Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor.
Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget
comedy drama and
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
s such as ''
Diner'' (1982); ''
The Natural
''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story mo ...
'' (1984); ''
Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ''
Bugsy'' (1991); and ''
Wag the Dog
''Wag the Dog'' is a 1997 American political satire black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. The film centers on a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer who fabricate a war in Alb ...
'' (1997). He won the
Academy Award for Best Director for ''
Rain Man
''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dealer C ...
'' (1988). In 2021, he co-executive produced the
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...
miniseries ''
Dopesick'' and directed the first two episodes.
Early life
Levinson is of Russian-Jewish descent.
After growing up in
Forest Park, Baltimore and graduating from
Forest Park Senior High School in 1960, Levinson attended
Baltimore City Community College
Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) is a public community college in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the only community college in the city and the only state-sponsored community college in the state. It is accredited by the Middle States Commiss ...
and
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...
in
Washington, D.C. at the
American University School of Communication, where he studied
broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
.
He then moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
to work as an actor and writer and performed comedy routines. Levinson at one time shared an apartment with would-be drug smuggler (and subject of the movie ''
Blow
Blow commonly refers to:
* Cocaine
*Exhalation
* Strike (attack)
Blow, Blew, Blowing, or Blown may also refer to:
People
* Blew (surname)
* Blow (surname)
Arts and entertainment Music
*The Blow, an American electro-pop band
Albums
* ''Blo ...
'')
George Jung.
Career
Levinson's first writing work was for
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a co ...
s such as ''The
Marty Feldman Comedy Machine'', ''The Lohman and Barkley Show'', ''
The Tim Conway Show'', and ''
The Carol Burnett Show''. After some success as a screenwriter – notably the
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
comedies ''
Silent Movie'' (1976) and ''
High Anxiety'' (1977) (in which he played a bellboy) and the Oscar-nominated script (co-written by then-wife
Valerie Curtin) ''
...And Justice for All'' (1979) – Levinson began his career as a film director.
His first directorial effort was ''
Diner'' (1982), for which he also wrote the script, earned him an Oscar nomination for
Best Original Screenplay. ''Diner'' was the first of four films set in the
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
of Levinson's youth. The other three were ''
Tin Men'' (1987), a story of aluminum-siding salesmen in the 1960s starring
Richard Dreyfuss and
Danny DeVito; the immigrant family saga ''
Avalon'' (1990) featuring
Elijah Wood in one of his earliest screen appearances; and ''
Liberty Heights'' (1999).
His biggest hit, both critically and financially, was ''
Rain Man
''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dealer C ...
'' (1988), a sibling drama starring
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...
and
Tom Cruise in which Levinson appeared as a doctor in a cameo appearance. The film won four
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, including
Best Picture and
Best Director. It also won the
Golden Bear at the
39th Berlin International Film Festival.
Levinson directed the popular period baseball drama ''
The Natural
''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story mo ...
'' (1984), starring
Robert Redford. Redford would later direct ''
Quiz Show'' (1994), and he cast Levinson as television personality
Dave Garroway. Levinson also directed the classic war comedy ''
Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987), starring
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
(as
Adrian Cronauer), and he later collaborated with Williams on the fantasy film ''
Toys'' (1992) and the political comedy ''
Man of the Year'' (2006). Levinson also directed the critically acclaimed historical crime drama ''
Bugsy'' (1991), which starred
Warren Beatty and which was nominated for ten Academy Awards.
He directed Dustin Hoffman again in ''
Wag the Dog
''Wag the Dog'' is a 1997 American political satire black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. The film centers on a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer who fabricate a war in Alb ...
'' (1997), a political comedy co-starring
Robert De Niro about a war staged in a film studio. (Levinson had been an uncredited co-writer on Hoffman's 1982 hit comedy ''
Tootsie
''Tootsie'' is a 1982 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman. Its supporting cast includes Pollack, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, Geo ...
.'') The film won the
Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the
48th Berlin International Film Festival.
