepford*, 1976) editions among others[8](https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?744=).
## Awards, honors, and legacy
Levin won the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe award in 1954 for *A Kiss Before Dying* and again in 1980, and the Bram Stoker Award in 1997[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin). In 2003 he received the Mystery Writers of America's lifetime achievement Grand Master award, and he also received a lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers Association[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html). *Rosemary's Baby* is credited with ushering in the era of modern horror, and his work is credited with helping cultivate the sub-genres of modern horror, dark suburbia, and feminist dystopia and horror[4](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html).
## References
1. [Ira Levin, of 'Rosemary's Baby,' Dies at 78, The New York Times (2007)](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/books/14levin.html)
2. [Levin, Ira, 1929-2007, Library of Congress Authorities](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79045184.html)
3. [Ira Levin, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/ira-levin)
4. [Biography, IraLevin.org (official website)](https://www.iralevin.org/bio.html)
5. [Ira Levin | Biography, EBSCO Research Starters](https://ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/ira-levin/)
6. [IRALEVIN.org, The Official Website of Author Ira Levin](https://www.iralevin.org/index.html)
7. [Ira Levin, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/17417/ira-levin/)
8. [Summary Bibliography: Ira Levin, ISFDB](https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?744=)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Fiction writers: novelists and genre › Science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers › Horror writers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license