15 Facts About Barry Levinson

Barry Lee Levinson was born on April 6,1942 and is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor.

Barry Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for Rain Man.

Barry Levinson then moved to Los Angeles to work as an actor and writer and performed comedy routines.

Barry 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.

Barry Levinson's biggest hit, both critically and financially, was Rain Man, a sibling drama starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in which Levinson appeared as a doctor in a cameo appearance.

Barry Levinson directed the popular period baseball drama The Natural, starring Robert Redford.

Barry Levinson directed the classic war comedy Good Morning, Vietnam, starring Robin Williams, and he later collaborated with Williams on the fantasy film Toys and the political comedy Man of the Year.

Barry Levinson directed the critically acclaimed historical crime drama Bugsy, which starred Warren Beatty and which was nominated for ten Academy Awards.

Barry Levinson directed Dustin Hoffman again in Wag the Dog, a political comedy co-starring Robert De Niro about a war staged in a film studio.

Barry Levinson partnered with producer Mark Johnson to form the film production company Baltimore Pictures, with 1990's Avalon as the company's first production.

Barry Levinson has a television production company with Tom Fontana and has served as executive producer for a number of series, including Homicide: Life on the Street and the HBO prison drama Oz.

Barry Levinson played an uncredited main role as a judge in the short-lived TV series The Jury.

Barry Levinson finished production on The Humbling, starring Al Pacino.

Barry Levinson directed Rock the Kasbah, written by Mitch Glazer.

In 2010 Barry Levinson received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, which is the lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America.