A big big thank you for what you do

Martin Landau began his acting career in the late 1950s. At one time a student at Lee Strassberg's prestigious acting studio and a good friend of James Dean, Landau made his Broadway debut in Middle of the Night in 1957. His first important screen appearance was in a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), playing James Mason's creepy henchman. Other film roles followed, including supporting roles in the epics Cleopatra (1963) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Landau's big breakthrough occurred on television, however, with leading roles in the series Mission: Impossible (1966–1969) and Space: 1999 (1975–1977). The late 1980s saw a revival of the actor's film career when he was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) and Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), both roles earning him Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Landau's only Oscar win came several years later for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994), starring opposite Johnny Depp who played Ed Wood. Landau continued to act in both film and television productions until his death in 2017, aged 89.

Seen below are two letters addressed to Martin Landau. First, a letter from Alfred Hitchcock with whom Landau had worked on North by Northwest. During production of the film, the two got along very well. Hitch wrote to Landau in connection with Cleopatra, in which Landau had played the role of Rufio, Julius Caesar's right-hand man. In his letter Hitch expresses his indignation about Landau not being included in Cleopatra's Gala Premiere Program. The second letter to Landau is from fellow actor Anthony Hopkins. After rewatching Ed Wood, Hopkins liked the film even better than the first time and in particular Landau's performance in it. His letter is what Hopkins himself calls a "fan letter", showing his great admiration for Landau's work. 

Source: Heritage Auctions

 Landau with Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra

Hitchcock and Landau on the set of North by Northwest

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript: 

15 August 96

Dear Martin

It seems we meet only at award events in Hollywood; we manage a brief hello and then are whisked off in different directions to do our ... whatever it is we have to do. In order to avoid the usual actor's chit chat about how one admires another one's work etc etc I've always regretted the lost opportunity to say just that to you.

My favourite Woody Allen movie was "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and of course your performance in that. Also your amazing performance in "Ed Wood". I am up in the wilds of Alberta, about to start a movie with Alec Baldwin. I've had a few evenings free, and so rented a few videos. I picked out "Ed Wood" because I wanted to watch it again ... I just wanted to see how the hell you created Bela Lugosi!! Suffice to say, I don't know how you did it, and it doesn't really matter. So I thought: "well here goes ... write the man a fan letter" You were amazing!! I loved the movie when it was released, and even more now. Your performance was so moving (and funny of course) .... I don't know what else to say really. That's it I guess. I sometimes write letters to actors expressing my admiration for their work, and I think I could do it more often. I think that what I find so moving (and I really mean it - emotionally moving) is the work and detail and care and love and obsession that has gone into the performance. You and Johhny Depp were extraordinary ... It is altogether a strange business this acting stuff. Sometimes scary and mysterious and it takes vast courage to give it one's best shot. Your performance in Crimes and Misdemeanours was also excellent.

I just wanted to write you this note to express my appreciation for your work which is so powerful -what you captured in Ed Wood, as did Johnny Depp was the loneliness and pain of people desperately trying to make a mark in dreamland ... the hopes and longings for fame and success, and whatever it is that drives people sometimes into wonderfully rich and rewarding lives, and others over the edge to disaster and self destruction. I think what I am trying to say, Martin, is a big big thank you for what you do .... Thanks.

Yours

(signed "Tony")

Tony Hopkins

Landau and Johnny Depp in Ed Wood (l) and Sir Anthony Hopkins

The friendship of Martin Landau and James Dean

Martin Landau and James Dean got to know each other in the early 1950s when Dean moved from Fairmont, Indiana, to New York City. Landau had been working as a political cartoonist for the New York Daily News since he was seventeen but, like Dean, wanted to pursue an acting career. The two young men both studied at Lee Strassberg's famous and prestigious acting studio in New York and quickly became friends. Landau, who was three years older than Dean, recalled years later: "James Dean was my best friend. We were two young would-be and still-yet-to-work unemployed actors, dreaming out loud and enjoying every moment... We'd spend lots of time talking about the future, our craft and our chances of success in this newly different, ever-changing modern world we were living in."

When asked if his friend had been destined to die young, Landau resolutely answered "no". "Jimmy never talked about dying. Jimmy talked about living. Jimmy's only concern was that he would become an old boy, like Mickey Rooney. When Elia Kazan tested actors for East of Eden, Paul Newman and Jimmy auditioned on the same day. Paul looked like a man when he was 20, whereas Jimmy was still playing high school kids at 23. That bothered him a bit. But Jimmy did not want to die."

Still, Dean died at the much too young age of 24 on 30 September 1955, after he crashed his Porsche trying to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming car. Shocked and devastated by the loss of his friend, Landau wrote the following letter of condolence to Dean's uncle and aunt, Marcus and Orteuse Winslow (who had raised Dean after the death of his mother in 1940), and his father Winton. The image below is a rough draft of the letter that Landau eventually sent.

Transcript:

Dear Mr. + Mrs. Winslow
+ Mr. Dean,

I feel as though I know you, having been one of Jim's oldest + closest friends in New York. I had heard him speak of you, the farm, and Indiana many, many times, with the greatest admiration, love and respect.

In fact, we almost met in November of 1953, when Jim went home for a visit. He asked me to come along but I was rehearsing a play at the time and was unable to get away. I'm sorry now that I didn't, I would have liked very much to have been able to meet you.

I am writing this letter because I know and understand how much you meant to Jimmy. It is hard to believe that he is gone. Last Christmas night, Jimmy had dinner at home with me + my family. For three years my mother had heard me speak of Jimmy, and although they had spoken to him on the telephone, this was the first time they had ever met him. They practically fell in love with him, as did my entire family, and feel now as though they've lost a son.

The news of Jim's death was a terrible shock to me, I can't begin to imagine what his loss must mean to you who raised him and were closer to him than anyone else in the world. I want you to know how terribly sorry I am.

I wish I were better at expressing my sympathy. This boy had every reason in the world to live. None of the comforting phrases apply. All there is to be grateful for is that, young as he was, he had shown his genius, and that remains, even though a thin substitute for his continuing life.

I am proud and happy to have known Jim, both as a fellow actor and a friend. I am going to miss him very much.

There's really nothing more I can say. I am heartsick for you and for everyone who loved him.

Sincerely -

Marty Landau

Source: Indiana Historical Society
(click on the link to read the Winslows' reply)

James Dean and Martin Landau photographed in a New York City diner in 1955. While Dean's career was tragically cut short, Landau would go on to have a long career. Landau's best-known work includes the tv series Mission: Impossible (1966-1969) as well as supporting roles in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest  (1959), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Ed Wood (1994), the latter film earning him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.