Bernard Levin
A fiercely independent British columnist whose razor-sharp prose and theatrical television debates defined intellectual combat for decades.
1928–2004 (age 76)·British journalist and writer·Birthday: August 19·The Silent Generation
Biography
Bernard Levin rose from a humble North London childhood, his intellect his ticket out. A scholarship to the London School of Economics forged his analytical mind, which he first applied as a lowly BBC cuttings clerk. His big break came at 'The Spectator', but it was at 'The Times' where he became a institution. His column 'The Pendulum Years' was essential reading—a fearless, often contrarian dissection of politics, law, and culture written in a baroque, cascading style that was unmistakably his own. On television, he was just as potent, his appearances on 'That Was The Week That Was' and later the adversarial talk show 'Levin in Question' making him a household face of rigorous debate. He was a man of immense passions, from his love of music and theatre to his long, mysterious walks across entire countries, all of which fed into his voracious and influential commentary.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Bernard was born in 1928, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bernard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1928
#1 Movie
The Singing Fool
Best Picture
Wings
Bernard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1928Born
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1933Started school
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
1941Became a teenager
Pearl Harbor attack brings the US into WWII
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,060Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Chattanooga Choo Choo" — Glenn MillerBest Picture: How Green Was My Valley
1944Could drive
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1946Could vote
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1949Turned 21
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1958Turned 30
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1968Turned 40
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1978Turned 50
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 60
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 70
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2004Died at 76
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
Key Achievements
- Wrote a celebrated and widely read column for The Times for over 25 years, known for its erudition and distinctive style.
- Was a central panelist on the groundbreaking satirical TV show 'That Was The Week That Was' in the 1960s.
- Authored 'The Pendulum Years', a seminal critical history of Britain in the 1960s.
- His television debate program 'Levin in Question' set a new standard for intellectual confrontation on air.
Did You Know?
He was known for taking immensely long, solitary walking tours across Europe and the Middle East, once walking from London to Jerusalem.
He never learned to drive and was famously nervous about technology.
He had a lifelong, passionate love for the music of Wagner and wrote extensively about it.
He left his entire estate to his alma mater, the London School of Economics.
“If you can't annoy somebody, there's little point in writing.”
