Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson
Levinson at the 2009 premiere of Poliwood
Born	(1942-04-06) April 6, 1942 (age 74) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Education	American University
Occupation	Director, screenwriter, producer, actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse(s)	Valerie Curtin (1975–1982) Diana Rhodes (1983–present; 2 children)

Barry Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor. Levinson's best-known works are comedy-drama and drama films such as Diner (1982), The Natural (1984), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Rain Man (1988), Bugsy (1991), and Wag the Dog (1997). He won the Academy Award for Best Director for his work on Rain Man, which also won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Violet "Vi" (née Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in the furniture and appliance business. His family was of Russian Jewish descent.

Levinson's first writing work was for variety shows 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 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 an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.