Biography for
Martin Landau More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

20 June 1928, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Nickname

Marty

Height

6' 2½" (1.89 m)

Mini Biography

Martin Landau, the Oscar-winning character actor, was born on June 20, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 17, he was hired by the New York Daily News as a staff cartoonist and illustrator. In his five years on the paper, he served as the illustrator for Billy Rose's "Pitching Horseshoes" column. He also worked for cartoonist Gus Edson on "The Gumps" comic strip. Landau's major ambition was to act and, in 1951, he made his stage debut in "Detective Story" at the Peaks Island Playhouse in Peaks Island, Maine. He made his off-Broadway debut that year in "First Love."

Landau was one of 2000 applicants who auditioned for Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in 1955 - only he and Steve McQueen were accepted. Landau was a friend of James Dean and McQueen, in a conversation with Landau, mentioned that he knew Dean and had met Landau. When Landau asked where they had met, McQueen informed him he had seen Landau riding into the New York City garage where he worked as a mechanic on the back of Dean's motorcycle.

He acted during the mid-1950s in the television anthologies "Playhouse 90" (1956), "Studio One in Hollywood" (1948), "The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse" (1948), "Kraft Theatre" (1947), "Goodyear Playhouse" (1951) and "Omnibus" (1952). He began making a name for himself after replacing star Franchot Tone in the 1956 off-Broadway revival of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", a famous production that helped put off-Broadway on the New York theatrical map.

In 1957, he made a well-received Broadway debut in the play "Middle of the Night". As part of the touring company with star Edward G. Robinson, he made it to the West Coast. He made his movie debut in Pork Chop Hill (1959) but scored on film as the heavy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller, North by Northwest (1959), in which he was shot on top of Mt. Rushmore while sadistically stepping on the fingers of Cary Grant, who was holding on for dear life to the cliff face. He also appeared in the blockbuster Cleopatra (1963), the most expensive film ever made up to that time, which nearly scuttled 20th Century-Fox and engendered one of the great public scandals, the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton love affair that overshadowed the film itself.

In 1963, Landau played memorable roles on two episodes of the science-fiction anthology series "The Outer Limits" (1963), "The Bellero Shield" and "The Man Who Was Never Born". He was Gene Roddenberry's first choice to play Mr. Spock on "Star Trek" (1966), but the role went to Leonard Nimoy, who later replaced Landau on "Mission: Impossible" (1966), the show that really made Landau famous. He originally was not meant to be a regular on the series, which co-starred his wife Barbara Bain, whom he had married in 1957. His character, Rollin Hand, was supposed to make occasional, though recurring appearances, on "Mission: Impossible" (1966), but when the producers had problems with star Steven Hill, Landau was used to take up the slack. Landau's characterisation was so well-received and so popular with the audience that he was made a regular. Landau received Emmy nominations as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for each of the three seasons he appeared. In 1968, he won the Golden Globe award as Best Male TV Star.

Eventually, he quit the series in 1969 after a salary dispute when the new star, Peter Graves, was given a contract that paid him more than Landau, whose own contract stated he would have parity with any other actor on the show who made more than he did. The producers refused to budge and he and Bain, who had become the first actress in the history of television to be awarded three consecutive Emmy Awards (1967-69) while on the show, left the series, ostensibly to pursue careers in the movies. The move actually held back their careers, and "Mission: Impossible" (1966) went on for another four years with other actors.

Landau appeared in support of Sidney Poitier in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970), the less successful sequel to the Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night (1967), but it did not generate more work of a similar caliber. He starred in the TV-movie Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol (1972) (TV) on CBS, playing a prisoner of war returning to the US from Vietnam. The following year he shot a pilot for NBC for a proposed show, "Savage". Though it was directed by emerging wunderkind Steven Spielberg, NBC did not pick up the show. Needing work, Landau and Bain moved to England to play the leading roles in the syndicated science-fiction series "Space: 1999" (1975).

Landau's and Bain's careers stalled after "Space: 1999" (1975) went out of production, and they were reduced to taking parts in the TV movie The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981) (TV). It was the nadir of both their careers, and Bain's acting days, and their marriage, soon were over. Landau, one of the most talented character actors in Hollywood, and one not without recognition, had bottomed out career-wise. In 1983, he was stuck in low-budget sci-fi and horror movies like The Being (1983), a role far beneath his talent.

