Harold Leventhal, folk music promoter, dies

new york (ap) | Harold Leventhal, an internationally renowned folk music promoter who in 1963 presented Bob Dylan in his first major concert-hall appearance, died Oct. 4 at New York University Medical Center. He was 86.

Besides handling Dylan and Woody Guthrie, Leventhal played a role in the careers of Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, Theodore Bikel and Johnny Cash.

In 2003 Leventhal was honored with a Carnegie Hall concert featuring an all-star lineup of folk performers. The concert became the basis of the 2004 documentary film, "Isn't This a Time!"

Leventhal was born May 24, 1919, in Ellenville, N.Y., and grew up on the Lower East Side and in the Bronx. In the late 1930s he went to work for Irving Berlin, haunting New York nightclubs to pitch his songs to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore and Peggy Lee.