Benn W. Levy
Benn W. Levy
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Benn Wolfe Levy (7 March 1900 – 7 December 1973) was a Labour Party Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and a successful playwright. He was educated at Repton School and University College, Oxford and served in uniform in both World Wars. Before entering politics, Levy was a successful playwright who also wrote screenplays. The best known of his screenplays was written in collaboration with R. C. Sherriff for James Whale's macabre horror film The Old Dark House (1932) based on the novel Benighted (1927) by J. B. Priestley. Earlier he had been the dialogue writer for Blackmail (1929); directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was the first British sound film. Levy directed one film, Lord Camber's Ladies (1932), which was the only film produced by Hitchcock which he did not himself direct. Levy was first elected at the 1945 general election, for the Eton and Slough constituency, and stood down at the 1950 general election. Politically, Levy was on the left of the Labour Party and became an active member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). As a sympathiser with the Zionist movement, he also opposed Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin over Bevin's policies towards Palestine and Israel. As an MP, Levy made an unsuccessful effort to abolish theatrical censorship in Britain, and towards the end of his life, he was the principal author of a report opposing the arguments for censorship made by Lord Longford, the anti-pornography campaigner. He was married for more than 40 years to the American-born screen and stage actress Constance Cummings; they had one daughter and one son.
Personal Info
Known For
Writing
Known Credits
17
Gender
Male
Birthday
1900-03-07 (125 years old)
Place of Birth
London, England, UK
Crew

1935

The Dictator Writer

1934

Melody in Spring Screenplay

1934

Evergreen Theatre Play

1933

Topaze Adaptation

1932

Lord Camber's Ladies Director

1932

The Old Dark House Screenplay

1932

Devil and the Deep Screenplay

1931

Waterloo Bridge Adaptation

1931

The Gay Diplomat Story

1931

Transgression Additional Dialogue

1929

Kitty Additional Dialogue

1929

The Informer Dialogue

1929

The Hate Ship Writer

1929

Blackmail Dialogue