His career renaissance got off to a slow start with a recurring role in the NBC sitcom "Buffalo Bill" (1983), starring Dabney Coleman. On Broadway, he took over the title role in the revival of "Dracula" and went on the road with the national touring company. Finally, his career renaissance began to gather momentum when Francis Ford Coppola cast him in a critical supporting role in his Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), for which Landau was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. He won his second Golden Globe for the role. The next year, he received his second consecutive Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his superb turn as the adulterous husband in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). He followed this up by playing famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in the TNT TV-movie Max and Helen (1990) (TV). The summit of his post-"Mission: Impossible" carer was about to be scaled, however. He portrayed Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's biopic Ed Wood (1994) and won glowing reviews. For his performance, he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Martin Landau, the superb character actor, finally had been recognized with his profession's ultimate award. His performance, which also won him his third Golden Globe, garnered numerous awards in addition to the Oscar and Golden Globe, including top honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. Landau continued to play a wide variety of roles in motion pictures and on television, turning in a superb performance in a supporting role in The Majestic (2001). He received his fourth Emmy nomination in 2004 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for "Without a Trace" (2002).

Martin Landau was honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood

Spouse

Barbara Bain

(31 January 1957 - 1993) (divorced) 2 children

Trivia

Was Gene Roddenberry's first choice to play Mr. Spock on the TV series "Star Trek" (1966). When Landau later left "Mission: Impossible" (1966), his replacement was Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock).

Father of Susan Landau Finch and Juliet Landau.

At 17, he joined the New York Daily News as a cartoonist and worked there for five years.

Of the 2,000 performers that auditioned for Lee Strasberg's exclusive theatre school in 1955, only two were accepted: Steve McQueen and Landau.

Was named as "King of Brooklyn" at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival in 1992.

Made a successful Broadway debut in 1957's "Middle of the Night".

A friend of James Dean, when Landau first met Steve McQueen and McQueen said he knew him, he asked where they had met. McQueen informed him he had seen Landau riding into the New York City garage where he worked as a mechanic on the back of Dean's motorcycle.

He has a Motion Picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.

From 1948-1953, he made a living as a newspaper artist and staff cartoonist, for the New York's Daily News, as an illustrator for Billy Rose's "Pitching Horseshoes" newspaper column, and as an assistant cartoonist to Gus Edson for "The Gumps" comic strip.

In, 1973 he appeared in the series pilot for NBC for a program entitled "Savage". The pilot was directed by the young Steven Spielberg. It was not picked up.

Is portrayed by Samuel Gould in James Dean (2001) (TV)

He received two of his three Oscar-nominations for portraying real-life people.

Turned down the role of Carl Grissom in Batman (1989). The role eventually went to Jack Palance, whom Landau had co-starred with in Alone in the Dark (1982).

Best remembered by the public for his role as "Rollin Hand" in "Mission: Impossible" (1966).

Lives in West Hollywood, California.

Father-in-law of Roy Finch.

He made guest appearances on both "Twilight Zone" (1959) and "The Twilight Zone" (1985).

Landau's parents were Majer Joel ("Morris") Landau (b 1889) and Selma Buchman (b circa 1895). Additionally, they had daughters Elinor and Constance.

Godfather to Gretchen Becker's son, Dylan Becker.

Personal Quotes

The bottom line is a good actor can play many things.

What I do best, what I've always done best, is act.

Let's say I'm playing a heavy. Most of the time I'm only using a sliver of what I am, a little piece. Sometimes the more you embellish that, the worse it can be. The part's just not there.

[when asked about his experiences while making No Place to Hide (1993)] WHY would you want to know about THAT film!?

[talking about making Without Warning (1980)] Greydon Clark [the film's director] is a godsend. He believed in me--not just in ME, I mean, but in a lot of us aging near-burnouts who'd had our day in the fickle major leagues--and he offered roles that were neither demeaning, like I'd seen happen to Lon Chaney Jr. with some of those low-budget guys, nor otherwise false. Just working-actor stuff, meaty bits of business that allowed us to slice the ham as thick as we wanted. In fact, Francis Ford Coppola told me that he had sought me out for Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) in light of that over-the-top stuff I had done for Greydon Clark. It served notice that I still had the chops.

[on working with Woody Allen in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)]: We never discussed the character. I never heard anyone complain about it because I think it allows a good actor a kind of freedom: 'Here's a canvas. Paint!'

Where Are They Now

(2005) Beverly Hills, California, USA: At the Beverly Hills International Film Festival