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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 such as a minor part in Charlie's Angels.

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.

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

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.

External links

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