Just 17 when she first backed Liberace, Levant has been heard on countless films and is a reassuring studio presence for everyone from Barbra Streisand to Lana Del Rey
In 1965, Cary Grant flew across the
Las Vegas desert to dine with a mermaid. It was the opening night for a restaurant named Dome of the Sea, and Grant and his fellow guests were welcomed by a young blonde playing a golden harp as she sailed a seashell boat through a pool of water.
There is indeed magic in the strings of Gayle Levant’s harp, but it has reached far beyond her brief stint as a mermaid and into a 60-year career. Her harp opens every episode of The Simpsons, one of several hundred scores she has worked on including Titanic, Lost and Grease. She has played alongside Judy Garland, spent 22 years in the orchestra for the Academy Awards, and worked on records with Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, the Carpenters, Michael Jackson,
Lady Gaga and more. When a legend needs a harpist, it is Levant they call.