Martin Landau

Person Score

 
9.2 Superb
43 votes

Your Score

Rate now!

Biography

Recent Role:
The Great Raymondo on The Simpsons
Gender:
Male
Birthplace:
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Birth Name:
Martin Landau
A star of both big and small screens, Martin Landau worked for a time as a cartoonist for the New York Daily News. After attending New York City's famed Actors' Studio, where he counted James Dean among his close friends, he landed major supporting roles in such movies as North by Northwest (1959), as James Mason's henchman who stalks Cary Grant) and Cleopatra (1963, as Rufio). He found fame as a costar of TV's Mission: Impossible (1966-69) and Space: 1999 (1975-77), both of which teamed him with his then real-life wife Barbara Bain.







… More From the late 1970s through the mid 1980s, Landau worked mainly as an acting teacher, while onscreen he was mired in low-budget genre films (including 1980s Without Warning, a career low), until a juicy supporting role as Jeff Bridges' unlikely partner Abe Karatz in Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988 ) earned him an Oscar nomination and renewed attention. Woody Allen gave him a prime leading part as an amoral married man who has his mistress killed in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), which merited another Oscar nomination. But this being show business, Landau continued to appear in cheapies such as Firehead (1991), Mistress (1992, as a has-been producer), Sliver (1993), and Intersection (1994). Later, Tim Burton thought of Landau for another perfect part: that of the aging Bela Lugosi in his offbeat biopic Ed Wood (1994). Landau's performance was nothing short of astonishing, and it finally earned him a well-deserved Supporting Actor Oscar. He followed with City Hall (1995).



Along with Mark Rydell, Martin Landau is executive director of the Actor's Studio's West Coast Branch.



His current role is Dr. Sol Goldman in The Evidence airing on ABC.


From the Forums

More Topics▸
More Topics

Martin Landau News

More▸

Fans' Reviews

More Reviews▸
  •  
    10 Perfect
    For the series : Martin Landau is John Koenig in Space 1999 and Rollin Hand in Mission Impossible. Two roles very different to play ; but two roles that Martin Landau has perfectly mastered. he's great. hide show

    I knew Martin Landau in the two series of the seventies Space 1999 and Mission Impossible.
    In the both, he played with his wife Barbara Bain.
    He is my favourite character in these series and I love him so much. He's a great actor, very talented. At the same time, serious, angry, nervous, funny, thoughtful, doubting, moving...
    he is a very complete actor. Martin wins Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood" (1994) and this oscar acknowledged his talent. Thank you Mister Landau.

    Do you agree?
     
    Report Abuse
    jkhrspace1999 Added Aug 11, 2005 All my reviews
 
Click Here

Top Contributors

What is a TV.com Contributor?