Biography

Samuel Levinson (born January 8, 1985) is an American director and actor. He is the son of Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson. In 2010, he received his first writing credit as a co-writer for the action comedy film Operation: Endgame. The following year, he made his directorial film debut with Another Happy Day (2011), which premiered at Sundance Film Festival. He then received a writing credit on his father's HBO television film The Wizard of Lies (2017). He continued writing and directing for the feature films Assassination Nation (2018) and Malcolm & Marie (2021). In 2019, Levinson created the HBO teen drama series Euphoria which was adapted from the Israeli series of the same name. The series is popular with audiences, but has attracted significant criticism and controversy for its explicit content involving teens, particularly its portrayal of teenage sexuality. In 2023, he created the HBO series The Idol, which was controversial and received negative reviews.