He compiled his own index for the book, "and swore a mighty oath, when I had finished the task, that I would rather die, and in a particularly unpleasant manner, than do it again". The programme, which had a short but much-discussed run, was transmitted live; this added to its edginess and impact, but also made it prone to disruption.

In 1971, Levin appeared in an edition of Face the Music along with a new panellist, Arianna Stassinopoulos (later known as Arianna Huffington). The piece contains a further 55 phrases from Shakespeare familiar in regular conversation, [49] as well as one – "but me no buts" – misattributed to Shakespeare by Levin, but in fact from Susanna Centlivre's The Busie Body (1709), later used in Fielding's Rape upon Rape (1730) and popularised by Scott's The Antiquary (1816). Having graduated from the LSE in 1952, Levin worked briefly as a tour guide, and then joined the BBC's North American Service. In 1980 he wrote extensive accounts in his column about his visit to the Indian commune of the meditation teacher Osho. He became an important figure on BBCs late Saturday-night satire show, That Was The Week That Was, and later on its less renowned successor, Not So Much A Programme More A Way Of Life.The last led to a secret meeting of more than 20 senior judges to see whether Levin could be prosecuted for criminal libel; [26] there was no prosecution, and his accusations about Goddard's vindictiveness, deceit and bias have relatively recently been claimed to have been justified. Levin was born on 19 August 1928 in London, [1] the second child and only son of Philip Levin, [n 1] a tailor of Jewish Bessarabian descent, and his wife, Rose, née Racklin. In 1959, Gilmour, while remaining as proprietor, stepped down as editor and was succeeded by his deputy, Brian Inglis; Levin took over from Inglis as assistant editor. Being driven by a woman to Glyndebourne, he became convinced that other drivers were sneering at him.

Employed during the last three decades primarily on the Times and the Sunday Times, his career had also taken him to such publications as the Observer, the Manchester Guardian, the Spectator, the New Statesman, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express. n 4] Mooney describes his television reviews as "notably punchy" [1] and The Times commented, "Levin took out his shotgun and let loose with both barrels". As an adult Levin retained his love of Jewish cookery along with his passion for French haute cuisine.During a long newspaper strike, when Truth, as one of the few publications available, enjoyed a surge in circulation, the quality of his contributions stood out. In the bedroom he was enthusiastic, but excessively modest, always locking the bathroom door when having a bath, never letting a girl see him naked.

Henry Bernard Levin CBE (19 August 1928 – 7 August 2004) was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by The Times as "the most famous journalist of his day".Other chapters of food (joyous, and doesnt he like a long sentence), music, theatre, cities, archiecture, travel).

If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. He came to fame with David Frost and Millicent Martin as a satirical commentator on the influential BBC television programme That Was The Week That Was. Apart from this column, which earned him the hatred of many MPs, he wrote separate articles commenting on the law - in particular what he saw as the folly of judges - civil servants and other public figures. Henry Bernard Levin, journalist, born August 19, 1928; died August 7, 2004 Quentin Crewe died in 1998, and the above obituary has been revised.Levin was once punched on live television while appearing on the satirical programme, That Was The Week That Was. His pieces could be absolutely savage in their attacks, on bankers, lawyers, dictators, anti-Semites.