Richard Levinson

Richard L. Levinson (born August 7, 1934 in Philadelphia , † March 12, 1987 in Los Angeles ) was an American screenwriter and film producer . He was best known for his collaboration with William Link , together they created series like Columbo , Mord ist Her Hobby and Mannix .

Life

Levinson was born in Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania , where he attended the University of Pennsylvania . He finished his studies in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in economics . He served in the United States Army in 1957 and 1958 . Richard Levinson married actress Rosanna Huffman in 1969.

In collaboration with William Link , crime series has been created over the past 40 years. The two were involved in the production of television series such as Columbo , Mannix , Ellery Queen , Mord ist ihr Hobby (original title: Murder, She Wrote ) and Scene of the Crime . They also collaborated on the production of television films including The Gun , My Sweet Charlie , Back In The Summer , The Judge and Jake Wyler , The Execution of Private Slovik , Charlie Cobb: A Nice Night for a Hanging , Rehearsal for a Murder , and Blacke's Magic , which was also continued as a series for a short time. They also worked on the two feature films Die Hindenburg (1975) and Achterbahn (1977).

Levinson and Link occasionally appeared under the pseudonym Ted Leighton , for example in Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You or at Columbo .

The duo received a 1979 Edgar Allan Poe Special Award from the Mystery Writers of America for their work on Ellery Queen and Columbo . In the 1980s they won multiple Edgar awards for best screenplay for a television film or mini-series . In 1989 they finally received the Ellery Queen Award for special merit as a crime story screenwriting team. Richard Levinson and William Link were elected to the Television Academy Hall of Fame in November 1995 .

Richard Levinson died of a heart attack on March 12, 1987 at the age of 52 . He was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery . In 1991 Link wrote the screenplay for the television film True Friends with James Woods and John Lithgow in his memory .

Web links

• Richard Levinson in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Richard Levinson, 52, Writer of Television Mystery Series . The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
2. ^ Museum of Broadcast Communications . Museum.tv. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 17, 2012.