Peter Levin began his career as an actor appearing on Broadway as Peter Van Daan in the original production of The Diary Of Anne Frank (1955; He was credited as David Levin). He studied theater at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) and in London on a Fulbright Scholarship. He also studied with Lee Strasberg in New York. He appeared at The Old Globe Shakespeare Festival in San Diego and with The APA Repertory Season at The McCarter Theater in Princeton playing in Hamlet, As You Like It, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
He started one of the first off-off-Broadway theaters with Audrey Davis and Jerry Bloedow called "Hardware Poets Playhouse". Over a five-year period they produced many new plays by poets and this is where Levin began directing. He started working in television at WCBS in NY and then as an Associate Director for CBS in sports, news and soaps. His first directing job was on the soap, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (1967-1973). Levin worked on several American Theater productions including The Madness of God by Elie Wiesel, which he co-directed with Alan Schneider. He also directed five episodes of Beacon Hill for CBS in 1975. He also directed several afternoon specials for CBS and ABC including Heart In Hiding by Audrey Davis Levin in 1974.
Levin moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and began directing series including James At 15, Lou Grant, Midnight Caller, Reasonable Doubt, Call to Glory, Cagney & Lacey, Law & Order, Chicago Hope, The Guardian, Judging Amy and Joan of Arcadia. In 1980 he directed his first movie for TV, The Comeback Kid. These MOW's became the focus of his career, directing 37 in all, including Rape & Marriage (1980), The Marva Collins Story (Hallmark Hall of Fame, 1981), Washington Mistress (1982), The Royal Romance of Charles & Diana (1982), A Doctor's Story (1984), Popeye Doyle (1986), Houston: The Legend of Texas (1986), Sworn To Silence (1987), Hostage (1988), The Littlest Victims, (CBS, 1st High Definition film for TV, 1989), A Killer Among Us (1990), My Son Johnny (1991), Overkill: The Aileen Wournos Story (1992), Deliver Them From Evil: The Taking of Alta View (1992), Precious Victims (1993), The Man With Three Wives (1993), A Stranger In Town (1995), The Perfect Mother (1997), Little Girl Fly Away (1998), My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story (1998), In The Name Of The People (2000), And Never Let Her Go, (CBS miniseries, 2001), Homeless To Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003), In From The Night (Hallmark Hall of Fame, 2006), A Perfect Day (2006), and Queen Sized (2008). He directed the pilots for Knots Landing (1979), Palmerstown, USA (1980), and The Bakery (1989).
For his directorial efforts Levin was nominated for one Daytime Emmy Award for Love Is A Many Splendored Thing in 1973 and one Prime Time Emmy Award for an episode of Lou Grant in 1980. Levin served on the Eastern AD/SM/PA Committee from 1966-1968, was an alternate on the DGA's Western Director's Council from 1990-1991 and was a Trustee of the DGA Foundation for numerous terms.