Martin Landau

American actor (1928–2017)

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Lived 1928–2017, aged 89United States

United States ActorsActor

Wikipedia
83 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1928–2017
Aged 89
Known for
Sleepy Hollow
1999

Summary

Updated 2026-06-10

He played a spy who never showed his face, a moon-base commander stranded in deep space, and Bela Lugosi himself — winning an Oscar for that last one at 66, three decades after Hollywood first noticed him in a Hitchcock thriller.

Biography

About

Martin Landau's career began in the late 1950s with a supporting turn in Hitchcock's North by Northwest in 1959. His breakthrough came leading Mission: Impossible from 1966 to 1969, then Space: 1999 from 1975 to 1977. He earned back-to-back Academy Award nominations for Tucker: The Man and His Dream in 1988 and Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors in 1989. Five years later he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor playing Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood, a role that also brought him the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards. He continued working through Rounders, Sleepy Hollow, and Remember whi…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Martin Landau

Martin Landau

said25 Dec 2016

My mantra is “stay perpendicular.” Horizontal is not as good.

— Martin Landau: ‘Doubt Is Important’, Washington Times (December 25, 2016)

Martin Landau

said25 Dec 2016

Doubt is an important part of the human being. Trust has to be attained. If you don’t trust yourself, you won’t trust others. You make a choice and see where it goes.

— Martin Landau: ‘Doubt Is Important’, Washington Times (December 25, 2016)

Martin Landau

said25 Dec 2016

I have done some films along the way that have been screwed up and not as good as they read. Some films that are not that good on the page turn into good movies.

— Martin Landau: ‘Doubt Is Important’, Washington Times (December 25, 2016)

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