Barry Levinson
Encyclopedia
Barry Levinson is an American
screenwriter
, film director
, actor
, and producer
of film
and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam
, Sleepers
and Rain Man
.
Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in the furniture and appliance business. His family is of Russian Jewish descent. After growing up in Baltimore and graduating from Forest Park Senior High School
, Levinson attended Baltimore City Community College
, and American University
in Washington, D.C.
, before moving to Los Angeles
to work as an actor and writer. Levinson at one time shared an apartment with would-be drug smuggler (and basis for the movie Blow
) George Jung
.
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
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 director with Diner
(1982), for which he had also written the script and which earned him a Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.
Diner was the first of a series of films set in the Baltimore of Levinson's youth. The others were Tin Men
(1987), a story of aluminum-siding salesmen in the 1960s starring Richard Dreyfuss
and Danny DeVito
; the immigrant family saga Avalon
(which featured Elijah Wood
in one of his earliest screen appearances), and Liberty Heights
(1999).
His biggest hit, both critically and financially, was Rain Man
(1988), with Dustin Hoffman
and Tom Cruise
. (Levinson appeared in a cameo as a doctor.) The film won four Academy Awards
, including Best Picture and Best Director
. It also won the Golden Bear
at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival
.
Another of his notable films is the 1984 baseball drama The Natural
starring Robert Redford
, who would later direct Quiz Show
and cast Levinson as television personality Dave Garroway
. Levinson also directed Good Morning, Vietnam
(1987) and Toys (1992), both with Robin Williams
, and the critically acclaimed Bugsy
(1991) with Warren Beatty
.
He directed Dustin Hoffman again in Wag the Dog
(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
).
Levinson partnered with producer Mark Johnson
to form the film production company Baltimore Pictures. The two parted ways in 1994. Levinson has been a producer or executive producer for such major productions as The Perfect Storm
directed by Wolfgang Petersen
(2000); 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
.
He has a television production company with Tom Fontana
(The Levinson/Fontana Company) and served as executive producer for a number of series, including Homicide: Life on the Street
(which ran on NBC
from 1993–1999) 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 (ISBN 0-7679-1533-X), in 2003. Like several of his films, it is semi-autobiographical and set in Baltimore in the 1960s. He directed two webisode
s of the American Express
ads "The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman
".
In 2004, Levinson was 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
.
in 1975. They divorced seven years later. He later married Dianna Rhodes, whom he met in Baltimore while filming Diner. He is the father of Sam
, Jack, Michelle, and Patrick Levinson. He is a first cousin of filmmaker Larry Levinson.
He is a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles
baseball team.
Currently, he resides with his two sons and wife in Redding, Connecticut
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
of film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 American comedy-drama film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War, based on the career of Adrian Cronauer, a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Service , who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call...
, Sleepers
Sleepers (film)
Sleepers is a 1996 legal drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 novel of the same name.-Plot:...
and Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
.
Early life
Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Violet "Vi" (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in the furniture and appliance business. His family is of Russian Jewish descent. After growing up in Baltimore and graduating from Forest Park Senior High School
Forest Park High School (Maryland)
Forest Park Senior High School is a four year, public high school in Baltimore, Maryland. Forest Park was established in 1924 as the Forest Park Junior-Senior High School. In 1932, the Forest Park Junior High School was moved and renamed the Garrison Junior High School.-Notable alumni: *Billy...
, Levinson attended Baltimore City Community College
Baltimore City Community College
Baltimore City Community College is a community college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1947 and has about 7,200 students enrolled in one of its three campuses...
, and American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, before moving to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to work as an actor and writer. Levinson at one time shared an apartment with would-be drug smuggler (and basis for the movie Blow
Blow (film)
Blow is a 2001 biopic about the American cocaine smuggler George Jung, directed by Ted Demme. David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes adapted Bruce Porter's 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All for the screenplay. It is based on the real...
) George Jung
George Jung
George Jacob Jung , nicknamed "Boston George", was a major player in the cocaine trade in the United States in the 1970s and early 1980s. Jung was a part of the Medellín Cartel which was responsible for up to 85 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States . He specialized in the...
.
Career
Levinson's first writing work was for variety shows such as The Marty FeldmanMarty Feldman
Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...
Comedy Machine, The Lohman and Barkley Show, The Tim Conway
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...
