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Sonya Levien (born Sara Opesken; 25 December 1888 – 19 March 1960) was a Russian-born American screenwriter. She became one of the highest earning female screenwriters in Hollywood in the 1930s and would help a number of directors and film stars transition from silent films to talkies .
Sonya Levien. Writer: Interrupted Melody. Sonya, a graduate with a law degree from New York University, briefly practiced law before becoming a magazine editor and fiction writer. After several of her stories were adapted to the screen, she became a screenwriter. Levien wrote several screenplays for Will Rogers films and for Fox studios during ...
- Writer, Script And Continuity Department
- December 25, 1888
- Sonya Levien
- March 19, 1960
“Sonya Levien Made Sacrifices to Have a Career.” New York World (5 July 1925): 3. Archival Paper Collections: Papers of Sonya Levien, 1908-1960. Huntington Library. Papers of Zoë Akins, 1878-1959. Huntington Library. Sonya Levien clippings file. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library. Sonya Levien scripts ...
Portrait of Sonya Levien, undated. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The life of Sonya Levien (1888–1960) reads like a rags-to-riches fairy tale. But it is also a story of fortitude, feminism, and the ability to balance personal, family, and financial ambitions. The Huntington holds the papers of Levien, who started ...
Sara Opesken Levien (“Sonya” is the Russian diminutive, which she used) was born on December 25, 1888, to Julius and Fanny Opesken in Panimunik, formerly Russia, now Lithuania. (She altered the date later to 1898.) By the time her father immigrated to the United States in 1891, she had two younger brothers, Arnold and Max.
Sonya Levien. Writer: Interrupted Melody. Sonya, a graduate with a law degree from New York University, briefly practiced law before becoming a magazine editor and fiction writer. After several of her stories were adapted to the screen, she became a screenwriter. Levien wrote several screenplays for Will Rogers films and for Fox studios during the 1930s. She wrote for a number of studios including RKO and Warner Bros., but most...
Levien, Sonya (1888–1960)Russian-American screenwriter who won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Interrupted Melody. Born near Moscow, Russia, on December 25, 1888; died on March 19, 1960, in Hollywood, California; graduated from New York University with a law degree; married Carl Hovey, in 1917; children: two, including daughter Tamara Gold Hovey (a screenwriter and biographer).
