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After growing up in Baltimore, he attended American University in Washington, D.C. before moving to Los Angeles to work as in actor and writer. His 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 ( Silent Movie, 1976 , High Anxiety, 1977, ...And Justice for AllAnd Justice for All is a 1979 film which tells the story of a defense lawyer who finds himself defending a corrupt judge charged with rape, even though he personally doesn't care for his client, and knows that he is guilty. It stars Al Pacino, Jack Warden, 1979), he had his breakthrough as a director with DinerDiner (1982) is a film written and directed by Barry Levinson which along with Avalon Tin Men and Liberty Heights constitutes his series of "Baltimore films. Diner is the first film Levinson directed. Plot Set in Baltimore, Maryland in 1959, Diner tells o (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 that look back to his childhood and adolescence in Baltimore. Other films in this slightly autobiographical vein were Tin Men (1987), starring Richard DreyfussRichard Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He was born as the son of an attorney in Brooklyn, New York. He spent his early childhood in Brooklyn and in Bayside, Queens until he moved to Los Angeles with his family at age nine. Dreyfuss and Danny DeVitoDanny DeVito (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, director and producer. Born Daniel Michael DeVito in Neptune, New Jersey, DeVito became famous in the USA for his portrayal of "Louie De Palma" on the popular NBC TV series, Taxi ( 1978- 1983)., and the turn-of-the century immigrant family saga AvalonAvalon is a legendary island somewhere in the British Isles. It is sometimes referred to as the legendary location where Jesus visited the British Isles with Joseph of Arimathea and that it was later the site of the first church in Britain. This location (which saw Elijah WoodElijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is a U. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the middle of the three children of Warren and Debbie Woods. He has a seven years older brother Zack, a video game producer, and a two years younger sister Hannah, in one of his earliest screen appearances), as well as the more recent Liberty Heights (1999). All three movies were written and directed by Barry Levinson himself; for the last two he also acted as producer.

His biggest hit, both critically and financially, was Rain ManRain Man is a 1988 film which tells the story of a selfish yuppie who discovers that his father has left all of his estate to the autistic brother he never knew he had. It stars Tom Cruise as the yuppie Charlie, Dustin Hoffman as his brother Raymond, and (1988) with Dustin Hoffman and a young Tom Cruise. The film won four Academy Awards including Best Director for Levinson. Other notable films in his directing career were The Natural (1984), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) with Robin Williams, and Bugsy (1991) with Warren Beatty.

He directed Dustin Hoffman again in Wag the Dog (1997), a political comedy about a war staged in a film studio. He is also credited as an unofficial co-writer on Dustin Hoffman's transvestite comedy Tootsie (1982).

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 psychotic mafia boss and Billy Crystal as his shrink), and Possession (2002, based on the bestselling novel by A. S. Byatt). He was also executive producer for the 1990s NBC television series .

Levinson married his writing collaborator Valerie Curtin in 1975. They would divorce seven years later. He later married Dianna Rhodes whom he met in Baltimore while filming Diner.