Barry Levinson

Film Director

• Born: April 6, 1942
• Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland

FILM AND TELEVISION WRITER, DIRECTOR, AND PRODUCER

One of the most influential Jewish filmmakers of the past thirty years, Levinson has enjoyed unrivaled success as an accomplished writer, director, and producer of box-office hits and award-winning films.

AREA OF ACHIEVEMENT: Entertainment

Early Life

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Barry Levinson is one of two children born to Jewish Russian parents, Violet and Irvin. Levinson was raised in the Forest Park section of Baltimore. Irvin was a successful businessperson, who owned Baltimore’s first discount appliance warehouse. Levinson has admitted candidly in interviews that, while growing up, his biggest ambition in life was to avoid working for his father in the family business. Early on, it was evident that Levinson was not interested in academics, and he often failed classes while attending Forest Park High School. He graduated with a class rank of 460, dead last among his peers. After graduating from high school in 1960, Levinson attended Baltimore Junior College (now called Baltimore City Community College) and found part-time work selling used cars and encyclopedias.

In the summer of 1963, Levinson moved to Washington, DC, and enrolled in a broadcast journalism program at American University. Levinson also found part-time employment at a local television station as a floor director. His work experiences offered him the freedom to write and direct small promotional spots. While working the late-night shift, he became captivated by watching old films, taking an interest in classic films and the characteristic differences among various directors. For the first time in his life, Levinson had found something to be passionate about; this private education proved to be one of the great learning curves of his life. Without finishing his degree, on a whim, Levinson moved to Los Angeles in 1967. His father, weighing the slim probabilities of success, told Levinson he would be back within a month.

Life’s Work

After arriving in Los Angeles, Levinson was coerced by a friend to take acting classes. Even though he did not want to be an actor, Levinson became fascinated with the improvisation. Through this method, Levinson devised ideas for creative character development. Participating in these acting classes led Levinson to meet Craig T. Nelson and Rudy De Luca. Together, they formed a stand-up comedy act, performing in local comedy clubs. In 1969, Levinson landed his first professional writing job on a local television show called The Lohman and Barkley Show, a ninety-minute weekend variety program. Levinson, along with Nelson and De Luca, moved on to write for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) comedy The Tim Conway Show (1970). Levinson and De Luca continued their writing partnership in England as sketch writers for The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (1971-1972) and then The Carol Burnett Show (1974-1976). As part of a panel of comedy writers on Carol Burnett’s hit series, Levinson went on to win two Emmy Awards.

Levinson’s big break came when he was hired, along with De Luca, to help cowrite the screenplay for the Mel Brooks feature film Silent Movie (1976) and the follow-up picture, High Anxiety (1977). Working on these films gave Levinson an enormous step up from sketches to large-format screenplays, and it afforded Levinson the chance to experience, firsthand, every aspect of the filmmaking process. Essentially, it was an apprenticeship in directing, in which Levinson listened to and learned from Brooks. Over the next several years, Levinson formed a writing partnership with his wife, Valerie Curtin, and the duo churned out screenplays for. . . And Justice for All (1979), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay; Inside Moves (1980); and Best Friends (1982).

Levinson’s screenplays and working partnerships did little to satisfy the thirst he had for more. He turned to his Baltimore roots to write Diner (1982), which he also directed. The screenplay earned him his second Oscar nomination and critical praise. At the same time, in 1982, Levinson’s brief marriage to Curtin ended amicably. After his divorce, Levinson directed The Natural (1984) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), and he returned to Baltimore-inspired material as writer-director on Tin Men (1987). The box-office hit Good Morning, Vietnam(1987) demonstrated that Levinson was indeed able to direct big commercial films that turned high profits. His success almost seemed to intensify when he chose to gamble and work on a challenging project that other directors, such as acclaimed filmmaker Sydney Pollack, were passing on. The script did have its problems, but Levinson believed it was worth the risk. The film was Rain Man (1988), an instant classic that raked in more than five hundred million dollars and took home Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. This catapulted Levinson to the forefront of Hollywood’s best directors.

Levinson wrote, directed, and produced Avalon (1990), an autobiographical film tribute to Jewish Russian immigrants making their way in America, dealing with dynamic shifting changes in family relationships brought about in the wake of World War II with the advent of television. Levinson won a best screenplay award from the Writers Guild of America. He then directed a film about the personal side of a gangster in Bugsy (1991), and he won a Golden Globe Award for best picture. The only indications of a career slump came with disappointing box-office showings for Toys (1992) and Jimmy Hollywood (1994), although the downturn was only temporary. In 1993, Levinson made his return to television as director of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) series Homicide: Life on the Street, earning a third Emmy Award for best direction in a drama series. As a director and producer, Levinson had added success with Disclosure (1994); Sleepers (1996), for which he also wrote the adapted screenplay; Wag the Dog (1997); and Sphere (1998). For his fourth Baltimore-based story installment, Levinson wrote and directed Liberty Heights (1999), a coming-of-age tale with themes related to the issues of racial division and the Jewish experience of growing up in Baltimore.

In 2010 the Writers' Guild of America awarded Levinson the Laurel award for Screenwriting Achievement, recognizing lifetime achievement.

A man who wears many hats in the entertainment industry, Levinson acted as executive producer for the critically acclaimed Home Box Office (HBO) series Oz(1998–2003), and the films The Perfect Storm (2000) and Analyze That (2002). Levinson returned for his third time with Robin Williams, both writing and directing the political comedy Man of the Year (2006). Levinson directed Robert De Niro in What Just Happened (2008) and was the executive producer-director for the prime-time Emmy Award-nominated Home Box Office (HBO) film You Don’t Know Jack (2010).

In 2011, Levinson began working on the film Black Mass about Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger, which is believed to be a true story about Whitey Bulger, Billy Bulger, John Connelly, and the FBI's witness protection program. Levinson directed the films Rock the Kasbah (2015), Wizard of Lies (2017) and The Survivor (2021). He also directed Alto Knight, a film about a war between two crime bosses, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. The film was scheduled for release in 2025. In 2021, Levinson co-executive produced the Hulu miniseries Dopesick about the individuals and families affected by the US opioid epidemic.

Levinson has also written three books: Levinson on Levinson (1993), Baltimore: Life in the City (2001), and the novel Sixty-Six (2003).

Significance

Levinson has had such critical and commercial success that he can choose his own projects. He found a balance between his personal quartet of films about Baltimore and his big-budget studio pictures by taking risks and allowing his passions to guide his career endeavors. Levinson has broadened the scope of rewarding entertainment within the confines of a commercially driven, cookie-cutter industry with his successful films about his youth, family life, and religious background, growing up in Baltimore.

Bibliography

Carter, Bill. “Pure Baltimore, Right Down to the Steamed Crabs.” New York Times. New York Times, 24 Jan. 1993. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Goldman, Eric A. The American Jewish Story through Cinema. Austin: U of Texas P, 2013. Print.

Levinson, Barry. Avalon, Tin Men, Diner: Three Screenplays. New York: Atlantic Monthly, 1990. Print.

Levinson, Barry. "'Killing Fields' EP Barry Levinson on Crime, Reality and Potential Lack of Closure." Interview by Daniel Fienberg. Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Levinson, Barry. Levinson on Levinson. Ed. David Thomson. Boston: Faber, 1992. Print.

Levinson, Barry. Interview by Rose Eichenbaum. The Director Within: Storytellers of Stage and Screen. Ed. Rose Eichenbaum. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 2014. 190–97. Print.

Levinson, Barry. "Things I've Learned as a Movie Maker." MovieMaker, 22 June 2023, www.moviemaker.com/barry-levinson-things-ive-learned-as-a-movie-maker/. Accessed 2 Sept. 2024.

Price, S. L. "Much Ado about Nothing." Vanity Fair. Conde Nast, Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Techera, Titus. "Avalon Is Thanksgiving for America." Acton Institute, 23 Nov. 2022, rlo.acton.org/archives/124035-avalon-is-thanksgiving-for-america.html. Accessed 2 Sept. 2024.