Barry Levinson

Film director and producer, born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was a comic writer for television before Mel Brooks engaged him as a scriptwriter. He made his directorial debut with Diner (1982), which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Other films include the comedy Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Rain Man (1988, Oscar), and Bugsy (1991). He produced, directed, and wrote Sleepers (1996), produced Donnie Brasco (1997), produced/directed Sphere (1997) and Wag the Dog (1998), and directed Liberty Heights (1999), Bandits (2001), and Envy (2004).

Barry Levinson (born April 6, 1942 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television.

After growing up in Baltimore, he attended American University in Washington, D.C.

After some success as a screenwriter (Silent Movie, 1976, High Anxiety, 1977, ...And Justice for All, 1979), he 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.

He directed Dustin Hoffman again in Wag the Dog (1997), a political comedy about a war staged in a film studio.

Barry partnered with producer Mark Johnson to form the film production company Baltimore Pictures, until the duo parted ways in 1994.

Apart from producing many of his own films, he has also been producer or executive producer for such major productions as The Perfect Storm (directed by Wolfgang Petersen, 2000), Analyze That (2002, starring Robert de Niro as neurotic mafia boss and Billy Crystal as his therapist), and Possession (2002, based on the bestselling novel by A.

Levinson published his first novel, Sixty-Six (ISBN 0-7679-1533-X), in 2003.

Levinson also directed the two webisodes of the American Express ads "The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman."

Levinson married his writing collaborator Valerie Curtin in 1975.

Levinson is a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

Preceded by: Bernardo Bertolucci for The Last Emperor

Academy Award for Best Director 1988 for Rain Man

Succeeded by: Oliver Stone for Born on the Fourth of July