Vicki Gold Levi

Vicki Gold Levi (born September 16, 1941) is an American author, curator, historical consultant and collector. She is best known as an Atlantic City, New Jersey historian and a consultant on the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, and the 1997 musical Steel Pier.[1][2]

Vicki Gold Levi
Born
Victory Ellen Gold

(1941-09-16) September 16, 1941
Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)Historical consultant, historian, curator, author, photo editor, researcher
Years active1946–present
Known forHistorical consultant on the television series Boardwalk Empire

Early life

Vicki Gold Levi was born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey to parents Albert and Beverly Gold. Her father who went by the name Al, photographed the first Miss America Pageant in 1921 and became the city's first chief photographer in 1939.[3]

In 1946, Levi was the page to the first Jewish Miss America Bess Myerson. In that same year at age 5, Levi had her own local radio show on WMID called, "Views By Vicki" where she interviewed children her own age. She also spent time and was photographed with singer and actor Frank Sinatra.[4][5]

Career

In 1985, Levi co-founded the Atlantic City Historical Museum along with Florence Miller and Anthony Kutschera. The museum contains over 150 years of the city's history. It was first located at Garden Pier on the Boardwalk until 2014 when the museum closed. In 2019, the artifacts were relocated to the lobby of the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall and is now called Atlantic City Experience .[6][7][8]

Levi was credited as an historical consultant on the 2010 HBO television series, "Boardwalk Empire".[9][10] She also was a consultant on the films Beaches in 1988, Atlantic City in 1980 and for the Broadway musical, Steel Pier .[11][12]

Author

In 1979, Levi's book entitled, "Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness" 1st edition was published by Clarkson Porter.[13][14][15]

In 1982, Levi co-authored, "Live & Be Well: A Celebration of Yiddish Culture In America" with writer Richard F Shepard.[16]

Levi co-authored three books with design writer Steven Heller, "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby: Baby Pictures of the Stars" in 1992, "Cuba Style: Graphics from the Golden Age of Design" in 2002 and "Times Square Style: Graphics from the Golden Age of Broadway" in 2004.[17][18][19]

Television appearances

In 1979, Levi appeared four times as a guest on season 18 of The Merv Griffin Show, when Griffin hosted his show for a week from Atlantic City, New Jersey.[20][21]

  • November 5th -Levi appeared on the show with, singers Glen Campbell, Ethel Merman and Gloria Gaynor.
  • November 6th - Levi along with singer & actress Grace Jones, opera singer Robert Merrill, country singer Clint Holmes, and comedian Nancy Parker all appeared as guests on this episode.
  • November 7th - Levi appeared as a guest along with actress Phyllis Newman, singer Debby Boone, and comedian Henry Youngman.
  • November 9th - Levi, writer Ernest Chambers, singer Stephanie Mills and singer/dancer/actress Chita Rivera appeared on Griffin's last show of the week from Atlantic City.

In 2010, Levi appeared on the HBO promotional film, "Boardwalk Empire: Atlantic City: The Original Sin" as a commentator.[22][23]

In 2015, Levi appeared on Anthony Bourdain television show, "New Jersey Episode Parts Unknown". Levi and Bourdain dined at the Knife and Fork Inn restaurant in Atlantic City, NJ.[24]

In 2020, Levi was a featured commentator on the PBS series "UNLADYLIKE2020" on the episode entitled, "Sonora Webster Carver".[25]

Levi also appeared in the PBS documentary entitled, "There She Is Miss America", and a Miss America Special on VH-1: Behind The Scenes.[26][27]

Personal life

Levi is married to clinical psychologist Dr. Alexander Levi. They have one son and three grandchildren. Levi and her husband reside in New York, New York.[28]

References
  1. "Experience 'Boardwalk Empire' in Atlantic City". ABC News. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  2. "Atlantic City historians: A life that might die out?". Press of Atlantic City. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  3. Vincent, VINCENT JACKSON, Staff (7 October 2012). "Remembering her father, and his work in Atlantic City's heyday". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 18 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "Picture Stockton… Southern NJ Through Different Lenses". Stockton University. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  5. "By the Ocean, as a Famous Name Returns, Mostly Memories Remain". The Forward. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  6. "By the Ocean, as a Famous Name Returns, Mostly Memories Remain". The Forward. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  7. "Vicki Gold Levi". nj. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. "The Atlantic City Free Public Library - Florence Valore Miller". www.acfpl.org. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  9. Press, Samarah McKnight For The (23 November 2022). "Wendel White and Vicki Gold Levi, 2 South Jersey historians, discuss history and its role today". Press of Atlantic City.
  10. Press, Samarah McKnight For The (23 November 2022). "Wendel White and Vicki Gold Levi, 2 South Jersey historians, discuss history and its role today". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  11. Irizarry, Lisa (12 November 2010). "Turning to historian for the real Boardwalk Empire' talk". nj. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  12. Writer, STEVEN V. CRONIN Staff (10 January 2010). "Atlantic City historians: A life that might die out?". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  13. Levi, Vicki Gold (1979). "Atlantic City, 125 years of ocean madness : starring Miss America, Mr. Peanut, Lucy the Elephant, the High Diving Horse, and four generations of Americans cutting loose". Archive. New York : C. N. Potter : distributed by Crown Publishers. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  14. "Goodreads". Goodreads. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  15. Kent, Bill (22 July 1995). "ATLANTIC CITY; The Town That Smiled". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  16. Shepard, Richard F.; Levi, Vicki Gold (2000). "Live & be Well: A Celebration of Yiddish Culture in America from the First Immigrants to the Second World War". Rutgers University Press. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  17. Levi, Vicki Gold; Heller, Steven (12 August 2004). "Times Square Style: Graphics from the Great White Way". Princeton Architectural Press. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  18. Levi, Vicki Gold; Heller, Steven; Chwast, Seymour (1 November 1992). "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby: Baby Pictures of the Stars". Hyperion. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  19. Levi, Vicki Gold; Heller, Steven (October 2002). "Cuba Style: Graphics from the Golden Age of Design". Princeton Architectural Press. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  20. "CTVA US Talk Show - "The Merv Griffin Show" (Metromedia) Season 18 (1979-80)". ctva.biz. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  21. Carson, Dick (9 November 1979). "Episode dated 9 November 1979". The Merv Griffin Show. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  22. "Boardwalk Empire: Atlantic City: The Original Sin City - video Dailymotion". Dailymotion. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  23. "Atlantic City: The Original Sin City". Home Box Office, Inc. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  24. "The world was Anthony Bourdain's oyster, but New Jersey was his first home". nj. 9 June 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  25. "Sonora Webster Carver". UNLADYLIKE2020. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  26. "Vicki Gold Levi Interview". FIU-EDU. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  27. "Vicki Gold Levi". nj. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  28. Strauss, Robert (17 October 2006). "As Atlantic City Builds Up, the Whirl of Steel Pier Stops". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
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