Monday, July 17, 2017

Martin Landau (1928–2017)

The New York Times obituary describes him as

the tall, intense, sometimes mischievously sinister actor best known for his role in the television series Mission: Impossible and his Oscar-winning portrayal of Bela Lugosi in the film Ed Wood.
Also best known, I’d say, for his portrayal of Leonard in North by Northwest. Don’t leave out Leonard.

comments: 5

Chris said...

He was also particularly good in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Michael Leddy said...

Yes, he was.

Chris said...

And apparently he apprenticed as a cartoonist and was a fan of Krazy Kat!.

shallnot said...

My first exposure to Martin Landau's work was split between "Miision: Impossible" and the 12-year old friendly "Space: 1999". Our mid-'70s TV with rabbit-ears only picked up two channels with clarity: the CBC for the former and the independent KVOS in Bellingham, WA for the latter.

Despite its hokey-ness, Landau, Barbara Bain (also from "Mission: Impossible"), and the wonderful Barry Morse made "Space: 1999" a pleasure to watch. I'd probably cringe watching it today.

Fresca said...

Yes, Space: 1999!
Loved it as a teenager.
I tried rewatching it recently and found it unbearably restrained, as if everyone was holding their breath while they acted. The characters were on the Moon, shot out of orbit and racing away from the Earth--maybe the actors felt they didn't want to use up any extra oxygen.