Martin Landau, best known for his performances in the late 60s TV series, Mission: Impossible, and as the depressed Bela Lugosi in the Ed Wood biopic, died of unexpected complications on Saturday (July 15) at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 89.
Landau was regarded as a master of disguise owing to his performance as the versatile spy, Rollin Hand, in CBS’ Mission Impossible series. A three-season stint later, Landau went on to act in Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), with Jeff Bridges. He got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for that performance.
Born in Brooklyn on June 20, 1928, Landau originally began his career at the age of 17 as a cartoonist for the New York Daily News, but turned down a promotion and quit five years later to pursue acting.
Influenced by the works of Charlie Chaplin, Landau attended the Actors Studio, becoming good friends with James Dean. He was also classmates with veteran actor Steve McQueen. After venturing into theatre with his Broadway debut, Landau ended up playing the right-hand man of a criminal mastermind in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.
After Mission Impossible, Landau also starred in the British science-fiction series, Space: 1999. Indulging in some writing before his comeback film in 1989, Landau went on to be a part of Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors.
He won the Oscar for his portrayal of Hungarian-American actor Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (1994). Upon accepting the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Landau 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 shouted “No!”. He later stated that he had intended to thank Lugosi and dedicate the award to him, and that he was annoyed that he was not being given the opportunity to mention the name of the person he had portrayed.
After Ed Wood, Landau teamed up with Tim Burton for two of his other projects – Sleepy Hollow (1999) and as the voice of a Vincent Price-like science teacher in the horror-movie homage, Frankenweenie (2012).
In recent times, he made guest appearances in TV series such as Without a Trace and HBO’s Entourage.
His last film, The Last Poker Game, released in April this year, in which he played the titular character Dr Abe Mandelbaum. The film made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Landau is survived by daughters Susie (a writer-producer) and Juliet (an actress-dancer), sister Elinor, and granddaughter Aria.
Pic: Wise Trail
