As both a novelist and a playwright, there seemed to be little that Ira Levin wasn’t capable of. The author of popular novels like The Stepford Wives (1972) and The Boys from Brazil (1976), Levin became known for his thrilling narrative that always kept readers on their toes.

Plenty of Levin’s books were also adapted into films. These movies, which included the 1967 horror film, Rosemary’s Baby, quickly became cinematic classics to audiences everywhere.

However, originally, the author confessed that the iconic book bore very little resemblance to the terrifying thriller we see on our screens today.

“There wasn’t any witchcraft in Rosemary’s Baby at first,” said Levin during an interview with The Monitor. “I just put that in there to make everything hang together, a final stratagem.” Obviously, Levin’s instincts served him well, as the supernatural element seems inseparable from the story today.

However, while Levin certainly made a name for himself in literature, he found that he preferred writing for the stage.

“After years of writing books and never getting immediate evidence that things are working as you want them to…(with theatre), it’s gratifying to hear the audience come on right away,” said the author. “Sometimes you get a letter from someone who read your book and tells you that such and such chapter made them jump out of their chair. Very nice, but it’s still secondhand. At the theatre, they jump out of the chair right in front of you.”