Martin Landua, R.I.P.

[BaalChatzaf]

Martin Landau,  the noted actor,  died July 15.   He was 89.  He had a full and varied career and won many awards for his acting.  He gave back to the profession and other actors  a great deal.  He had a good run. 

[Brant Gaede]

One of the villains in North By Northwest.

--Brant

gotta love our movie villains

[syrakusos]

We are supposed to always speak well of the dead, lest they come back and haunt us.  I believe that Martin Landau's best work was in Woody Allen's Crimes & Misdemeanors.  When he and Barbara Bain took over Mission Impossible and moved on to Space: 1999, I was already influenced by Ayn Rand and found Martin Landau and Barbara Bain to be examples of existentialism in the performing arts: the meaninglessness of life expressed as shallow comments about routine activities. That is why I really liked his performance in Crimes & Misdemeanors, where he played an average person who attempted an out-of-bounds action without considering the consequences. There's a lesson there...

 

[BaalChatzaf]

3 hours ago, syrakusos said:

We are supposed to always speak well of the dead, lest they come back and haunt us.  I believe that Martin Landau's best work was in Woody Allen's Crimes & Misdemeanors.  When he and Barbara Bain took over Mission Impossible and moved on to Space: 1999, I was already influenced by Ayn Rand and found Martin Landau and Barbara Bain to be examples of existentialism in the performing arts: the meaninglessness of life expressed as shallow comments about routine activities. That is why I really liked his performance in Crimes & Misdemeanors, where he played an average person who attempted an out-of-bounds action without considering the consequences. There's a lesson there...

 

I thought his  portrayal of  Bela Lugosi in  "Ed Wood"  was pure  gold.  I believe he won an Oscar for playing that role.  Also his portrayal of the financial adviser to Howard Tucker was first rate.