Martin Landau

Space 1999, guest star in Columbo and his supporting role in The Majestic. Always enjoyed seeing him on screen he will be missed.
 
I remember him best in Mission Impossible, Space 1999, and his small role in the first X-Files film. Good quality actor.

Rest In Peace.
 
His role as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood was well deserving of the Oscar win. A very good actor.
 
Ahhh loved him in Mission Impossible, and sorry to say Leonard I preferred him as Rollin Hand to Paris. But thought it was great when he got the main role in Space 1999 both roles he played opposite his then wife Barbara Bain. I seem to think I saw or read they were in a circus series (guest start could have been Circus Boy?).
Martin was in one of my top 5 films North by Northwest as Leonard who I think there was a suggestion that his character and James Masons/Phillip could be in some relationship.
The last thing I saw him in was The Majestic which I don't normally like Jim Carrey films but I enjoyed it and Martin being in it made a lot better for me.

R.I.P. Martin
 
Just checked he got an Oscar for his role in Ed Wood for The best supporting role.
Well deserved always made for me films that bit better for seeing him in them an other I enjoyed with him in it Was By Dawns Early Light where he played the President.
 
RIP Martin Landau.
Landau.jpg



Another good one gone and one of my favourite performers. A truly gifted actor whose talents seemed to be utilised best at the beginning of his career and toward the end with a fallow middle period.

A member of the renowned Actors' Studio in the 1950s, Landau's contemporaries from that school included James Dean, Marlon Brando, Anne Bancroft, Montgomery Clift, Patrica Neal and many others.

Like those famous alumni, Landau displayed an intensity and depth in his performances that seemed to earmark the graduates of The Actors' Studio, but despite this seemed destined for supporting roles only. Accordingly, as a jobbing actor he divided himself equally between films and television, doing the usual guest star rounds of popular shows of the day such as 'The Twilight Zone', 'Bonanza', 'The Outer Limits', 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour', etc, while simultaneously appearing in big budget cinema entries like 'North By Northwest' (thoroughly excellent as the creepy Leonard), 'Cleopatra' and 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'.

In the mid '60s stardom of a kind eventually arrived. After narrowly losing out on the role of Spock in 'Star Trek', Landau's moment in the spotlight finally came with his casting as master of disguise Rollin Hand, in the TV series 'Mission Impossible'. It was however a role that barely taxed his talents, as 'MI' was a show about clever plot turns rather than performances, but it did serve to finally raise his profile and put him in the spotlight.

Ironically with this degree of stardom came a decline in the quality of film projects he was involved in and then of course there was the awful 'Space 1999', probably the nadir of his career. Sorry Anderson fans, but it was a pile of sh*te and totally unworthy of the man's talents.

A change of fortune came about after his 1988 appearance in Francis Ford Coppola's 'Tucker: The Man and His Dream' for which Landau earned several best supporting actor nominations including an Oscar nod.

Hollywood seemed to suddenly realise that they had an incredibly talented elder statesman in their midst and a year later another Oscar and Golden Globe nomination followed for Woody Allen's 'Crimes and Misdemeanours', for my money the performance of his career.

Oscar recognition finally came his way in 1994 when he scooped the Best Supporting Actor statue for his superb turn as Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's 'Ed Wood', also grabbing the awards in this category from the Golden Globes and The Screen Actors' Guild.

Since then he barely stopped working with thirty feature films and dozens of TV appearances over the last two decades.

A sad loss.
 
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Ahhh loved him in Mission Impossible, and sorry to say Leonard I preferred him as Rollin Hand to Paris. But thought it was great when he got the main role in Space 1999 both roles he played opposite his then wife Barbara Bain. I seem to think I saw or read they were in a circus series (guest start could have been Circus Boy?).
Martin was in one of my top 5 films North by Northwest as Leonard who I think there was a suggestion that his character and James Masons/Phillip could be in some relationship.
The last thing I saw him in was The Majestic which I don't normally like Jim Carrey films but I enjoyed it and Martin being in it made a lot better for me.

R.I.P. Martin


He was excellent in 'North by Northwest'. He managed to subtly convey Hitchcock's intention of Leonard being a jealous queen, when such things were verboten in Hollywood.

The most overt hint was that line about his "woman's intuition" which seemed to slip by the censors for some reason.
 
He was excellent in 'North by Northwest'. He managed to subtly convey Hitchcock's intention of Leonard being a jealous queen, when such things were verboten in Hollywood.

The most overt hint was that line about his "woman's intuition" which seemed to slip by the censors for some reason.
Yes Alfred got away with a few things, the train in the tunnel an other.
 
RIP Martin Landau.
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Another good one gone and one of my favourite performers. A truly gifted actor whose talents seemed to be utilised best at the beginning of his career and toward the end with a fallow middle period.
Accordingly, as a jobbing actor he divided himself equally between films and television, doing the usual guest star rounds of popular shows of the day such as 'The Twilight Zone', 'Bonanza', 'The Outer Limits', 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour', etc, while simultaneously appearing in big budget cinema entries like 'North By Northwest' (thoroughly excellent as the creepy Leonard), 'Cleopatra' and 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'.raise his profile and put him in the spotlight.
That's one of my top 10 TV series and of all the story's his (one of two in the series) performance in The Man Who Was Never Born adds greatly to the enjoyment of that episodes story and made it my favorite of the whole series.
And just finishing listening recording of Music from the Movies where they were playing Space 1999 in memory of Martin and who else would you want to to be other than Martin as your commander. Yes an other series for me made better for him being in it.
 
Yes, 'The Man Who Was Never Born' is one of my favourites as well.

I wish they'd release the '60s 'Outer Limits' on Blu Ray. I'd love to see it get the same treatment as 'The Twilight Zone' did in HD.
 
Yes, 'The Man Who Was Never Born' is one of my favourites as well.

I wish they'd release the '60s 'Outer Limits' on Blu Ray. I'd love to see it get the same treatment as 'The Twilight Zone' did in HD.
I do I have season 1 and 2 on double sided DVD R1 and season 2 on single side R2 as some of my R1 dont play right.
As to he Man Who Was Never Born there's a lot to like great monster and like quite a few of the series good and not bad and intelligent, heroic, and has a trick. Probably one of the ugliest humanoids in the series to a suave Martin, great score I always liked although wish they would not interrupt the Andro and Noel theme its one of the three love themes only used once in the series.
There was suppose to be a different end but think the budget did not allow it
Noel was to wake up on a grassy verge aside of a road with futuristic cars or hovercrafts?. I think it ambiguous whether Noel lands the craft or not. but the tale hits a lot of spots, heroism, love and tragedy. An adult fairy tale.
Plot and coments and music for the episode with stills of the story.
SPOILERS for all below.
We Are Controlling Transmission: Spotlight on "The Man Who Was Never Born"

 
RIP Martin Landua.
liked him in Mission Impossible as Rollin Hand , very gifted and talented.
Have the Series of Mission Impossible its old but good , Long before the days of Tom Cruise.
Also Space 1999 have that as well on DVD .
I understand Martin was in numerous other movies , one of the all time greats that will
live on and on in film immortal .
 

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