Profile of Bernard Levin on Famous Like Me

Herbert Bernard Levin CBE (August 19, 1928 - August 7, 2004) was a British journalist, author and broadcaster.

He was educated at Christ's Hospital (which he found difficult because of his Jewish origins) and at the London School of Economics.

After graduating from the LSE, it was expected that Levin would read for the Bar - however he set a course for journalism with his first assignment for Truth under the pseudonym of A.E. Cherryman.

His obvious talent was spotted in 1955 when he was offered a column in The Manchester Guardian. He wrote for The Spectator from 1956 until 1962 - his departure was a shock to many who saw him as a natural successor for the publication's editorship. He would later write for The Daily Mail, and The Daily Express. His longest standing appointment was his column for The Times from 1971 to 1997.

Levin also appeared regularly on television, including the series Face The Music and That Was The Week That Was. In the latter he interviewed prominent politicians and influential thinkers of the day, usually with a lack of reverence which was the programme's hallmark. He was awarded his CBE for services to journalism in 1990. He was renowned for his acerbic wit. On one occasion, during the live weekly edition of TW3, he was assaulted by a (much bigger) member of the audience for allegedly insulting the man's wife in an article he had written. His activities also got him blackballed when he tried for membership of the Garrick Club.

Levin never married, but had many girlfriends. He dated (and later lived with) fellow Face The Music panelist Arianna Stassinopoulos from 1971 until she left him in 1980 (saying later this was partly because he refused to marry her). Writing in The Sunday Times after his death, she described Levin as "the big love of my life".

Levin began to have difficulty with his balance as early as 1988, although his Alzheimer's Disease was not diagnosed until the early 1990s. He was nursed through the long degenerative phase of the illness by his long-term partner Liz Anderson, until his death.

Biblography

• Taking Sides, 1980, ISBN 0330262033
• Speaking up, 1982, ISBN 0224017292
• Enthusiasms, 1983, ISBN 0224021141
• The way we live now, 1984, ISBN 0224022725
• A Shakespeare mystery (Presidential address), 1984, ISBN 0900232153
• To the End of the Rhine, 1989, ISBN 0340493607
• All Things Considered, 1990, ISBN 0340517816
• Now Read on, 1991, ISBN 0340559837
• A Walk Up Fifth Avenue, 1991, ISBN 0340531274
• If You Want My Opinion, 1993, 034058923X
• I Should Say So, 1996, ISBN 0340671874
• Hannibal's Footsteps, 1997, ISBN 0340404337
• The Pendulum Years: Britain in the Sixties, 2003, ISBN 1840464186

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