Barry Lee Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Violet Krichinsky and Irvin Levinson, who worked in the furniture and appliance industry. He is of Russian Jewish descent.
Levinson graduated from high school in 1960 and attended American University in Washington, D.C. Although he did well academically, he decided to leave college to pursue his dreams in Los Angeles.
In LA, Levinson worked for the Oxford Company, where he studied acting, improvisation, and production. He also honed his writing skills by performing at comedy clubs. During this time, he began dating Valerie Curtin, who would later become his wife.
In 1967, Levinson landed a job writing for a local TV comedy show, where he eventually became a performer and won a local Emmy Award. He went on to write for The Carol Burnett Show and won two Emmys in three years.
Mel Brooks hired Levinson to work on Silent Movie and High Anxiety, and he also co-wrote the screenplay for...And Justice for All with Curtin. The couple married in 1975 and continued to work together on various projects.
After Curtin performed in San Francisco, Levinson wrote the screenplay for Diner, which was eventually picked up by MGM. With a budget of under $5 million, Levinson directed the film, which was a critical and commercial success.
Levinson and Curtin divorced in 1982, and he soon met Dianna Rhodes while filming Diner. She had two children from a previous relationship, Patrick and Michelle, and the couple later married and had two more children, Sam and Jack.
Levinson's success continued with The Natural and Rain Man, which cemented his reputation as a talented director. He went on to work on a range of films, including Good Morning, Vietnam and Bugsy.
However, not all of Levinson's projects were successful, and Toys, released in 1992, did poorly at the box office. He bounced back with the hit film Disclosure in 1994, the same year the Levinsons moved to Marin County in Northern California to escape the Hollywood scene.
Throughout his career, Levinson has been recognized for his contributions to the film industry, including multiple Emmy and Academy Award nominations. He continues to work in the industry, leaving a lasting legacy as a talented writer, director, and producer.
