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Who is Ted Levine?
American actor Frank Theodore ‘Ted’ Levine was born in Bellaire, Ohio USA, on 29 May 1957, making Gemini his zodiac sign. He has 91 acting credits, but is perhaps still known best for portraying Jame Gumb – aka Buffalo Bill – in the evergreen 1991 crime thriller movie “The Silence of the Lambs”, which starred Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, and was directed by Jonathan Demme. It follows an incarcerated cannibal as he’s helping a young FBI cadet catch a serial killer, and the movie won 50 of its 120 award nominations, including five Oscar wins, some of which were for Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Anthony) and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jodie).
Ted’s currently shooting for the upcoming movie “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie”.
Education and early life
Ted was raised in Oak Park, Illinois, alongside his sister Judith Anne Levine and brother Michael Joshua Levine, by their mother Charlotte Virginia (nee Clark) and father Milton Dmitri Levine; both of their parents were doctors, and were members of the US organization Physicians for Social Responsibility. Charlotte was of Native American and British descent, while Milton was of Russian-Jewish ancestry.
Ted was focused on his education while growing up, but was still into a number of activities while attending a local high school in Oak Park, including playing football, appearing in school plays, and playing the piano. He matriculated in 1975, and then enrolled at Marlboro College in Vermont, from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 1979.
Roles in movies
Ted’s debut film role was playing Patrolman in the 1983 thriller “Through Naked Eyes”, and some of his following roles were in the 1985 drama “Two Fathers’ Justice”, the 1986 comedy “One More Saturday Night”, and the 1987 drama “Ironweed”.
He played Mr. Dunston in the 1993 romantic action “Nowhere to Run”, which starred Rosanna Arquette and Jean-Claude Van Damme, and was directed by Robert Harmon. It follows escaped convict Sam as he’s helping a widow save her farmland from a ruthless contractor, and the movie was nominated for a 1993 MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Male, for Jean-Claude. Some of Ted’s following notable performances were in the 1995 mystery horror “The Mangler”, the 1995 crime action “Heat”, and the 1999 action science fiction comedy “Wild Wild West”.
He played Sergeant Tanner in the popular 2001 action crime thriller “The Fast and the Furious”, which starred Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker, and was directed by Rob Cohen. It follows police officer Brian O’Conner who’s gone undercover to infiltrate a Los Angeles gang of street racers, and the film won 11 of its 29 award nominations. Ted was then cast to appear in the 2001 biographical sports drama “Ali”, the 2004 mystery horror “The Manchurian Candidate” and the 2005 romantic drama “Memoirs of a Geisha”, all award-winning.
#HappyBirthday to Ted Levine (62)
his top 10 movies are:10. The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
9. The Fast and the Furious
8. Birth
7. Ali
6. Bleed for This
5. The Assassination of Jesse James
4. American Gangster
3. Shutter Island
2. The Silence of the Lambs
1. Heat#BuffaloBill pic.twitter.com/x4pyHBUUtd— Stephen Gibbons (@Gibboanxious) May 29, 2019
In 2010, he portrayed Warden in the hit mystery thriller “Shutter Island”, which starred Emily Mortimer and Leonardo DiCaprio, and was directed by Martin Scorsese. It follows US marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule as they’re investigating the disappearance of a patient at a mental asylum on a remote island, and the movie won 11 of its 77 award nominations.
Some of Ted’s most recent film roles have been in 2019 in the biographical crime drama “The Report” and the crime thriller “A Violent Separation”, and the 2023 action crime fantasy “Starbright”.
Roles in TV series
Ted’s debut TV series role was playing Policeman in the 1984 episode “The Killing Floor” of the romantic comedy “American Playhouse”, and from 1986 through 1988, he portrayed Frank Holman in 19 episodes of the popular mystery action “Crime Story”, which starred Bill Smitrovich and Dennis Farina, and was created by Chuck Adamson. It follows the life of a police detective from Chicago, Illinois and the series was nominated for three awards.
Ted appeared in only five TV series in the ‘90s, including the science fiction mystery thriller “Nowhere Man”, the adventure thriller “Moby Dick”, and the historical action “From the Earth to the Moon”.
From 2002 through 2009, he starred as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the crime comedy “Monk”, which also starred Jason Gray-Stanford and Tony Shalhoub, and was created by Andy Breckman. It follows the life of brilliant former San Francisco detective Adrian Monk who’s suffering from OCD, and the series won 22 of its 71 award nominations.
Ted’s also known for playing Lieutenant Hank Wade in all 26 episodes of the 2014 crime mystery “The Bridge”, which starred Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir, and was created by Bjorn Stein and Elwood Reid. It follows two detectives as they’re trying to catch a serial killer, and the series won seven of its 11 award nominations.
Some of Ted’s most recent TV series roles have been in 15 episodes of the crime mystery “The Alienist” from 2018 through 2020, seven episodes of the 2021 crime mystery “Big Sky”, and two episodes of the 2023 comedy mini-series “Tiny Beautiful Things”.
Other credits
Ted sang the song “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” in the 2006 horror thriller movie “The Hills Have Eyes”.
He received special thanks for the 1996 documentary movie “Looking for Richard” and the 2010 adventure documentary movie “Solartaxi: Around the World with the Sun”.
Some of Ted’s talk-show appearances have been in “HBO First Look”, “Infanity” and “World Premiere”.
Awards and nominations
Ted won a 2015 Beaufort International Film Festival Award for Best Actor, for his performance in “Dig Two Graves”.
He was also nominated for a 1991 Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for “The Silence of the Lambs”, a 2008 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, for “American Gangster” and a 2012 20/20 Award for Best Supporting Actor, also for “The Silence of the Lambs”.
Love life and marriage
Ted prefers to keep the details of his love life to himself, and not even the exact date of his and his wife Kim Phillips’ wedding has been disclosed.
Kim prefers to stay away from media, and thus not many details about her have been shared with the public; she has blue eyes and brown hair, and most of Ted’s fans believe that she’s a high school teacher, but this is yet to be confirmed.
Ted’s daughter Melissa was born in 1976, and his son Mac followed in 1988; they don’t share the same mother, and the women’s names haven’t been disclosed.
There are no other women whom Ted’s perhaps been with, that we know about; he’s married to Kim Phillips as of July 2023, and has two children with two former girlfriends.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Ted was quite affected by his portrayal of the serial killer Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs”, and although he was then often invited to portray sadistic psychopaths, he tended to avoid these roles.
For his performance in a production of “Buried Child” at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Ted was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play.
Ted’s a philanthropist and has worked with a number of charity organizations.
His best friend is American actor and producer William Petersen, while he was also close to the late American actor, screenwriter and director Sam Shepard.
One of Ted’s favorite actors is Billy Crystal, and some of his favorite movies include “When Harry Met Sally”, “City Slickers” and “Here Today”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Ted’s age is 66. He has blue eyes and brown hair, is 5ft 11ins (1.8m) tall and weighs around 180lbs (82kgs).
Ted’s net worth’s been estimated at over $6 million, as of July 2023.
