Martin Landau - Biography

Last Editor: sofcer				Martin Landau Biography -   Name : Martin Landau Profession : Actor Birth Details : born June 20, 1931 Height : 6' 3" (1.91 m) Spouse : Barbara Bain (31 January 1957 - 1993) (divorced) 2 children

Martin Landau Trivia -

Was Gene Roddenberry's first choice to play Mr. Spock on the TV series "Star Trek" (1966). Ironically, 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 1948-53, 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.

Martin Landau Detailed Biography -

Martin Landau (born June 20, 1931) is an Academy Award Winner American film and television actor. He is perhaps most well known for his roles in the television series Mission: Impossible (1966 - 1969) and Space: 1999 (1975 - 1977). As Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood—a performance which earned him an Oscar Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell and Martin Landau in Space: 1999 (1976) Landau was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, and at the age of 17 began working as a cartoonist for the New York Daily News, but influenced by Charlie Chaplin and the escapism of the cinema, he pursued becoming an actor. He attended the Actors Studio in the same class with Steve McQueen and in 1957, Landau made his Broadway debut in Middle of the Night. Encouraged by his mentor Lee Strasberg, Landau also taught acting. Some of the actors he has coached include Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston. In 1959, Landau made his first major film appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's, North by Northwest. A few years later, after turning down the role of Mr. Spock in Star Trek, Landau took the role of master of disguise Rollin Hand in Mission: Impossible, becoming one of that show's best-known stars. He co-starred in the series with his then-wife, Barbara Bain, and the two left after the third season due to a salary dispute. In the mid-1970s, Landau and Bain returned to television in the British science fiction series, Space: 1999. Although it remains a cult classic, 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 near the end. After Space: 1999, Landau appeared in supporting roles in a number of films and TV shows of varying quality, including The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (which again co-starred Bain). 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 Best Supporting Actor award in 1994 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 raised, he pounded his fist on the podium and yelled "No!" He has two daughters, Susan and Juliet, from his marriage to Barbara Bain. Landau and Bain married in 1957 and divorced in 1993. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Martin Landau has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6841 Hollywood Blvd. The Outer Limits: "The Man Who Was Never Born" (1963) The Outer Limits: "The Bellero Shield" (1964) Mission: Impossible (1966-69) TV Series Space: 1999 (1975-77) TV Series The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island (1981) By Dawn's Early Light (1990) Bonanno: A Godfather's Story (1999)