Gus Levene
| Gus Levene | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Gershun Levene |
| Born | July 11, 1911 Dallas, Texas |
| Died | February 9, 1979 (aged 67) Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation(s) | Arranger, composer, orchestrator, guitarist |
| Instruments | Guitar, violin, viola |
| Years active | 1932–1979 |
Gus Levene, born Gershun Levene (July 11, 1911 – February 9, 1979), was an American arranger, composer, orchestrator and guitarist. In the mid-1940s, he was one of the top network radio arrangers. Levene is best remembered for his work as an arranger for Dean Martin and orchestration for numerous Hollywood film productions, including the 1956 hit film The King and I.
Gershun Levene was born into a family of Jewish merchants in Dallas, Texas. He was interested in music from an early age, and learned to play guitar, violin and viola. He attended Southern Methodist University for two years, majoring in music.
Levene began his career as the chief arranger for the pit orchestra at the Palace Theater in Dallas, and composed music for string quartets in the city. He also performed with the WFAA radio orchestra. On September 4, 1932, his composition "Ballet Suite Exodus", which he had written at the age of 18, was performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
In 1933 he and his new wife Julia (1914–2001) moved to New York City, where he continued to study music while working as an arranger and guitarist for Andre Kostelanetz and Ray Bloch. He was hired by CBS Radio in the late 1930s. By the mid 1940s, Levene was named as one of the 20 top network radio arrangers by Billboard.
He later moved to Hollywood, where he was employed as an arranger for most of the major studios, mostly uncredited work for films such as The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), The King and I (1956),Carousel (1956), The Big Land (1957), Marjorie Morningstar (1958), The Music Man (1962), and At Long Last Love (1975). He worked extensively with Dean Martin, and headed the backing orchestra on Martin's 1959 Christmas album A Winter Romance. Levene and his orchestra also backed Frank Sinatra when he sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for the soundtrack of The Victors, a 1963 war film. Although only a snippet of the song actually aired in the film, Sinatra released the whole recording as a Christmas single.
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