Irina Levin was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she worked for thirteen years as an actress in repertory theatres, performed solo dramatic reading concert programs and worked as a drama teacher and director at a theatre-studio. Since her emigration to the United States in 1976, she has conducted an audition class in New York, taught acting courses at Catholic University and directed a number of plays.

Irina and her husband, Igor, are the authors of Methodology of Working on the Play and the Role (1990) and Working on the Play and the Role (1992). They live in Washington, D.C.