1896-07-09 Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Cullen 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
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The Voice That Thrilled the World | Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage) | 1943-10-16 |
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Convict's Code | Kenneth Avery | 1930-08-01 |
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On to Reno | Bud | 1928-01-01 |
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The Broken Mask | Pertio | 1928-01-01 |
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Lights of New York | Eddie Morgan | 1928-07-18 |
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The Devil's Skipper | John Dubray | 1928-02-01 |
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The Little Wild Girl | Jules Barbier | 1928-08-01 |
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Life in Hollywood No. 5 | 1927-08-25 | |
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We're All Gamblers | Georgie McCarver | 1927-09-03 |
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Two to One | George Minafer | 1927-12-31 |
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My Old Dutch | Herbert Brown | 1926-05-23 |
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The Smoke Eaters | Ed | 1926-11-05 |
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With Buffalo Bill on the U. P. Trail | Gordon Kent | 1926-03-01 |
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The Fighting Failure | Denny O'Brien | 1926-12-02 |
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Christine of the Big Tops | Bob Hastings | 1926-08-20 |
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Frenzied Flames | Danny Grovan | 1926-09-01 |
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The Dixie Flyer | 'Sunrise' Smith | 1926-07-29 |
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With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo | Davy Crockett | 1926-08-01 |
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The Midnight Flyer | David Henderson | 1925-12-06 |
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A Broadway Butterfly | Ronald Steel | 1925-03-29 |
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Wasted Lives | John Grayson | 1925-04-07 |
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An Enemy of Men | Doctor Phil | 1925-07-01 |
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Pampered Youth | George Minafer | 1925-02-01 |
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Peacock Feathers | Jerry Chandler | 1925-10-18 |
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A Girl of the Limberlost | Hart Henderson | 1924-04-28 |
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Cheap Kisses | Donald Dillingham | 1924-12-21 |
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One Law for the Woman | Ben Martin | 1924-05-25 |
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Born Rich | Jack Le Moyne | 1924-12-07 |
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The Fighting Coward | Tom Rumford | 1924-03-14 |
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The Famous Mrs. Fair | Alan Fair | 1923-02-19 |
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Pioneer Trails | Jack Dale / Jack Plains | 1923-05-01 |
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The Fog | Nathan Forge | 1923-01-18 |
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The Man Life Passed By | Harold Trevis | 1923-12-24 |
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The Midnight Alarm | Chaser | 1923-08-19 |
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Soul of the Beast | Paul Nadeau | 1923-05-06 |
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Crashin' Thru | Cons Saunders | 1923-04-01 |
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Masters of Men | Dick Halpin | 1923-05-14 |
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Remembrance | Seth Smith | 1922-10-01 |
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Watch Your Step | Elmer Slocum | 1922-02-16 |
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Gay and Devilish | Peter Armitage | 1922-05-14 |
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Love in the Dark | Tim O'Brien | 1922-11-20 |
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Forsaking All Others | Oliver Newell | 1922-12-10 |
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Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight? | 1922-02-05 | |
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Snowblind | Pete Garth | 1921-03-22 |
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Bunty Pulls the Strings | Rab | 1921-01-02 |
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The Old Nest | Jim at 22-32 | 1921-06-28 |
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The Ace of Hearts | Young Man in Restaurant (uncredited) | 1921-09-17 |
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Voices of the City | Jimmy | 1921-12-01 |
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The Infamous Miss Revell | Max Hildreth | 1921-10-17 |
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It's a Great Life | Stoddard | 1920-08-29 |
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Pinto | Bob DeWitt | 1920-01-10 |
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Almost a Husband | Jerry Wilson | 1919-10-11 |
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Jinx | Slicker Evans | 1919-12-13 |
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The Outcasts of Poker Flat | Billy Lanyon / Tommy Oakhurst | 1919-06-29 |
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Upstairs | Lemuel Stallings | 1919-08-03 |
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Where the West Begins | Ned Caldwell (as J. Cullen Landis) | 1919-03-02 |
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Cupid In Quarantine | The Boyfriend | 1918-09-10 |
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Over the Garden Wall | Jack | 1918-05-07 |
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Somebody's Widow | Jack Random | 1918-01-29 |
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Her Rustic Romeo | Jack | 1918-05-28 |
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Who Is Number One? | Tommy Hale | 1917-10-29 |
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Sunny Jane | Thomas | 1917-03-26 |