Val Lewton
Age: N/A | From: Yalta, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Crimea, Ukraine]
Person Details
Birthday:
Aliases: Vladimir Ivanovich Leventon , Vladimir Leventon , Carlos Keith , Cosmo Forbes , Herbert Kerkow , Sidney Valentine , H. C. Kerkow
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Yalta, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Crimea, Ukraine]
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 19
TV Involvements: 0
Most Famous Work
Biography
Born in the Russian Empire in 1904, Val Lewton (born Vladimir Ivanovich Leventon) moved with his mother and sister to Berlin in 1906, then to the United States in 1909. He wrote for newspapers, magazines, novels, pornography, etc. —often using pseudonyms to disguise their origin (the name Val Lewton was one such pseudonym, used first for some novels in the 1930s, then revived later in his career to take writing credit for two movies). In 1933 he got a job with David O. Selznick, where he spent many years as a story editor and jack-of-all-trades. Then in 1942 RKO hired him to head their new horror unit, where he made many famous and well-respected B-movies, for very low costs and high profits. In 1946, he “graduated” to A-movies, but increasing health problems, trouble working with big-money Hollywood, and other factors combined to force him to produce only three more movies before his death in 1951.
Most Famous Work
Cat People
(1942) Producer
A Star Is Born
(1937) Editorial Staff
I Walked with a Zombie
(1943) Producer
The Body Snatcher
(1945) Screenplay
Isle of the Dead
(1945) Producer
The Seventh Victim
(1943) Producer
Bedlam
(1946) Screenplay
The Leopard Man
(1943) Original Music ComposerActing
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | N/A | |
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
Production
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Producer | |
| 1950 | Producer | |
| 1949 | Producer | |
| 1946 | Producer | |
| 1945 | Producer | |
| Producer | ||
| 1944 | Producer | |
| Producer | ||
| Producer | ||
| 1943 | Producer | |
| Producer | ||
| Producer | ||
| Producer | ||
| 1942 | Producer | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
Writing
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Screenplay | |
| 1945 | Screenplay | |
| 1932 | Novel | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
Sound
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Original Music Composer | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
Crew
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Editorial Staff | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
