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Revision as of 01:53, 2 December 2004 by Jason One (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)John Landis (born August 3, 1950) is a movie actor, director, writer, and producer.
His career began as a teenager, working as a mailboy at 20th Century Fox. He starred in Schlock (1976), which he also wrote and directed, as well as The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). With Dan Aykroyd he wrote and directed Blues Brothers (1980) and An American Werewolf in London (1981). He also directed Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).
Actor Vic Morrow was decapitated and two child extras, My-ca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Ye Chen, were killed by a helicopter during the filming of Twilight Zone. The parents of the children sued. At trial, prosecutors attempted to show that Landis was reckless and that he had violated laws relating to child actors by not telling their parents and others about the childrens' proximity to explosives and helicopters and the hours they could work. He was also accused of negligence in his directions to the crew regarding the use of the helicopter. Landis was acquitted. Vic Morrow’s daughters, Carrie Morrow and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, also sued and settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
The Michael Jackson "Thriller" music video was produced by Landis. He has directed several other Jackson videos.
In the aftermath of the Twilight Zone case, Landis has directed a series of mostly forgettable film comedies, including Spies Like Us (1985), ¡Three Amigos! (1986), Coming to America (1988), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), and The Stupids (1996). He has also directed for television and taken small acting roles in a variety of films, most recently Spider-Man 2 (2004).
One of Landis' trademarks is to insert references to a fictional film called See You Next Wednesday in movies he directs.