Ted Levine
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
He brought shudders to audiences worldwide as Jamie Gumb, the cross-dressing serial killer in "Silence of the Lambs" (1991) but the stage-trained Ted Levine has proven himself as a character player with range, portraying outlaws, jilted husbands, cops, drunks, and the like. Levine left Marlboro College in Vermont to pursue the stage, joining the Burlington (VT) Shakespeare Festival. He later toured as Sgt. Toomey in the national company of "Biloxi Blues." Dedication to theatre led Levine to turn to directing as well as acting and he established the Dratman Theatre Company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, before moving to Chicago to join first The Remains Ensemble and later the famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He has worked extensively at Steppenwolf, including a 1995 appearance in Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" directed by Gary Sinise.
Levine first began appearing on TV with bit parts in "Through Naked Eyes" (ABC, 1983), and "The Killing Floor" for "American Playhouse" (PBS, 1984). He was a regular on "Crime Story" a 1986 NBC series produced by Michael Mann. Levine's first break in features came with "Ironweed" (1987) in which he played Pocano Pete. He appeared in Costa-Gavras' "Betrayed" (1988) and "Love at Large" (1990) before gaining notice as serial killer Jamie Gumb in "Silence of the Lambs" (1991). Levine subsequently has alternated between stage, film and TV with apparent ease. He co-starring with Mickey Rourke in "The Last Outlaw" (HBO, 1993) and opposite Cheryl Ladd twice in "The Fulfillment of Mary Gray" (CBS, 1989) and "Broken Promises" (CBS, 1993). Levine was in three films in 1995: Tobe Hooper's thriller "The Mangler", "Georgia" (as Mare Winningham's supportive husband), and "Heat" which reteamed him with Michael Mann.
Following a stretch of supporting roles in indie films, Levine landed on TV as the lead in "Wonderland" (ABC 2000), writer-director Peter Berg's controversial and short-lived depiction of life in a surreal mental institution; only two of the eight completed episodes aired on ABC, although the entire series did eventually surface elsewhere. By coincidence, Levine also co-starred in an unrelated film called "Wonderland" (2003), a biopic about the late porn star John Holmes (Val Kilmer) and his involvement in a drug-related murder on Los Angeles' Wonderland Avenue in the early 1980s. Levine's next TV role offered far more stability: he co-starred on the critically-acclaimed comedy-mystery series "Monk" (USA 2002-09) as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer, the commanding officer of damaged detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub).
During this era, Levine's film work ranged from genre hits like "The Fast and the Furious" (2001) and Alexandre Aja's horror remake "The Hills Have Eyes" to critically-acclaimed art house fare like "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005), "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (2006), "American Gangster" (2007) and Martin Scorsese's psychological thriller "Shutter Island" (2010). Levine's return to television came in a supporting role on the buzzed-about but ill-fated series "Luck" (HBO 2012), a drama about horse racing that was derailed in large part by allegations of animal mistreatment on set. On "The Bridge" (FX 2013-14), a police procedural drama set on the border between El Paso and Juarez, Levine played Lt. Hank Wade, the commanding officer and father figure of autistic American detective Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1983
Made his TV debut in a bit role in ABC's "Through Naked Eyes"
1986
TV series debut as regular in role of Frank Holman on "Crime Story" (NBC)
1987
Made film debut in "Ironweed"
1989
Played male lead opposite Cheryl Ladd in CBS TV-movie "The Fulfillment of Mary Gray"
1991
Played serial killer Jamie Gumb, aka Buffalo Bill, in "The Silence of the Lambs"
1993
Appeared opposite Cheryl Ladd in CBS's "Broken Promise"
1999
Played the villainous General McGrath in "Wild Wild West"
2000
Debuted as series regular on the ABC drama "Wonderland"
2001
Played Sgt. Tanner, opposite Paul Walker in "The Fast and the Furious"
2002
Cast in the thriller feature "The Truth About Charlie," which reunited Levine with director Jonathan Demme
2002
Cast as police Captain Stottlemeyer on "Monk" (USA)
2003
Appeared as a detective opposite Val Kilmer in "Wonderland"
2004
Starred in Jonathan Glazer's "Birth," with Nicole Kidman
2005
Was cast in "Memoirs of a Geisha," an adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel, directed by Rob Marshall
2006
Appeared in the remake of Wes Craven's 1977 horror classic, "The Hills Have Eyes"
2007
Co-starred in Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" alongside Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe
2007
Portrayed Sheriff James Timberlake in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
2010
Appeared as a prison warden in Martin Scorsese's psychodrama "Shutter Island"
2012
Played Isadore Cohen on David Milch's short-lived gambling drama "Luck"
2013
Was a series regular on "The Bridge"
2014
Played a sheriff, again, in "Dig Two Graves"
2016
Had a recurring guest role on "Ray Donovan"
2018
Appeared in "Jurassic Park" sequel "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom"
2018
Co-starred on TNT's serial-killer drama "The Alienist"
Family
Companions
