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Happy Birthday To Redding’s Barry Levinson

WESTON, Conn. -- Happy Birthday To Redding’s Barry Levinson!

Barry Levinson turns 72 on Sunday.

Barry Levinson turns 72 on Sunday.

Levinson, who has owned a home in Redding, turns 72 on Sunday. The screenwriter, director, actor and producer was born April 6, 1942, in Baltimore.

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 – notably the Mel Brooks comedies "Silent Movie" (1976) and "High Anxiety" (1977) and the Oscar-nominated script "...And Justice for All" (1979), he began his career as a director with "Diner" (1982). He had also wrote the script and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.

His biggest hit, both critically and financially, was "Rain Man" (1988), The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It also won the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.

His other notable films include "The Natural," "Good Morning, Vietnam" (1987), "Toys" (1992) and the critically acclaimed "Bugsy" (1991) .

He directed Dustin Hoffman in the film "Wag the Dog" (1997), which won the Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival.

He has a television production company with Tom Fontana  and served as executive producer for a number of series, including "Homicide: Life on the Street" (which ran on NBC from 1993 to 1999) and the HBO prison drama "Oz."

He published his first novel, "Sixty-Six,"  in 2003.

In 2004, he was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award. In 2010, he received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America.

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