Born in Bellaire, Ohio in May 1957, he was among the last graduating class of The Windsor Mountain School in Lennox, Massachusetts. Attended Marlboro College in Vermont. Performed in summer stock and regional theatres in Vermont, Michigan and West Virginia before settling in Chicago and joining The Remains Ensemble. Levine worked on stage at Remains, Wisdom Bridge, The Goodman and Steppenwolf Theatres throughout the 1980s before he began working in television and film.


Like "Sex and the City" (1998) star Chris Noth ("Mr. Big"), he attended Marlboro College in Vermont for a time in the 1970s. After appearing in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), he appeared in Heat (1995), which was directed by Manhunter (1986) director Michael Mann and featured Manhunter villain Tom Noonan. Has worked with two Jack Crawfords. Prior to appearing in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) with Scott Glenn, he appeared in the television series "Crime Story" (1986), produced by Michael Mann and starring Dennis Farina, who played Jack Crawford in Manhunter (1986). Also featured in this series was Stephen Lang, who played Freddy Lounds in Manhunter (1986). The voice of Chris Griffin in "Family Guy" (1999) is based on him. Over the years, he has co-starred with four actors from TV's "Prison Break" (2005) - with William Fichtner in Heat (1995), Dominic Purcell in Moby Dick (1998) (TV), Wade Williams in Ali (2001) and Paul Adelstein in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).