Martin Landau

Martin Landau
Landau at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	June 20, 1931 (1931-06-20) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, producer
Years active	1956–present
Spouse	Barbara Bain (m. 1957–1993) «start: (1957)–end+1: (1994)»"Marriage: Barbara Bain to Martin Landau" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Landau); divorced
Children	Susan Landau, Juliet Landau

Martin Landau (born June 20, 1931) is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959). He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible (for which he received several Emmy Award nominations) and Space:1999. He received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture and his first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Tucker: The Man and His Dream, and was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). His performance in the supporting role of Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood (1994) earned him the Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe. He continues to perform in film and television and heads the Hollywood branch of the Actors Studio.

Early life

Landau was born into a Jewish-American family in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Selma (née Buchanan) and Morris Landau, an Austrian-born machinist who scrambled to rescue relatives from the Nazis.

He attended James Madison High School and the Pratt Institute before finding full-time work as a cartoonist.

Career

Cartoonist on The Gumps

At the age of 17, he began working as a cartoonist for the Daily News, illustrating Billy Rose's "Pitching Horseshoes" column and assisting Gus Edson on The Gumps comic strip during the 1940s and 1950s, eventually drawing the Sunday strip for Edson. (Some sources have confused him with the comic book artist Kenneth Landau and incorrectly claim that Martin Landau drew for comic books using the name Ken Landau as a pseudonym.) When he was 22, he quit the Daily News job in order to concentrate on theater.

Films, theater and TV

Influenced by Charlie Chaplin and the escapism of the cinema, he pursued an acting career. He attended the Actors Studio, became good friends with iconic actor James Dean, and later was in the same class with Steve McQueen. In 1957, Landau made his Broadway debut in Middle of the Night. In 1959, Landau made his first major film appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

Landau took the role of master of disguise Rollin Hand in Mission: Impossible, becoming one of the TV show's better-known stars. According to The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, by Patrick J. White (Avon Books, 1991), Landau initially declined to be contracted to the show as he did not want it to interfere with his film career; instead, for the first season he was credited in "special guest appearances by" him. He became a "full-time" cast member with the second season, although the studio agreed to only contract him on a year-by-year basis rather than the then-standard five years. The role of Rollin Hand required Landau to perform a wide range of accents and characters from dictators to thugs, and several episodes saw Landau playing dual roles—not only Hand's impersonation but also the person Hand is impersonating. He co-starred in the series with his then wife, Barbara Bain.

Martin Landau (left) with Patrick Swayze

In the mid-1970s, Landau and Bain, teamed with Barry Morse, returned to television in the British science fiction series, Space: 1999, produced first by Gerry Anderson in partnership with Sylvia Anderson and then by Fred Freiberger. Although it remains a cult classic for its high production design values, the series was critically derided during its run and was cancelled after two seasons. Landau himself became very critical of the show's scripts and storylines, especially during its second season, but he praised the cast and crew. He wrote forewords for Barry Morse's 2006 theatrical memoir Remember with Advantages and for Jim Smith's critical biography of Tim Burton.

After Space: 1999, Landau appeared in supporting roles in a number of films and television shows of varying quality, including The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, which again co-starred Bain. This was the last time the two acted together on screen, as of December 2007.

Landau at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

In the late 1980s, Landau staged a major career comeback by winning an Academy Award nomination for his role in Tucker: The Man and His Dream. He later received a second nomination for Crimes and Misdemeanors and won the 1994 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his uncanny portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood. Upon accepting the award, he was visibly frustrated by the orchestra's attempt to cut short his speech. When the music level rose, he pounded his fist on the podium and yelled "No!" He later stated that he had intended to thank Lugosi and dedicate the award to him and his frustration was that he did not get to mention the man whom he portrayed. Landau received a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe, and a Saturn Award for the role, as well as awards from several critics groups. When Landau won the Academy Award, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times said that "the award goes to Martin Landau; its shadow goes to Bela Lugosi." Landau admitted, on the Ed Wood DVD, to having been very impressed by the comment.

In 2006 Landau made a guest appearance on the TV series Entourage, playing a washed-up, but determined and sympathetic, Hollywood producer attempting to relive his glory days. Landau received a 2007 Emmy Award nomination for his performance in this role.

In June 2011 Landau began filming the Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-TV movie of Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith, in which he plays Rabbi Albert Lewis. The film had a "world premiere charity screening" November 16, 2011, in Royal Oak, Michigan, near Detroit. All ten theaters within the Emogine multiplex theater showed the film, with proceeds benefiting the "A Hole in the Roof Foundation" and the "Rabbi Albert Lewis Fund." The film premiered on ABC Sunday November 27, 2011, the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.

Acting coach

Encouraged by his mentor Lee Strasberg, Landau also taught acting. Actors he has coached include Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston. In 2009, Landau, working with director Mark Rydell and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler teamed up to produce an educational seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It was an unusual two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at the Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Martin Landau has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6841 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Landau has two daughters, Susan and Juliet, from his marriage to actress and former co-star Barbara Bain. Landau and Bain married on January 31, 1957, and divorced in 1993. Landau lives in West Hollywood, California.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1959	Pork Chop Hill	Lt. Marshall
	North by Northwest	Leonard
	The Gazebo	The Duke aka A. Wellington Broos
1962	Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock	Dade Coleman
1963	Decision at Midnight
	Cleopatra	Rufio
1964	"The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre"	Nelson Orion
1965	The Hallelujah Trail	Chief Walks-Stooped-Over
	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Caiaphas
1966	Nevada Smith	Jesse Coe
1970	Operation Snafu	Joe Mellone
	They Call Me Mister Tibbs!	Logan Sharpe
1970	A Town Called Hell	The Colonel
1972	Black Gunn	Capelli
1972	Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol	Johnny Bristol
1976	A Special Magnum for Tony Saitta	Dr. George Tracer
1979	Meteor	Major General Adlon
1980	Without Warning	Fred 'Sarge' Dobbs
	The Last Word	Captain Garrity
	The Return	Niles Buchanan
1982	Alone in the Dark	Byron 'Preacher' Sutcliff
	The Fall of the House of Usher	Roderick Usher
1983	Trial by Terror
	The Being	Garson Jones
1984	Access Code	Agency Head
	Terror in the Aisles		archival footage
1985	Treasure Island	Old Captain
1987	W.A.R.: Women Against Rape	Judge Shaw
	Cyclone	Bosarian
	Sweet Revenge	Cicero
	Empire State	Chuck
	Delta Fever	Bud
	Run If You Can	Malvani
1988	Tucker: The Man and His Dream	Abe Karatz / Voice of Walter Winchell	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (tied with Tom Cruise and Dean Stockwell) Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1989	Paint It Black	Daniel Lambert
	Crimes and Misdemeanors	Judah Rosenthal	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1990	Real Bullets	Sallini
1991	Firehead	Admiral Pendleton
1992	Mistress	Jack Roth
1993	No Place to Hide	Frank McCoy
	Sliver	Alex Parsons
	12:01	Dr. Thadius Moxley
	Eye of the Stranger	Mayor Howard Bains
1994	The Color of Evening	Max Loeb
	Intersection	Neal
	Ed Wood	Bela Lugosi	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Society of Texas Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
	Time Is Money	Mac
1995	Joseph	Jacob
1996	The Elevator	Roy Tilden
	City Hall	Judge Walter Stern
	The Adventures of Pinocchio	Mister Geppetto
1997	B*A*P*S	Mr. Donald Blakemore
	Legend of the Spirit Dog	Storyteller	voice
1998	The X Files	Alvin Kurtzweil, MD
	Rounders	Abe Petrovsky
1999	EDtv	Al
	Carlo's Wake	Carlo Torello
	The Joyriders	Gordon Trout
	The New Adventures of Pinocchio	Geppetto
	Sleepy Hollow	Peter Van Garrett	uncredited
2000	Ready to Rumble	Sal Bandini
	Shiner	Frank Spedding
	In the Beginning	Abraham
	Very Mean Men	Mr. White
2001	The Majestic	Harry Trimble
2003	Hollywood Homicide	Jerry Duran
	Wake	Older Sebastian Riven
	The Commission	Sen. Richard Russell
2004	The Aryan Couple	Joseph Krauzenberg
2006	Love Made Easy	Don Farinelli Sr
	An Existential Affair	Doctor
2008	David & Fatima	Rabbi Schmulic
	City of Ember	Sul
	Billy: The Early Years	Older Charles Templeton
	Harrison Montgomery	Harrison Montgomery
	Lovely, Still	Robert Malone
	Ivory	Leon Spencer
2009	9	2	voice
2011	Have a Little Faith	Rabbi Albert Lewis	Filming, with Christmas season release date (Hallmark Hall of Fame)
2012	Frankenweenie	Mr. Rykurski	voice

Selected television

year	film	role	notes
1957	Harbormaster	First Mate	"Sanctuary"
1959	The Lawless Years	Silva	"Lucky Silva"
1959	The Twilight Zone	Dan Hotaling	"Mr. Denton on Doomsday"
1959	Johnny Staccato	Jerry Lindstrom	"Murder for Credit"
1961	The Law and Mr. Jones		The episode entitled "Lincoln"
1963	The Outer Limits	Andro	"The Man Who Was Never Born"
1964	The Outer Limits	Richard Bellero	"The Bellero Shield"
	The Twilight Zone	Major Ivan Juchenko	"The Jeopardy Room"
1965	The Big Valley	Mariano Montoya	"The Way to Kill a Killer"
1966–1969	Mission: Impossible	Rollin Hand	Golden Globe Nominated - Emmy Award, 1967, 1968, 1969
1969	Get Smart	Himself
1973	Columbo	Identical-twin brothers Dexter Paris and Norman Paris	"Columbo: Double Shock"
1975–1977	Space: 1999	Commander John Koenig, leader of Moonbase Alpha	48 episodes, TV Series
1981	The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island	J.J. Pierson
1985	The New Twilight Zone	William Cooper-Janes	"The Beacon/One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty"
1990	By Dawn's Early Light	The President of the United States
1993	12:01	Dr. Thadius Moxley
1999	Bonanno: A Godfather's Story	Joseph Bonanno at age 94
2000	In the Beginning	Abraham
2004–2005	Without a Trace	Frank Malone	4 episodes Nominated - Nominated - Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, 2004, 2005
2006	The Evidence	Dr. Sol Gold	8 episodes
	Entourage	Bob Ryan	4 episodes Nominated - Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
2008	Entourage	Bob Ryan	1 episode
2009	In Plain Sight	Joseph Thomas/Joseph Tancredi	Training Video, special guest appearance
2011	The Simpsons	The Great Raymondo	Guest Voice Appearance episode The Great Simpsina

Bibliography

• Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 1999.
• Hellmann, Paul T. Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Florence, Ky.: Taylor and Francis, 2005.
• Laufenberg, Norbert. Entertainment Celebrities. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford, 2005.
• Riggs, Thomas. Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Detroit, Mich.: Gale/Cengage Learning, 2004.
• Stewart, John. Italian Film: A Who's Who. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1994.
• Welsh, James Michael; Phillips, Gene D.; and Hill, Rodney. The Francis Ford Coppola Encyclopedia. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2010.
• Who's Who in Entertainment. Wilmette, Ill.: Marquis Who's Who, 1989.
• Willis, John and Monush, Barry. Screen World 2005 Film Annual. New York: Applause, 2006.

External links

• Martin Landau at the Internet Movie Database
• The Total Picture Seminar - A Seminar with Martin Landau, Mark Rydell, and Lyle Kessler covering filmmaking.