John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson; Landis has also done many horror projects.
Landis was born in Chicago, the son of Shirley Levine (née Magaziner) and Marshall David Landis, an interior decorator. He moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of four months.
His career began as a teenager, work...
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John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson; Landis has also done many horror projects.
Landis was born in Chicago, the son of Shirley Levine (née Magaziner) and Marshall David Landis, an interior decorator. He moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of four months.
His career began as a teenager, working as a mailboy at 20th Century Fox. His first noteworthy job in Hollywood was working as an assistant director during filming MGM's Kelly's Heroes in Yugoslavia in 1969. He replaced the film's original assistant director, who suffered from a nervous breakdown and was sent home by the producers. While filming he met actors Don Rickles and Donald Sutherland, both of whom he would later cast in his own films. Following this, Landis worked on many films made in Europe (especially in Italy and England), most notably, Once Upon a Time in the West,...
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