Brite Bomber

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Levy was born in Jaffa, British Mandate of Palestine on June 3, 1947. His father was an Ashkenazi Jew originally from Russia, and his mother of Sephardi Jewish origin. His career began as a singer and music performer, playing in various clubs around Tel Aviv. He also appeared in the musical Hair. During the 1970s, Levy performed in France and Germany with Aviva Paz as the duo 'Shuki & Aviva' or 'Shuky and Aviva.' Together they scored a hit single throughout Europe called 'Signorina - Concertina' which sold two million copies. In 1975, Shuki & Aviva sung 'You and Me and Two Dreams,' which competed as one of the possible German entries during the preliminary rounds of the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest. Levy later composed 'Halayla,' the Israeli entry to the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.

In Their Own Story

While living in Paris, Levy met businessman and musician Haim Saban, with the two becoming friends and collaborators. In an interview, Levy recalled 'Haim said, "We'll be co-composer. You do the composing, I'll do the deals." I figured, "Great. Brothers." That was the last business conversation we had for many years. We were partners. We never had a written agreement. It was all verbal.' They eventually moved to Los Angeles and founded Saban Entertainment, a production company responsible for animated shows and Japanese adaptions, such as Digimon, X-Men: The Animated Series, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and Power Rangers. The company was sold to The Walt Disney Company by the end of 2001. During the 1980s and 1990s, he composed television music; according to BMI's music publishing database, he has written a combined total of 4,210 themes, background scores and songs. In a 1998 investigation by The Hollywood Reporter, it was alleged that many of these compositions were ghostwritten by other composers, in order for Levy and Haim Saban to gain control of all publishing rights and music royalty revenue.

Reader's Guide

The first project Levy worked on following the dissolution of Saban Entertainment was Itty Bitty HeartBeats, a 2003 animated children's DVD. In 2009, he also directed and composed music for the live action film Aussie and Ted's Great Adventure. The film was co-written with his wife Tori Avey, and featured his daughter Jordan in one of the roles. In 1977, Levy was married to Miss USA 1970 and actress Deborah Shelton (Dallas), with whom he has a daughter. Shelton went on to appear in the 1982 horror film Blood Tide, which was one of the first film and television projects Levy composed for. He was also in a relationship with television actress Sarah Brown (General Hospital), with whom he has a second daughter. When they started dating in 1994, Brown was only 19 years old and 27 years younger than Levy. At that point, he was also secretly engaged to another actress named Shell Danielson, and still married to Shelton. Levy remained in a secret relationship with Danielson even after Brown moved in with him, and also remained married to Shelton until early 2000, nearly two years after Brown's daughter was born. Brown and Levy split in 2000, with Brown accusing him of spying on her over the next few years. Levy is currently married to food blogger Tori Avey, whom he met in the early 2000s. Levy has owned properties in both California and Miami.

Did You Know?

• Levy was born in Jaffa, British Mandate of Palestine on June 3, 1947.
• He and Aviva Paz scored a hit single throughout Europe called 'Signorina - Concertina' which sold two million copies.
• Levy composed 'Halayla,' the Israeli entry to the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.
• According to BMI's music publishing database, he has written a combined total of 4,210 themes, background scores and songs.
• Levy was married to Miss USA 1970 and actress Deborah Shelton.