Quotes from book
The Memoirs of an Amnesiac

The Memoirs of an Amnesiac is the autobiography of composer, radio, and television personality Oscar Levant. Published in 1965 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, it was Levant's second best-seller, following a quarter-century after his first book, A Smattering of Ignorance.


Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo

“My last picture for Warners was Romance on the High Seas. It was Doris Day's first picture; that was before she became a virgin.”

The Memoirs of an Amnesiac (1965) http://books.google.com/books?&id=yWcIAQAAMAAJ&q=%22My+last+picture+for+Warners+was+Romance+on+the+High+Seas+It+was+Doris+Day%27s+first+picture+that+was+before+she+became+a+virgin%22&pg=PA192#v=onepage
A later paraphrase of this appeared in The Wit and Wisdom of Hollywood (1972) by Max Wilk: "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."

Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo

“I once said cynically of a politician, "He'll double-cross that bridge when he comes to it."”

The Memoirs of an Amnesiac (1965), p. 13; also quoted in The Quotable Politician (2003) by William B. Whitman, p. 31.

Oscar Levant photo

“I have seizures of momentary sanity.”

The Memoirs of an Amnesiac (1965)

Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant photo

“Instant unconsciousness had been my greatest passion for ten years.”

The Memoirs of an Amnesiac (1965)

Oscar Levant photo

Similar authors

Oscar Levant photo
Oscar Levant 42
American comedian, composer, pianist and actor 1906–1972
George Carlin photo
George Carlin 270
American stand-up comedian
Peter Ustinov photo
Peter Ustinov 59
English actor, writer, and dramatist
Elton John photo
Elton John 80
English rock singer-songwriter, composer and pianist
Henny Youngman photo
Henny Youngman 18
American comedian
Woody Allen photo
Woody Allen 229
American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, p…
Groucho Marx photo
Groucho Marx 117
American comedian
Charlie Chaplin photo
Charlie Chaplin 75
British comic actor and filmmaker
John Coltrane photo
John Coltrane 4
American jazz saxophonist
Ben Stein photo
Ben Stein 30
actor, writer, commentator, lawyer, teacher, humorist