About the best thing an actor can do when all is said and done is to make people laugh.

Levine is of Russian Jewish Native American and Welsh heritage and has described himself as a "hillbilly Jew". After his stage experience Levine began to devote most of his energy during the 1980s toward finding roles in film and television. His résumé 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 the Hollywood Hills.

Frank Theodore "Ted" Levine (born May 29 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series Monk.