Show, and The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...
. After some success as a screenwriter — notably the Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
comedies Silent Movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
(1976) and High Anxiety
High Anxiety
High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role...
(1977) (in which he played a bellboy) and the Oscar-nominated script (co-written by then-wife Valerie Curtin
Valerie Curtin
-Biography:Curtin was born in New York City, the daughter of radio actor Joseph Curtin. She is a cousin of TV comedian/actress Jane Curtin...
) …And Justice for All (1979) — Levinson began his career as a director with Diner
Diner (film)
Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...
(1982), for which he had also written the script and which earned him a Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.
Diner was the first of a series of films set in the Baltimore of Levinson's youth. The others were Tin Men
Tin Men
Tin Men is a 1987 comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Mark Johnson and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito and Barbara Hershey. It is part of Levinson's series of "Baltimore Films", set in his hometown during the 1940s through the 1960s...
(1987), a story of aluminum-siding salesmen in the 1960s starring Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
and Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
; the immigrant family saga Avalon
Avalon (1990 film)
Avalon is a feature film directed by Barry Levinson. It is a mostly autobiographical story of a family of Polish-Jewish immigrants to the United States who settle in Baltimore, Maryland, at the beginning of the 20th century. The movie follows the family as they grow, become more prosperous, and...
(which featured Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
in one of his earliest screen appearances), and Liberty Heights
Liberty Heights
Liberty Heights is a 1999 comedy-drama film by writer-director Barry Levinson. It is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s. It marked the last appearance of Ralph Tabakin, who appeared in cameo roles in every Levinson movie since his first, Diner , a...
(1999).
His biggest hit, both critically and financially, was Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
(1988), with Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
and Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
. (Levinson appeared in a cameo as a doctor.) The film won four Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, including Best Picture and Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
. It also won the Golden Bear
Golden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival
39th Berlin International Film Festival
The 39th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 10 to 21, 1989.-Jury:* Rolf Liebermann * Leslie Caron* Chen Kaige* Vadim Glowna* Randa Haines* Vladimir Ignatovski* Adrian Kutter* Francisco Rabal...
.
Another of his notable films is the 1984 baseball drama The Natural
The Natural (film)
The Natural is a 1984 film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall...
starring Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, who would later direct Quiz Show
Quiz Show
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
and cast Levinson as television personality Dave Garroway
Dave Garroway
David Cunningham "Dave" Garroway was the founding host of NBC's Today from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing, relaxed, and relaxing style belied a battle with depression that may have contributed to the end of his days as a leading television personality—and, eventually, his life...
. Levinson also directed Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam
Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 American comedy-drama film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War, based on the career of Adrian Cronauer, a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Service , who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call...
(1987) and Toys (1992), both with Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, and the critically acclaimed Bugsy
Bugsy
Bugsy is a 1991 American crime-drama film which tells the story of mobster Bugsy Siegel. It stars Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould, Joe Mantegna, Bebe Neuwirth, and Bill Graham....
(1991) with Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
.
He directed Dustin Hoffman again in Wag the Dog
Wag the Dog
Wag the Dog is a 1997 black comedy film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, co-starring Anne Heche, Denis Leary and William H. Macy about a Washington spin doctor who, merely days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer...
(1997), a political comedy co-starring Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
about a war staged in a film studio. (Levinson had been an uncredited co-writer on Hoffman's 1982 hit comedy Tootsie
Tootsie
Tootsie is a 1982 American comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman,...
).
Levinson partnered with producer Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson (producer)
Mark Johnson is an American film producer. Johnson won the Best Picture Academy Award for producing the 1988 drama movie Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise...
to form the film production company Baltimore Pictures. The two parted ways in 1994. Levinson has been a producer or executive producer for such major productions as The Perfect Storm
The Perfect Storm (film)
The Perfect Storm is a 2000 dramatic disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction book of the same title by Sebastian Junger about the crew of the Andrea Gail that got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg,...
directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen is a German film director and screenwriter. His films include The NeverEnding Story, Enemy Mine, Outbreak, In the Line of Fire, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm, Troy, and Poseidon...
(2000); Analyze That
Analyze That
Analyze That is a 2002 mafia comedy film, and a sequel to the 1999 film Analyze This. The film was directed and co-written by Harold Ramis and stars Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal who respectively reprise their roles as mobster Paul Vitti and psychiatrist Ben Sobel.-Plot:Near the completion of...
