Ted Levine (born May 29, 1957 in Parma, Ohio) is an American actor best known for playing the serial killer Buffalo Bill in the 1991 blockbuster thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

Early career
In the mid-1970s, Levine attended Marlboro College and the University of Chicago. He became a fixture in the Chicago theatre scene and joined the Remains Theatre which was co-founded by Gary Cole and William L. Petersen. After honing his skills on the stage, Levine began to devote most of his energy during the 1980s toward finding roles in film and television.

Breakout into mainstream roles
After his breakout role in The Silence of the Lambs, there was a period where he was typecast in villainous roles. Levine avoided this by playing more protagonists, such as a member of Al Pacino's police unit in Heat, astronaut Alan Shepard in the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, and Paul Walker's police superior Sergeant Tanner in The Fast and the Furious.

His resumè also includes an uncredited role as the voice of the sociopathic trucker "Rusty Nail" in 2001's Joy Ride, and his performance as Detective Sam Nico in the 2003 film Wonderland, based on the gruesome murders in Los Angeles Wonderland District. His trademark is his rough and deep unmistakable voice.

Since 2002, he has co-starred in his now famous role as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer on USA Network's popular detective series Monk, starring Tony Shalhoub.

Most recently, Levine appeared as a patriarch whose family takes a turn for the worse in the remake of The Hills Have Eyes (2006). Later this year, he will portray local Sheriff James Timberlake in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2006) & In 2007 will be appearing in Ridley Scott's American Gangster along side Denzel Washington & Russell Crowe.

Trivia
Levine has a distinctive voice which is best described as powerfully deep and uniquely gravelly. In a January 12, 2006 interview on The Late Late Show (CBS), actor Seth Green credited Levine as the inspiration for the voice of his character Chris Griffin on Family Guy.

Selected filmography
Crime Story (1986-1988) ... Frank Holman
Betrayed (1988) ... Wes
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) ... Jame 'Buffalo Bill' Gumb
Death Train aka Detonator (1992)...Alex Tierney
Nowhere to Run (1993) ... Mr. Dunston
The Mangler (1995) ... Officer John Hunton
Heat (1995) ... Bosco
Bullet (1996) ... Louis Stein (Butch's brother)
Switchback (1997) ... Deputy Nate Booker
Flubber (1997) ... Wesson
From the Earth to the Moon (1998) (miniseries) ... Alan Shepard
Wild Wild West (1999) ... General 'Bloodbath' McGrath
Evolution (2001) ... General Russell Woodman
The Fast and the Furious (2001) ... Sgt. Tanner
Joy Ride (2001) (uncredited) ... Rusty Nail
Ali (2001) ... Joe Smiley
The Truth About Charlie (2002) ... Emil Zadapec
Wonderland (2003) ... Sam Nico
The Manchurian Candidate (2004) ... Colonel Howard
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) ... Colonel Derricks
The Hills Have Eyes (2006) ... Big Bob
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2006) ... Sheriff James
American Gangster (2007) ... Toback

In The News:

California Literary Review The Weekly Listicle: Franchises that REALLY should have quit while they were ... California Literary Review It had a great script, a skilled director, and an outstanding set of performances by Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn, and Ted Levine. ...   Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:32:50 GMT+00:00 Washington City Paper (blog) Now That We've All Had 16 Months to Collect Our Thoughts About the New Star Trek? Washington City Paper (blog) AND NOW, Plinkett has brought his canny critical eye and Ted-Levine-in-The-Silence-of-the-Lambs drawl to bear on JJ Abrams's sexed-up, generally beloved ...   Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:02:50 GMT+00:00 Shadowlocked Top 10 contenders for a Halloween movie marathon Shadowlocked Ted Levine makes the role of Jame Gumb almost sympathetic, if creepy. The film also did the near impossible, by staying fairly close to the book, ...   Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:03:24 GMT+00:00 Flashback Five - The Best Movies of Jodie Foster AMCtv.com (blog) ... hazards like a woman-skinning serial killer named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) and the cannibalistic consultant Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins)? ... and more »   Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:25:25 GMT+00:00 Film School Rejects (blog) 36 Films: Silence of the Lambs (1991) Film School Rejects (blog) ... in order to gain his assistance in tracking down the serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) ? a man who abducts women and then skins them alive. ...   Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:12:06 GMT+00:00 monk season FANGORIA (blog) Ted Levine playsMonk's former boss, Captain Stottlemeyer, with gruff aplomb. Reluctantly, he hires Monk free lance as a consultant when the SFPD can't crack ...   Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:57:17 GMT+00:00 Comic Book Movie FAN CAST: The Avengers 2 Comic Book Movie ... amazing then he would already be on film. Ted Levine - Dum Dum Dugan: As far as I know, Levine seems to be the only actor that could really play Dum Dum.   Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:51:06 GMT+00:00 Page:  1

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