Animal House

Background:

“When 'Animal House' turned out the way it did, they all rushed to me with barrels of money begging me to make them rich.” John Landis

An American film actor, director, writer and producer who is widely known for his powerful comedies in addition to having made many horror related projects, John Landis burst to fame in the late 1970s as the director of the international hit “National Lampoon's Animal House” (1978). He further gained success with such films as “The Blues Brothers” (1980), “Trading Places” (1983), “Spies Like Us” (1985), the Cognac Festival du Film Policier Special Jury Prize winner “Into the Night” (1985) “Three Amigos!” (1986), “Coming to America” (1988) and “Innocent Blood” (1992). He suffered a setback in the 1990s when he had a series of box office and critical failures. He even picked up three Razzie nominations for his direction in “Oscar” (1991), “Beverly Hills Cop III” (1994) and “The Stupids” (1996). The award-winning director shared a Cable-ACE Award for his producing contribution to the acclaimed TV comedy series “Dream On” (1990-1996). In 2004, Landis' feature length documentary “Slasher” was broadcasted by the Independent Film Channel to great praise. Landis also helmed the classic Michael Jackson music videos “Thriller” (1983) and “Black or White” (1991).

In the entertainment business since age 18, the 57-year-old multi talented artist has collected a number of honors for his dedication to the industry. He was made a Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 1985, awarded the Federico Fellini Prize by the Rimini Cinema Festival in Italy and was voted a George Eastman Scholar by The Eastman House in Rochester, New York. In 2004, he earned a Time Machine Career Achievement Award from the Sitges Film Festival in Spain.

Landis is married to Deborah Nadoolman and has two children with her.

Mail Boy

Childhood and Family:

John Landis was born on August 3, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois, to Marshall David Landis, an interior decorator, and Shirley Levine. His family moved to Los Angeles when John was four months old. After divorcing from John's father, his mother married Walter Levine. He left high school and then worked as a mail boy at 20th Century Fox.

On July 27, 1980, John married Deborah Nadoolman. She is an Academy Award nominated costume designer and President of the Costume Designers Guild. Together, they had a daughter named Rachel Landis in June 1982 and a son named Max Landis in August 1985.

An American Werewolf in London

Career:

A high-school dropout, John Landis started his career as a teenager at the mail room of 20th Century Fox. When he was 18, he headed to Yugoslavia to work as a production assistant and played the tallest nun in “Kelly Heroes” (released 1970). He stayed in Europe after the production wrapped up and worked as an actor, extra and stunt man in countless German action films and Spanish/Italian “spaghetti” westerns. Back state side, at age 21, Landis made his debut as a director and writer for his first film, “Schlock” (1973), the monster movie spoof in which he also starred as the Sclockthropus, a monkey-type monster who falls in love with a blind girl. The movie was named Best Film by Fantafestival in 1973 and also marked his first partnership with makeup effects designer Rick Baker. The same year, he also appeared as the friend of Michael Stearns in J. Lee Thompson's “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” and two years later had a featured role as a mechanic in “Death Race 2000,” directed by Paul Bartel.

Landis returned to the director's chair in 1977 when he was recruited by writers Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker to helm their screenplay for “Kentucky Fried Movie.” However, it was his next film, “National Lampoon's Animal House” (1978), starring John Belushi, that garnered the director his first international attention. After appearing as an actor in Steven Spielberg's “1941” (1979), he acted in and enjoyed a huge commercial success with “The Blues Brothers” (1980), which he also directed and co-wrote with Dan Aykroyd. The movie, where Landis again cast Belushi in the lead, was considered the most expensive comedy of the era. He next directed, wrote and appeared in the well-received horror-comedy “An American Werewolf in London” (1981), which featured Academy Award winning makeup affects by Baker. He was nominated for a Saturn for Best Writing for his work in the film.

