CHICAGO — Oscar Levant detested success as much as he craved it.
He was a singular, sardonic mid-20th century cultural phenomenon — the first and still the most authentically revealing reality television star, sweating away in front of the cameras, spilling bean after bean, joke after joke about his mental health crises, his uppers, downers, phobias and rampant, head-spinning self-destruction.
What would Levant have made of his newfound fame, 50 years after his death?