(2002), starring De Niro as a neurotic mob boss and Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
as his therapist, and Possession (2002), based on the best-selling novel by A. S. Byatt
A. S. Byatt
Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, DBE is an English novelist, poet and Booker Prize winner...
.
He has a television production company with Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana is an American writer and producer.-TV career:Fontana has been a writer/producer for such series as Oz , The Jury, The Beat, The Bedford Diaries, Homicide: Life on the Street, St...
(The Levinson/Fontana Company) and served as executive producer for a number of series, including Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
(which ran on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from 1993–1999) and the HBO
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
prison drama Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
. Levinson also played an uncredited main role as a judge in the short-lived TV series The Jury
The Jury (TV series)
The Jury is an American legal drama television series that was broadcast by the Fox Network in 2004. Each week, in the same New York City courtroom, a new 12-person jury deliberates over a criminal case...
.
Levinson published his first novel, Sixty-Six (ISBN 0-7679-1533-X), in 2003. Like several of his films, it is semi-autobiographical and set in Baltimore in the 1960s. He directed two webisode
Webisode
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial.A webisode can be an episode...
s of the American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
ads "The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman
The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman
The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman was a series of short film commercials promoting American Express featuring Jerry Seinfeld as himself and Patrick Warburton as the voice of Superman. The films were directed by Barry Levinson...
".
In 2004, Levinson was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
The Austin Film Festival was started in 1994 in Austin, Texas and is claimed to be "the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s unique creative contribution to the film and television industries"...
's Distinguished Screenwriter Award.
Levinson directed a documentary PoliWood
PoliWood
PoliWood is a 2009 documentary directed by Barry Levinson and produced by Tim Daly, Robin Bronk and Robert E. Baruc.-Synposis:The Democratic and Republican National Conventions held in 2008 during the USA Presidential Elections are examined from an in-depth look...
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
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
.
Personal life
Levinson grew up in a Jewish family. He married his writing collaborator Valerie CurtinValerie Curtin
-Biography:Curtin was born in New York City, the daughter of radio actor Joseph Curtin. She is a cousin of TV comedian/actress Jane Curtin...
in 1975. They divorced seven years later. He later married Dianna Rhodes, whom he met in Baltimore while filming Diner. He is the father of Sam
Sam Levinson
Samuel "Sam" Levinson, is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. He is the son of writer/director/actor Barry Levinson.-Film career:He made his film debut in the 1992 film Toys, along with his brother Jack. He later appeared in such films as Bandits and What Just Happened? as Carl. In 2009,...
, Jack, Michelle, and Patrick Levinson. He is a first cousin of filmmaker Larry Levinson.
He is a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
baseball team.
Currently, he resides with his two sons and wife in Redding, Connecticut
Redding, Connecticut
Mark Twain, a resident of the town in his old age, contributed the first books for a public library which was eventually named after him.-Government:...
.
Filmography
- The Tim Conway Show (1970) (TV)
- The Marty Feldman Comedy MachineThe Marty Feldman Comedy MachineThe Marty Feldman Comedy Machine was a 1971 comedy-variety sketch show starring British comedian, Marty Feldman. Co-produced by ABC TV in America and ATV in England and filmed at Elstree Studios, it featured opening and closing credits by Terry Gilliam, as well as featuring guest appearances by...
(1971) (TV) - The Carol Burnett ShowThe Carol Burnett ShowThe Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...
(1973-1976) (TV) - Street Girls (with Michael MillerMichael Miller- Entertainment :*Mike Miller , American guitarist*Mike S. Miller , comic artist and publisher*Mickey Miller, fictional character on the United Kingdom television series EastEnders, commonly known as Mike Miller...
) (1975) (TV) - Hot l BaltimoreHot l BaltimoreHot l Baltimore was a short-lived 1975 television situation comedy series adapted from the hit off-Broadway play by Lanford Wilson.-Premise and run:...
(1975) (TV) - The Rich Little Show (1976) (TV)
- Silent MovieSilent MovieSilent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
(with Mel BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, Ron ClarkRon Clark (writer)Ron Clark is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for several plays that he co-wrote with Sam Bobrick and for co-writing the screenplays for the films Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Life Stinks with Mel Brooks.-Career:...
and Rudy De LucaRudy De LucaRudy De Luca is an American screenwriter and actor best known for his work with filmmaker Mel Brooks.-As Writer:*The Carol Burnett Show *The Tim Conway Show *The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine...
