Martin Landau, the Oscar-winning actor who starred in television's Mission: Impossible and the films North by Northwest, Ed Wood, and Crimes and Misdemeanors, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 89.
Over the course of his career, Landau, who served as the West Coast co-artistic director of the Actors Studio, was nominated for three Academy Awards and five Emmys. He was a cartoonist with the New York Daily News from 1948 to 1951, and then became an actor. Many of his leading roles were on television, and he received his first Oscar later in life, for his 1994 portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood. His role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest led to a part in Cleopatra, but after a year of filming, his scenes were all cut, Variety reports. "What could I do?" he said later. "They couldn't cut Richard Burton or Elizabeth Taylor." He was also Gene Roddenberry's first choice to play Spock on Star Trek, but after Landau chose to star in Mission: Impossible, the part went to Leonard Nimoy.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Festival of Sport announces exciting media partnership with The Week JuniorFestival of Sport, the UK’s premier family-friendly sports festival, has officially teamed up with The Week Junior as its exclusive media partner.
-
Bergerac: 'darker' reboot of the eighties crime dramaThe Week Recommends Irish actor Damien Molony takes over from John Nettles as the Jersey detective
-
Pamela Anderson is 'transfixing' in The Last ShowgirlThe Week Recommends 'Quietly touching' film about a Las Vegas showgirl facing the end of her career
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
