Barry Levinson(I)
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Barry Lee Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Violet (Krichinsky)
and Irvin Levinson, who worked in furniture and appliance. He is of
Russian Jewish descent. Levinson graduated from high school in 1960,
attended college at American University in Washington, DC. He did well,
but decided he wanted to go to Los Angeles. In LA, Levinson worked for
the Oxford Company, studying acting, improvisation, and production;
worked in comedy clubs, where he learned how to write; and began dating
Valerie Curtin. In 1967, won a job
writing for a local TV comedy show. He eventually performed his
material on the show, winning a local Emmy. In the 70s, Levinson wrote
for
The Carol Burnett Show (1967)
-- and won two Emmys in three years.
Mel Brooks hired him for
Silent Movie (1976), then,
High Anxiety (1977). Levinson and
Curtin married in 1975. They co-wrote:
_...And Justice for All (1979)_, and other scripts. While Curtin performed
in San Francisco, he wrote Diner (1982).
MGM bought it and, with a budget of under $5 million, Levinson
directed. Curtin and Levinson divorced in 1982. Levinson met Dianna
Rhodes while he was filming Diner (1982).
She lived in Baltimore, with her two children Patrick and
Michelle Levinson. Levinson and Rhodes
later married and had two more children,
Sam Levinson and
Jack Levinson. Proving himself as
a director with The Natural (1984),
he tackled his most ambitious project to that time in
Rain Man (1988). Levinson went on to
place his stamp on films like
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987),
and Bugsy (1991). After his many successes,
Toys (1992) did poorly. Levinson had a hit
with Disclosure (1994) in 1994, the
same year the Levinsons moved to Marin County in Northern California to
get away from the Hollywood scene.
