# RIP Martin Landau **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453 "2017-07-17T01:12:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/21 "2017-07-17T20:54:55Z")
[quote=“Typo\_Negative, post:20, topic:791453”] > [@CalMeacham](#): > > He was also Leonard, James Mason’s henchman, in Alfred Hitchcock’s **North by Northwest** , who almost kills Cary Grant’s Roger Thornhill by stepping on his fingers as he hangs off Mount Rushmore. > > CNN says he was [sinister gay henchman](http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/top/category/ar-BBEyVCI). > > The character was gay? I do not remember sexual orientation being mentioned. The character has a line in which he talks about “my feminine intuition.” Seeing as his boss in the film is the famously-handsome James Mason, the implication is that he’s devoted to the boss because he’s infatuated with him. Anyway: rest in peace, Mr. Landau. Your work gave pleasure to millions. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/22 "2017-07-17T22:17:16Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > The character was gay? I do not remember sexual orientation being mentioned. [That’s how Landau always claimed he played him](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/9601547/Martin-Landau-I-chose-to-play-Leonard-as-gay.html)–not stereotypical, but as a jealous (possibly spurned) lover of Van Damm. Which is why he’s especially eager to off Eve. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/23 "2017-07-17T22:36:05Z")
I thought Landau was excellent in _[Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol.](https://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/04/welcome-home-johnny-bristol.html)_ ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/24 "2017-07-17T23:21:18Z")
A thread I started about him in 2003: [Let's Talk about Martin Landau - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=191416) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/25 "2017-07-17T23:43:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I really like this clip of Martin and Barbara. They aren’t singers. Their acting chops makes it work. > [https://youtu.be/Tzemosz3lmo](https://youtu.be/Tzemosz3lmo) Crap! :mad: I was expecting Mona Bern and Fritz at that cabaret in Ramsdorf, East Europe. _“If you drink … my Glas … of Wein…”_ Sorry, but he’s dead, Jim! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/26 "2017-07-18T00:06:41Z")
Was he the killer on two "Columbo"s? Because I remember him as the identical twins. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/27 "2017-07-18T00:16:33Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Was he the killer on two "Columbo"s? Because I remember him as the identical twins. That’s the one I was talking about: it opens when we see Landau killing his uncle for the inheritance money; and then Columbo shows up for his usual reverse-whodunit hijinks, since we’re of course going to know all along that Landau did it and the only question is how he’s going to get caught . . . and then in walks Landau, as a twin, and suddenly we realize _hey, even though I watched the murder scene, I don’t actually know whether he did it. What was Columbo just saying about footprints? Yeah, that’s sort of useless, now, isn’t it? Like, they have identical feet._ ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/28 "2017-07-18T11:29:22Z")
Landau’s appearance on Man From Uncle – playing a Lugosi-style villian – put him on my permanent list of cool actors. Here’s the only [Free Youtube video clip](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7xmy8q9QBo4&t=1m23s) I could locate. The video quality is rotten, but the sound is fine. “The Bat Cave Affair.” 1966. Count Zark – A completely charming precursor to his Oscar-winning role in Ed Wood. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/29 "2017-07-18T13:41:27Z")
RIP, Martin. He had a huge filmography, but I liked him best in _Crimes and Misdemeanors_. I would say Woody Allen’s best film, hands down. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/30 "2017-07-18T15:05:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I really like this clip of Martin and Barbara. They aren’t singers. Their acting chops makes it work. > [https://youtu.be/Tzemosz3lmo](https://youtu.be/Tzemosz3lmo) Very poignant. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/31 "2017-07-21T21:58:20Z")
I couldn’t help grinning a little thinking back to the time that he unloaded on MTV VJ Kennedy for her poor interview of him at the _Mission: Impossible_ premiere. She wasn’t exactly my favorite VJ back then, and I sure don’t think more highly of her now that she’s on Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/32 "2017-07-22T00:11:47Z")
89 is a good run. RIP. You’ve earned it. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453/33 "2017-07-22T15:25:39Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > That’s the one I was talking about: it opens when we see Landau killing his uncle for the inheritance money; and then Columbo shows up for his usual reverse-whodunit hijinks, since we’re of course going to know all along that Landau did it and the only question is how he’s going to get caught . . . and then in walks Landau, as a twin, and suddenly we realize _hey, even though I watched the murder scene, I don’t actually know whether he did it. What was Columbo just saying about footprints? Yeah, that’s sort of useless, now, isn’t it? Like, they have identical feet._ This is my favorite Columbo episode, precisely for that opening fake-out scene, twist the viewers’ expectations reason. I watched it earlier this week, along with _Ed Wood_ and a handful of episodes of _Space 1999_, as my Martin Landau memorial tribute. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-martin-landau/791453.md?page=1)