Levinson partnered with producer
Mark Johnson to form the film production company Baltimore Pictures, with 1990's ''
Avalon'' as the company's first production. Johnson departed the firm in 1994. Levinson has been a producer or executive producer for such major productions as ''
The Perfect Storm'' (2000), directed by
Wolfgang Petersen; ''
Analyze That'' (2002), starring De Niro as a neurotic mob boss and
Billy Crystal as his therapist; and ''
Possession'' (2002), based on the best-selling novel by
A. S. Byatt.
Levinson has a television production company with
Tom Fontana (The Levinson/Fontana Company) and has served as executive producer for a number of series, including ''
Homicide: Life on the Street'' (which ran on
NBC from 1993 to 1999) and the
HBO prison drama ''
Oz''. Levinson also played an uncredited main role as a judge in the short-lived TV series ''
The Jury''.
Levinson published his first novel, ''Sixty-Six'' (), in 2003, and like several of his films, it is semi-autobiographical and set in Baltimore in the 1960s. In 2004, he directed two
webisodes of the
American Express ads "
The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman
''The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman'' is a pair of advertisement films promoting American Express, featuring Jerry Seinfeld as himself and Patrick Warburton (who appeared with Seinfeld on ''Seinfeld'', as David Puddy) as the voice of Superma ...
." In 2004, he was also the recipient of the
Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award. Levinson directed a documentary ''
PoliWood'' about the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions: the documentary — produced by
Tim Daly, Robin Bronk and Robert E. Baruc — had its premiere at the 2009
Tribeca Film Festival.
Levinson, in 2011, was developing a film based on
Whitey Bulger, the Boston crime boss.
The film ''
Black Mass'' (script by
Jim Sheridan,
Jez Butterworth, and
Russell Gewirtz) is based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill, and it is said to be the "true story of Billy Bulger, Whitey Bulger, FBI agent John Connelly and the FBI's witness protection program created by
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...
."
Levinson later left the project.
Levinson finished production on ''
The Humbling'' (2014), starring
Al Pacino
Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
. Levinson also directed ''
Rock the Kasbah'' (2015), written by
Mitch Glazer
Mitchell Aram Glazer (born 1952/1953) is an American writer, producer, and actor.
Life and career
Glazer was born in Key Biscayne, Florida, and was raised in Miami, the son of Leonard and Zelda Glazer, an English teacher. Glazer is a relative of ...
.
The film starred
Bill Murray,
Bruce Willis,
Kate Hudson,
Zooey Deschanel,
Leem Lubany,
Scott Caan,
Danny McBride,
Kelly Lynch,
Arian Moayed,
Taylor Kinney
Taylor Jackson Kinney (born July 15, 1981) is an American actor and model. He has played Mason Lockwood in ''The Vampire Diaries'', Jared in ''Zero Dark Thirty'', Phil in '' The Other Woman'', and Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Kelly Severi ...
, and
Beejan Land
Beejan Land (; born 14 February in Paddington, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian actor and playwright. He graduated from National Institute of Dramatic Art and Newtown High School of the Performing Arts
Beejan also trained at the ...
.
In 2010 Levinson received the
Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
The Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement (also known as the Screen Laurel Award) is a lifetime achievement award given by the Writers Guild of America. It is given "to that member of the Guild who, in the opinion of the current Board of Dir ...
, which is the lifetime achievement award from the
Writers Guild of America.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Barry Levinson on Charlie Rose(March 24, 1994)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levinson, Barry
1942 births
Actors from Maryland
American film directors
American film producers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American television directors
American television producers
American television writers
American University School of Communication alumni
Baltimore City Community College alumni
Best Directing Academy Award winners
Businesspeople from Baltimore
Comedians from Maryland
Directors Guild of America Award winners
Directors of Golden Bear winners
English-language film directors
Film directors from Maryland
Golden Globe Award-winning producers
Jewish American writers
Jews and Judaism in Baltimore
Living people
Screenwriters from Maryland
Writers from Baltimore
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Comedy film directors
21st-century American Jews