PLAYWRIGHT

Ira Marvin Levin 艾拉．萊文 (1929/8/27－2007/11/12)

　　他是一位美國作家、作曲家，同時也是一位成功的小說家和劇作家，相當擅長營造毛骨悚然的氣氛。

　　艾拉．萊文於1929年出生在曼哈頓，成長於曼哈頓和布朗克斯。他在1946~1948年間就讀位於愛荷華州第蒙的德雷克大學，接著就讀紐約大學雙主修哲學和英語系。

　　萊文的第一本小說《死前之吻》廣受好評，在1954年為他贏得了愛倫坡最佳處女作獎。萊文最廣為人知的作品便是死劫，它是在百老匯中定期演出最久的驚悚喜劇，這部作品也讓萊文將第二座愛倫坡獎拿到手。在1982年，死劫被拍成電影由克里斯托弗．里夫和邁克爾．凱恩主演。

An American author, songwriter, and also a successful novelist and playwright. He was the master of bringing horror into our everyday lives with novels. Ira Levin was born in Manhattan in 1929, and grew up in Manhattan and the Bronx. He attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa from 1946-8, and then New York University, where he majored in philosophy and English. Levin's first novel, A Kiss before Dying, was well received, earning him the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Levin's best-known play is Deathtrap, which holds the record as the longest-running comedy-thriller on Broadway and brought Levin his second Edgar Award. In 1982, it was made into a film starring Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine.