Sunday, July 16, 2017

Martin Landau, R.I.P.

Actor Martin Landau passed away suddenly yesterday after being hospitalized for an undisclosed illness. He was 89.

Landau's acting career spanned more than six decades. Some of his early TV credits include Maverick, Rawhide, Johnny Staccato, The Twilight Zone and Bonanza. Landau also appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock classic North by Northwest with Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason.

But Landau would not become a household name until 1966 when he along with his wife Barbara Bain were part of the original cast of Mission: Impossible playing Rollin Hand, a master of disguise.

His career would slow down after he & Bain left Mission: Impossible in 1969. Although he would turn in a memorable performance playing twin murderers in a 1973 episode of Columbo. Landau and Bain would star in the mid-1970's British sci-fi TV series Space:1999. 

Landau's career would enjoy a career renaissance in the late 1980's when he was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in 1988 and 1989 with performances in Tucker: A Man & His Dream and Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors. He would receive his third Best Supporting Actor nomination and first and only Oscar for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's 1994 film Ed Wood. 

In the 2000's, Landau would have recurring roles in TV shows like Without a Trace and Entourage and would also appear in the 2015 big screen version of the latter show. At the time of his death, Landau had started work on a film called Nate & Al with Richard Dreyfuss.

Here is a clip of Landau and Bain singing on a 1970 episode of The Andy Williams Show. R.I.P.




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