Barry Levinson

Barry Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an Academy Award-winning American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Vi (née Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in furniture and appliance business. After growing up in Baltimore and graduating from Forest Park Senior High School, Levinson attended American University in Washington, D.C. before moving to Los Angeles to work as an actor and writer. Levinson at one time shared an apartment with would-be drug smuggler (and basis for the movie "Blow") George Jung. 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... full article at wikipedia