Cullen Landis
Birthday: 1896-07-09 | Place of Birth: Nashville, Tennessee, USACullen Landis (July 9, 1896 – August 26, 1975) was an American motion picture actor and director whose career began in the early ears of the silent film era. James Cullen Landis was the middle of three siblings (two sons and a daughter) raised by Lulan and Margaret (née Cullen) Landis in Nashville, Tennessee, where his father supported his family as a stock broker. As a boy, James was a train enthusiast and dreamed to be an railroad engineer. Though the ambition eventually faded, his interest in railroads did not, and some years later he helped design for himself a model train set powered by steam. He began working in the fledgling film industry at age 18 around the time his older sister, Margaret Landis, appeared in her first film. In 1928 Cullen Landis starred in the first ‘all talking’ motion picture, Lights of New York. He once confided in a friend that talkies were perfect for musicals and that he was no "song and dance man". He left Hollywood for Detroit in 1930 to produce and direct industrial films for automobile companies. Landis began as a movie director, only turning to acting after his lead player broke a leg and it was discovered that the actor’s costumes fit him. He went on to become one of the more popular lead actors of the silent era, appearing in some one hundred films over 14 years. During World War II, he served as a captain with US Army Signal Corps producing training films in the South Pacific. By war’s end he was twice decorated and promoted to major. In the post war years he made documentaries for the US State Department that took him to the far corners of the world. James Cullen Landis died on August 28, 1975, aged 79, at a nursing home in Bloomfield, Michigan, three months after the death of his wife, Jane. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Known For
Acting
Role
as Kenneth Avery
as Eddie Morgan
as John Dubray
as Pertio
as George Minafer
as Georgie McCarver
as Jimmy Crestmore
as 'Sunrise' Smith
as Coast Guard Captain Tom Norris
as Davy Crockett
as Ed
as Herbert Brown
as Jerry Chandler
as John Grayson
as Hart Henderson
as Chaser
as Cons Saunders
as Dick Halpin
as Harold Trevis
as Jack Dale / Jack Plains
as Nathan Forge
as Paul Nadeau
as Page Brookins
as Peter Armitage
as Seth Smith
as Tim O'Brien
as Jimmy
as Young Man in Restaurant (uncredited)