John’s work attracted the attention of Michael Jackson who then hired Landis to write and direct his groundbreaking music video “Thriller” (1983). Again collaborating with Baker, the result video earned a number of awards, including a MTV Video Music for Best Overall Video, a Viewer's Choice and a Video Vanguard for The Greatest Video in the History of the World. Later, in 1991, the video was inducted in the MVPA's Hall of Fame. Still in 1983, Landis directed Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd in the feature “Trading Places” and earned producing credit for the first time (with Steven Spielberg) for “Twilight Zone: The Movie” (1983), in which he also served as director for the segments “Prologue” and “Back There.”

The rest of the decade saw Landis helm such acclaimed films as the Jeff Goldblum vehicle “Into the Night” (1985), from which he nabbed a Special Jury Prize at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier, “Spies Like Us” (1985), starring Chevy Chase and Aykroyd, “Three Amigos” (1986), starring and written by Steve Martin (also with Lorne Michaels and Randy Newman) and “Coming to America” (1988), which reunited Landis with Eddie Murphy. The director also found himself taking a crack at the small screen by directing “Disaster at Buzz Creek,” a 1985 episode of the CBS comedy anthology series “George Burns Comedy Week” and executive producing “Fuzz Bucket” (1986), a fantasy television movie on ABC's “Disney Sunday Movie.”

Already famous as a comedy giant thanks to a series of successful movies he made during the 1970s and 1980s, Landis experienced a less successful time during the 1990s as many of his films failed at the box office and with critics. He received Razzie nominations for Worst Director for his work in “Oscar” (1991, starred Sylvester Stallone), “Beverly Hills Cop III” (1994, starred Eddie Murphy) and “The Stupids” (1996, starred Tom Arnold). He also helmed the supernatural romance “Innocent Blood” (1992), which starred Anne Parillaud and Anthony LaPaglia, and the revival “Blues Brothers 2000” (1998). During this time, Landis was probably best known as one of executive producers (and occasional director) of the well liked HBO sitcom “Dream On,” which ran for six seasons from 1990 to 1996. For his effort, he jointly nabbed five CableACE nominations for Best Comedy Series and won one in 1992, and for directing Michael Jackson's 1991 “Black and White” video under St. Clare Entertainment, a production company he formed with Robert Weiss and Leslie Belzberg to produce TV series, television movies and miniseries, Landis produced such series as “Weird Science” (1994), “Sliders” (Fox, 1995), “Campus Cops” (USA Network, 1995), “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show” (1997), and “The Lost World” (1998). Landis also guest starred as himself in a 1996 episode of the NBC sitcom “Caroline in the City.”

After several years’ hiatus, Landis resurfaced in 2004 when he directed his feature length documentary about a used car salesman, “Slasher,” broadcasted by the Independent Film Channel. He went on to helm the short/comedy “The Great Sketch Experiment” (2006), episodes of Showtime's “Masters of Horror” (2005-2006), and more recently, “Psych” (2007). As an actor, he appeared in the films “Surviving Eden” (2004), “Spider-Man 2 “(2004), “Couperet, Le” (2005) and “Torrente 3: El protector” (2005).

Currently, Landis is directing the documentary “Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project” (2007) and the Todd Berger written “Epic Proportions” (2008). He is also scheduled to work in the upcoming horror/thriller “Gone” (2007). He will play roles in director Edward L. Plumb's “Her Morbid Desires” (2007) and “Parasomnia” (2007), a horror/thriller written and directed by William Malone.

In addition to his film work, Landis created a name for himself as a sought-after commercial director. He has worked for a variety of companies including Direct TV, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Taco Bell, Kellogg's and Disney.

Awards:

• Phoenix Film Festival: Copper Wing Tribute Award, 2004

• CableACE: Comedy Series, “Dream On,” 1992

• Cognac Festival du Film Policier: Special Jury Prize, “Into the Night,” 1985

• Fantafestival: Best Film, “Schlock,” 1973