John David Landis is an award-winning American director, producer, writer, and actor. Born August 3, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois, Landis started his Hollywood career in the mailroom of 20th Century Fox after dropping out of high school at age 17. He also did behind the scenes work and worked as a stuntman early on, specializing in horse falls. In 1969, at the age of 19, Landis went to Yugoslavia to be a production assistant aka ‘gofer’ on Kelly’s Heroes (1970). After briefly toying with the idea of making an underground porn film, he raised money, from family and friends to help pay for his directorial debut, Schlok (1973). Landis not only wrote the screenplay; he also directed the film and had the starring role, dressed in a gorilla suit. This movie went on to win “Best Film in 1982” at the Fantafestival.
His next film, Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), was fairly successful and paved the way for his first major hit. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) is a legendary American comedy that was filmed in only 28 days. Set on a college campus, it was a huge hit at the box office, even though it was met with negative reviews from critics, as was often the case with his films. In 1980, Landis married costume designer, Deborah Nadoolman. The couple, who have both enjoyed success in their respective Hollywood careers, has two children together. The Blues Brothers (1980) was even more successful at the Box Office than Animal House had been. It was co-written by Landis and Dan Aykroyd, who stars in many of Landis’ films. Blues Brothers set a world record for number of car crashes in a movie. 
Although his primary genre was comedy, many of his films also had components of a horror film. “Landis has also helped to blur the lines between comedy and horror”. (NY Times) This was certainly the case with his next film, American Werewolf in London (1981). Landis both directed and wrote this movie. His next film, Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) was marred with tragedy. Actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed in a helicopter crash while filming the movie. Landis, along with three technicians, were charged with involuntary manslaughter, but were eventually found not guilty after a lengthy trail. His reputation took a hit after the accident, but in spite of that, he continued to have a string of successful movies that spanned the remainder of the eighties, including Trading Places (1983), Spies Like Us (1985), Three Amigos (1986), and Coming to America (1988).
In 1983, John Landis worked closely with Michael Jackson on the Thriller video (1983), which he directed and wrote. The Thriller Video received numerous awards and changed music videos and MTV forever. Landis would collaborate again with Michael Jackson on Michael Jackson: Black or White in 1991, where he would popularize the technique of “digital morphing”. On several occasions, Landis would appear in the films he made, as was the case with Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). Landis had a series of semi-successful films in the 1990’s, including Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), and An American Werewolf in Paris (1997). The 90’s would end on a sour note for Landis’ movies with the release of Blues Brothers 2000 (1998). Audiences and critics agreed with their dislike of this film.
In addition to a successful career in movies, Landis has also had much success in television and is a co-owner of St. Clare Entertainment, a television production company. He helped to create Dream On, a HBO comedy in the early 90’s. He also directed some of the episodes. He was the executive producer for Weird Science and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; both television comedy series’ based on movie. Landis has directed episodes of television shows, including: Psych, Fear Itself, and Masters of Horror. He won Primetime Emmy in 2008 in the category of Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special for Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (2007) John Landis has also had a successful career as directing commercials for such companies as: Direct TV, Coca Cola, Taco Bell, Kellogg’s, Disney, and Pepsi.
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