) (1976) - High AnxietyHigh AnxietyHigh Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role...
(with Mel BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
, Ron ClarkRon Clark (writer)Ron Clark is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for several plays that he co-wrote with Sam Bobrick and for co-writing the screenplays for the films Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Life Stinks with Mel Brooks.-Career:...
and Rudy De LucaRudy De LucaRudy De Luca is an American screenwriter and actor best known for his work with filmmaker Mel Brooks.-As Writer:*The Carol Burnett Show *The Tim Conway Show *The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine...
) (1977) - ...And Justice For All...And Justice for All (film)...And Justice For All is a 1979 courtroom drama film, directed by Norman Jewison. The movie stars Al Pacino, John Forsythe, Jack Warden, Lee Strasberg, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Lahti, Craig T. Nelson and Thomas G. Waites. It was also 75-year-old character actor Sam Levene's final film...
(with Valerie CurtinValerie Curtin-Biography:Curtin was born in New York City, the daughter of radio actor Joseph Curtin. She is a cousin of TV comedian/actress Jane Curtin...
) (1979) (1 Oscar Nomination) - Inside MovesInside MovesInside Moves is a drama film directed by Richard Donner.- Plot :After a failed suicide attempt leaves a man named Rory partially crippled, he finds himself living in a run-down house in Oakland, California...
(with Valerie CurtinValerie Curtin-Biography:Curtin was born in New York City, the daughter of radio actor Joseph Curtin. She is a cousin of TV comedian/actress Jane Curtin...
) (1980) - Best FriendsBest Friends (film)Best Friends is a 1982 feature film starring Burt Reynolds and Goldie Hawn. It is loosely based on the true story of the relationship between its writers, Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin. The film is a drama as well as a romantic comedy.-Plot:...
(with Valerie CurtinValerie Curtin-Biography:Curtin was born in New York City, the daughter of radio actor Joseph Curtin. She is a cousin of TV comedian/actress Jane Curtin...
) (1982) - DinerDiner (film)Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...
(1982) (Writer/Director) (1 Oscar Nomination) - Unfaithfully YoursUnfaithfully Yours (1984 film)Unfaithfully Yours is a 1984 romantic comedy film directed by Howard Zieff, starring Dudley Moore and Nastassja Kinski and featuring Armand Assante and Albert Brooks. The screenplay was written by Valerie Curtin, Barry Levinson, and Robert Klane based on Preston Sturges' screenplay for the 1948...
(with Valerie CurtinValerie Curtin-Biography:Curtin was born in New York City, the daughter of radio actor Joseph Curtin. She is a cousin of TV comedian/actress Jane Curtin...
and Robert Klane) (1984) - The NaturalThe Natural (film)The Natural is a 1984 film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall...
(1984) (Director) (4 Oscar Nominations) - Young Sherlock HolmesYoung Sherlock HolmesYoung Sherlock Holmes is a 1985 mystery/adventure film directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Chris Columbus, based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
(1985) (Director) (1 Oscar Nomination) - Tin MenTin MenTin Men is a 1987 comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Mark Johnson and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito and Barbara Hershey. It is part of Levinson's series of "Baltimore Films", set in his hometown during the 1940s through the 1960s...
(1987) (Writer/Director) - Good Morning, VietnamGood Morning, VietnamGood Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 American comedy-drama film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War, based on the career of Adrian Cronauer, a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Service , who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call...
(1987) (Director) (1 Oscar Nomination) - Rain ManRain ManRain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
(1988) (Director) (8 Oscar Nominations, 4 Wins) - AvalonAvalon (1990 film)Avalon is a feature film directed by Barry Levinson. It is a mostly autobiographical story of a family of Polish-Jewish immigrants to the United States who settle in Baltimore, Maryland, at the beginning of the 20th century. The movie follows the family as they grow, become more prosperous, and...
(1990) (Writer/Director) (4 Oscar Nominations) - BugsyBugsyBugsy is a 1991 American crime-drama film which tells the story of mobster Bugsy Siegel. It stars Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould, Joe Mantegna, Bebe Neuwirth, and Bill Graham....
