[Deathwatch] Ira Levin, 'Rosemary's Baby' author, 78

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

'Stepford Wives,' 'Rosemary's Baby' author dies

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/11/14/obit.levin.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) --  -- Best-selling writer Ira Levin, whose novels
included the horror classic "Rosemary's Baby," the Nazi thriller "The
Boys From Brazil" and the satirical fantasy "The Stepford Wives," has
died. He was 78.

 Levin suffered a fatal heart attack in his Manhattan apartment on
Monday, said agent Phyllis Westberg.

The native New Yorker, whose father was in the toy business and had
hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps, decided at age 15
that he wanted a career in writing and finished second in a screenplay
writing competition held by NBC while a senior at New York University.

Levin began working as a TV writer before finishing his first novel, "A
Kiss Before Dying," a murder mystery that was an instant success. His
debut won the Edgar Allan Poe Award as the best first novel of 1953.

It wasn't until 14 years later that Levin completed his second novel,
"Rosemary's Baby," the creepy tale of a New York couple in the clutch
of Satanists who want the young wife to bear Satan's child.

As often happened with Levin's books, "Rosemary's Baby" became a movie
-- in this case, starring Mia Farrow. "The Boys From Brazil," "The
Stepford Wives" and "Sliver" were also turned into big-budget Hollywood
productions.

Levin also wrote the long-running Broadway hit "Deathtrap," which
debuted in February 1978.

Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary