Martin Landau obit

Martin Landau obituary – 1928-2017: Oscar-winning actor

He was not on the list.

IT'S HARD to imagine anyone other than Leonard Nimoy in the role of Mr Spock in Star Trek.

Yet if producers had got their way Martin Landau would forever have become associated with the role of the pointy-eared Vulcan.

Instead, he opted to appear as Rollin Hand in the series Mission: Impossible and became one of TV's biggest stars of the 1960s.

Toward the end of the decade the actors' paths would cross again when, in an ironic twist of fate, Landau would hand over the Mission: Impossible reins to Nimoy after quitting in 1969 with his then wife and co-star Barbara Bain over a contract dispute.

Despite his sudden departure from the show Landau, who had already appeared in films including Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest and Cleopatra, fully expected to go on to bigger and better things in Hollywood but he was mistaken.

Although he had another TV hit in the 1970s with the science-fiction series Space: 1999 it would take almost two decades and three Oscar nominations before Landau was finally given the recognition he deserved and won an Academy Award for his role as washed-up Bela Lugosi in the 1994 film Ed Wood.

He said not long after his win: "It almost takes a miracle to resurrect your career but you have to believe that miracles are possible."

Born in Brooklyn, Landau began his career as a cartoonist at the New York Daily News.

He would continue to draw for pleasure for the rest of his life but after five years at the newspaper Marty, as he was known to friends and colleagues, decided to try acting.

"I told the picture editor I was going into the theatre. I think he thought I was going to be an usher," he said in 1989.

Competing for roles alongside his friend James Dean, Landau and Steve McQueen were accepted into Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in 1955, the only two out of 2,000 hopefuls.

At Strasberg's urging, he began teaching while still in his 20s and over the next 50 years his pupils included Jack Nicholson, Harry Dean Stanton, Anjelica Huston and Oliver Stone.

              

It was at the Actors Studio where he first met and romanced Marilyn Monroe and then Barbara Bain whom he married in 1957, the same year he starred in the play Middle Of The Night which brought him to the attention of Hitchcock.

"I had tea with Mr Hitchcock one afternoon and asked him how he could have cast me in that part because what I was playing in Middle Of The Night was so different," Landau recalled.

"My dear Mah-tin," he said, impersonating the film-maker, "you have a circus going on inside you. If you can do that part in the play you can do this little trinket of mine."

Later in his career other directors including Francis Ford Coppola, who cast him in Tucker: The Man And His Dream and Woody Allen, who directed him in Crimes And Misdemeanours, showed that same level of confidence in Landau. The actor won Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for both films.

But it was as the horror star Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood opposite Johnny Depp that Landau finally won the coveted gold statue.

As the movie's producer Denise Di Novi explained, from the first make-up test, Landau was Bela. "He gave a look to the camera, said a line of dialogue and I was ecstatic. It gave me shivers," she admitted.

Other movies including Sleepy Hollow, Rounders and Hollywood Homicide followed, as did TV roles on shows such as Entourage and in 2001 Landau received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He died of complications during a stay at UCLA Medical Center and is survived by two daughters, Susan and Juliet, from his marriage to Bain.

Films

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1959      Pork Chop Hill    Lieutenant Marshall       

North by Northwest        Leonard               

The Gazebo        The Duke            

1962      Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock       Dade Coleman  

1963      Cleopatra             Rufio    

Decision at Midnight       Nils        

1965      The Greatest Story Ever Told       Caiaphas             

The Hallelujah Trail          Chief Walks-Stooped-Over          

1966      Nevada Smith    Jesse Coe            

1970      Operation Snafu               Joe Mellone       

They Call Me Mister Tibbs!           Logan Sharpe    

1971      A Town Called Bastard   The Colonel       

1972      Black Gunn         Capelli  

1976      Strange Shadows in an Empty Room        Dr. George Tracer           

1979      The Last Word   Captain Garrity

Meteor                 Major General Adlon     

1980      Without Warning             Fred "Sarge" Dobbs        

The Return          Niles Buchanan

1982      Alone in the Dark             Byron "Preacher" Sutcliff             

1983      The Being            Garson Jones    

Trial by Terror                   

1984      Access Code       Agency Head     

1985      Treasure Island Old Captain        

1987      Sweet Revenge Cicero  

Empire State      Chuck   

Cyclone                Bosarian              

Delta Fever         Bud       

W.A.R.: Women Against Rape     Judge Shaw        

1988      Real Bullets         Sallini   

Run If You Can   Curt Malvani     

Tucker: The Man and His Dream                Abe Karatz          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 (shared with Tom Cruise and Dean Stockwell)

Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated—Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor

1989      Paint It Black      Daniel Lambert

Crimes and Misdemeanors          Judah Rosenthal               Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor

1991      Firehead              Admiral Pendleton         

1992      Mistress               Jack Roth            

1993      No Place to Hide               Frank McCoy     

Eye of the Stranger          Mayor Howard Bains     

Sliver     Alex Parsons      

1994      Time Is Money Mac      

Intersection        Neal      

Ed Wood              Bela Lugosi          Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor

Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor

Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

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

1996      City Hall                Judge Walter Stern         

The Adventures of Pinocchio       Geppetto           

The Elevator       Roy Tilden          

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           

The Joyriders     Gordon Trout    

The New Adventures of Pinocchio             Geppetto           

Sleepy Hollow    Peter Van Garrett             Uncredited

Carlo's Wake      Carlo Torello     

2000      Ready to Rumble              Sal Bandini         

Very Mean Men                Mr. White          

Shiner   Frank Spedding

2001      The Majestic      Harry Trimble   

2003      Hollywood Homicide       Jerry Duran        

The Commission               Senator Richard Russell

Wake     Older Sebastian Riven   

2004      The Aryan Couple             Joseph Krauzenberg      

2005      Film Trix               Himself                

2006      Love Made Easy                Don Farinelli, Sr.              

An Existential Affair         The Wedding Doctor      

2008      David & Fatima Rabbi Schmulic

Lovely, Still          Robert Malone

Harrison Montgomery   Harrison Montgomery  

City of Ember     Sul         

Billy: The Early Years       Older Charles Templeton             

2009      9             2             Voice

Remembering Nigel        Himself                

2010      Ivory      Leon Spencer    

Finding Grandma              Doc Fine               Short

2011      Mysteria              Hotel Manager

2012      Frankenweenie Mr. Rzykruski     Voice

2015      Entourage           Bob Ryan            

Remembering Nigel                       

Remember         Max Rosenbaum             

2016      The Red Maple Leaf        Bernard Florence             

2017      The Last Poker Game      Dr. Abe Mandelbaum     

Without Ward   Ward     Posthumous release, (final film role)

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1957      Harbormaster    First Mate            Episode: "Sanctuary"

1958      Lawman               Bob Ford              Episode: "The Outcast"

Sugarfoot            Jim Kelly               Episode: "The Ghost"

Gunsmoke          Thorp    Episode: "The Patsy"

1959      The Lawless Years            Silva       Episode: "Lucky Silva"

The Twilight Zone             Dan Hotaling      Episode: "Mr. Denton on Doomsday"

Johnny Staccato                Jerry Lindstrom Episode: "Murder for Credit"

Tales of Wells Fargo        Doc Holliday       Episode: "Doc Holliday"

1960      Tate       John Chess          Episode: "Tigrero"

Johnny Ringo     Wes Tymon        Episode: "The Derelict"

The Islanders     Arnie     Episode: "Duel of Strangers"

Adventures in Paradise Sackett Episode: "Nightmare on Nakupa"

Wagon Train      Preacher              Episode: "The Cathy Eckhart Story"

1961      Adventures in Paradise Miller    Episode: "Mr. Flotsam"

Bonanza               Emiliano               Episode: "The Gift"

The Rifleman      Miguel Episode: "The Vaqueros"

The Tall Man      Francisco             Episode: "Dark Moment"

The Law and Mr. Jones                  Episode: "Lincoln"

The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor     Vince Treynor    Episode: "Shadow of His Brother"

1962      The Tall Man      Father Gueschim              Episode: "The Black Robe"

1963      The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters             Cochio Episode: "The Day of the Killer"

Mr. Novak           Victor Rand         Episode: "Pay the Two Dollars"

The Outer Limits               Andro    Episode: "The Man Who Was Never Born"

1964      The Defenders Dr. Daniel Orren               Episode: "The Secret"

The Greatest Show on Earth        Mario de Mona Episode: "The Night the Monkey Died"

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour            Lawyer Episode: "Second Verdict"

The Outer Limits               Richard Bellero Episode: "The Bellero Shield"

The Twilight Zone             Major Ivan Kuchenko     Episode: "The Jeopardy Room"

The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre       Nelson Orion      Television film

1965      Mr. Novak           Robert Coolidge                Episode: "Enter a Strange Animal"

A Man Called Shenandoah           Jace Miller           Episode: "The Locket"

I Spy       Danny Preston   Episode: "Danny Was a Million Laughs"

The Big Valley    Mariano Montoya            Episode: "The Way to Kill a Killer"

1966      Branded               Edwin Booth       Episode: "This Stage of Fools"

Gunsmoke          Britton Episode: "The Goldtakers"

1966–1969          Mission: Impossible        Rollin Hand         76 episodes

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1967–1969)

1969      Get Smart            Max's new face Episode: "Pheasant Under Glass"

1972      Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol Johnny Bristol    Television film

1973      Columbo              Dexter Paris / Norman Paris         Episode: "Double Shock"

1975–1977          Space: 1999        Commander John Koenig              47 episodes

1979      The Fall of the House of Usher    Roderick Usher Television film

The Death of Ocean View Park    Tom Flood

1981      The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island      J.J. Pierson

1983      Matt Houston    Marquis Duval Sr.             Episode: "The Hunted"

Hotel     Russell Slocum   Episode: "Confrontations"

1984      Buffalo Bill          Hayden Stone    Episode: "Company Ink"

Murder, She Wrote         Al Drake               Episode: "Birds of a Feather"

1985      The Twilight Zone             William Cooper-Janes    Episode: "The Beacon"

1986      Kung Fu: The Movie        John Martin Perkins III   Television film

Blacke's Magic   Broderick             Episode: "Last Flight from Moscow"

1987      Alfred Hitchcock Presents             Wallace Garrison              Episode: "The Final Twist"

The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman Lyle Stenning     Television film

1989      The Neon Empire             Max Loeb

1990      Max and Helen Simon Wiesenthal            Television film

Nominated—CableACE Award for Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries

By Dawn's Early Light      President of the United States    Television film

Nominated—CableACE Award for Actor in a Movie or Miniseries

1992      Legacy of Lies     Abraham Resnick              Television film

CableACE Award for Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries

1993      12:01     Dr. Thadius Moxley         Television film

1995–1996          Spider-Man        The Scorpion / Mac Gargan          Voice, 4 episodes

1995      Joseph Jacob     Television film

1999      Bonanno: A Godfather's Story    Joseph Bonanno (age 94)

2000      In the Beginning               Abraham              2 episodes

2001      Haven   Papa Gruber       Television film

2002      Corsairs                                Television film

2004–2009          Without a Trace                Frank Malone    5 episodes

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (2004–2005)

2006      The Evidence     Dr. Sol Gold        8 episodes

2006–2008          Entourage           Bob Ryan             4 episodes

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2007)

2009      In Plain Sight      Joseph Thomas/Joseph Tancredi               Episode: "Training Video"

2011      The Simpsons    The Great Raymondo     Voice, Episode: "The Great Simpsina"

2011      Have a Little Faith            Rabbi Albert Lewis           Television film

2013      The Anna Nicole Story    J. Howard Marshall II

2014      Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs    Rulon Jeffs