Date of Birth : Apr 6th 1942
American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television.
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 made a cameo appearance as 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 Best Screenplay Oscar nomination.
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 1950s 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 (in which Levinson also appeared as an actor). The film won four Academy Awards including Best Director for Levinson. Another notable film in his career was 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 DeNiro about a war staged in a film studio. Levinson had been an uncredited co-writer on Hoffman’s hit comedy Tootsie in 1982. He partnered with producer Mark Johnson to form the film production company Baltimore Pictures, until the duo parted ways in 1994.
CAREER
Bee Movie ( 2007 )
Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight ( 1970 )
Silent Movie ( 1952 )