(1991) (Director) (10 Oscar Nominations, 2 Wins) - Toys (with Valerie CurtinValerie Curtin-Biography:Curtin was born in New York City, the daughter of radio actor Joseph Curtin. She is a cousin of TV comedian/actress Jane Curtin...
) (1992) (Co-Writer/Director) (2 Oscar Nominations) - Jimmy HollywoodJimmy HollywoodJimmy Hollywood is an American comedy film written and directed by Barry Levinson and starring Joe Pesci and Christian Slater.- Plot :Jimmy Alto is a failing actor living in Los Angeles. After increasing frustration with crime in the city Jimmy, along with his 'spaced-out' best friend William ,...
(1994) (Writer/Director) - DisclosureDisclosure (film)Disclosure is a 1994 thriller directed by Barry Levinson, starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. It is based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name.The cast also includes Donald Sutherland, Rosemary Forsyth and Dennis Miller...
(1994) (Director) - Homicide: Life on the Streets (1996) (TV) (Developed By)
- SleepersSleepers (film)Sleepers is a 1996 legal drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 novel of the same name.-Plot:...
(1996) (Writer/Director) (1 Oscar Nomination) - Wag The DogWag the DogWag the Dog is a 1997 black comedy film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, co-starring Anne Heche, Denis Leary and William H. Macy about a Washington spin doctor who, merely days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer...
(1997) (Director) (2 Oscar Nominations) - OzOz (TV series)Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
(1997-2003) (TV) (Executive Producer) - SphereSphere (film)Sphere is a 1998 science fiction psychological thriller film, starring Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, and Samuel L. Jackson. Sphere was based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park and The Lost World...
(1998) (Director) - Liberty HeightsLiberty HeightsLiberty Heights is a 1999 comedy-drama film by writer-director Barry Levinson. It is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s. It marked the last appearance of Ralph Tabakin, who appeared in cameo roles in every Levinson movie since his first, Diner , a...
(1999) (Writer/Director) - An Everlasting PieceAn Everlasting PieceAn Everlasting Piece is a 2000 American comedy film. The movie was directed by Barry Levinson and written by and starring Barry McEvoy. The plot involves two wig salesmen, one Catholic and one Protestant, who live in war torn Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the mid-'80s...
(2000) (Director) - BanditsBanditsBandits is a 2001 American crime-comedy drama film directed by Barry Levinson. It stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett. Filming began in October 2000 and ended in February 2001. It helped Thornton earn a National Board of Review Best Actor Award for 2001...
(2001) (Director) - The JuryThe Jury (TV series)The Jury is an American legal drama television series that was broadcast by the Fox Network in 2004. Each week, in the same New York City courtroom, a new 12-person jury deliberates over a criminal case...
(2004) (TV) (Creator) - Envy (2004) (Director)
- Man of the YearMan of the Year (2006 film)Man of the Year is a 2006 Comedy film directed and written by Barry Levinson and starring Robin Williams in the lead role. In addition to Williams, the film features Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black and Jeff Goldblum....
(2006) (Writer/Director) - What Just Happened (2008) (Director)
- PoliWoodPoliWoodPoliWood is a 2009 documentary directed by Barry Levinson and produced by Tim Daly, Robin Bronk and Robert E. Baruc.-Synposis:The Democratic and Republican National Conventions held in 2008 during the USA Presidential Elections are examined from an in-depth look...
(2009) (Director) (TV) (Documentary) - The Band that Wouldn't DieThe Band that Wouldn't DieThe Band That Wouldn't Die is a film documentary released in 2009 and created and directed by Barry Levinson as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series....
(2009) (TV) (Documentary) - You Don't Know JackYou Don't Know Jack (film)You Don't Know Jack is a 2010 television film directed by Barry Levinson and starring Al Pacino as Jack Kevorkian, based in part on the book, "Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life And The Battle To Legalize Euthanasia"...
(2010) (Director) (TV) - Gotti (2013 film)Gotti (2013 film)Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father is an upcoming Barry Levinson film starring Ben Foster, Al Pacino and John Travolta. It is the story of crime boss John Gotti and his son...
(2013) (Writer/Director)
External links
- Barry Levinson on Charlie Rose (March 24, 1994)