Background and career
John Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), The Blues Brothers (1980), Trading Places (1983), Three Amigos (1986), Coming to America (1988), and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), as well as horror films such as An American Werewolf in London (1981), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), and Innocent Blood (1992). He also directed the music videos for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (1983) and "Black or White" (1991). Landis later ventured into television work, including the series Dream On (1990), Weird Science (1994), and Sliders (1995). He also directed several episodes of the 2000s horror anthology series Masters of Horror and Fear Itself, as well as commercials for DirecTV, Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kellogg's, and Disney. In 2008, Landis won an Emmy Award for the documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (2007). In 1982, Landis became the subject of controversy when three actors, including two children, died on set while filming his segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). Landis, as well as several other parties, were subsequently tried and acquitted for involuntary manslaughter, but the incident had long-lasting effects on film industry practices. Landis is the father of filmmaker Max Landis.
Landis was born into a Jewish American family in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Shirley Levine (née Magaziner) and Marshall Landis, an interior designer and decorator. Landis and his parents relocated to Los Angeles when he was four months old. Though spending his childhood in California, Landis still refers to Chicago as his home town; he is a fan of the Chicago White Sox baseball team.
When Landis was a young boy, he watched The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which inspired him to become a director:I had complete suspension of disbelief—really, I was eight years old and it transported me. I was on that beach running from that dragon, fighting that Cyclops. It just really dazzled me, and I bought it completely. And so, I actually sat through it twice and when I got home, I asked my mom, "Who does that? Who makes the movie?"
Landis began his film career working as a mailboy at 20th Century-Fox. He worked as a "go-fer" and then as an assistant director during filming Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Kelly's Heroes in Yugoslavia in 1969; he replaced the film's original assistant director, who became ill and was sent home. During that time, Landis became acquainted with actors Don Rickles and Donald Sutherland, both of whom later worked in his films. Following Kelly's Heroes, Landis worked on several films that were shot in Europe (especially in Italy and the United Kingdom), including Once Upon a Time in the West, El Condor, and A Town Called Bastard (or A Town Called Hell). Landis also worked as a stunt double.
I worked on some [pirate] movies, all kind of movies. French foreign movies. I worked on a movie called Red Sun where Toshiro Mifune kills me, puts a sword through me. ... I worked as a stunt guy. I worked as a dialogue coach. I worked as an actor. I worked as a production assistant. Aged 21, Landis made his directorial debut with Schlock. The film, which he also wrote and in which he appeared, is a tribute to monster movies. The gorilla suit for the film was made by Rick Baker—the beginning of a long-term collaboration between Landis and Baker. Though completed in 1971, Schlock was not released until 1973 after it caught the attention of Johnny Carson. A fan of the film, Carson invited Landis on The Tonight Show and showed clips to help promote it. Schlock has since gained a cult following, but Landis has described the film as "terrible". Landis was hired by Eon Productions to write a screen treatment for The Spy Who Loved Me, but his screenplay of James Bond foiling a kidnapping of the Pope in Latin America was rejected by Albert R. Broccoli for satirizing the Catholic Church. Landis was then hired to direct The Kentucky Fried Movie after David Zucker saw his Tonight Show appearance. The film was inspired by the satirical sketch comedy of shows like Monty Python, Free the Army, The National Lampoon Radio Hour, and Saturday Night Live. It is notable for being the first film written by the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker team, who later had success with Airplane! and The Naked Gun trilogy.
Sean Daniel, an assistant to Universal executive Thom Mount, saw The Kentucky Fried Movie and recommended Landis to direct Animal House based on that. Landis says of the screenplay, "It was really literally one of the funniest things I ever read. It had a nasty edge like National Lampoon. I told him it was wonderful, extremely smart, and funny, but everyone's a pig for one thing." While Animal House received mixed reviews, it was a massive financial success, earning over $120 million at the domestic box office, making it the highest-grossing comedy film of its time. Its success started the "gross-out" film genre, which became one of Hollywood's staples. It also featured the screen debuts of John Belushi, Karen Allen, and Kevin Bacon. In 1980, Landis co-wrote and directed The Blues Brothers, a comedy starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. It featured musical numbers by rhythm and blues and soul legends James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and John Lee Hooker. It was, at the time, one of the most expensive films ever made, costing almost $30 million (for comparison, Steven Spielberg's contemporary film 1941 cost $35 million). Spielberg and Landis reportedly engaged in a rivalry, the goal of which was to make the more expensive film. The rivalry might have been a friendly one, as Spielberg makes a cameo appearance in Blues Brothers (as the unnamed desk clerk near the end) and Landis had made a cameo in 1941 as a messenger. In 1981, Landis wrote and directed another cult-status film, the comedy-horror An American Werewolf in London. It was perhaps Landis' most personal project; he had been planning to make it since 1969, while in Yugoslavia working on Kelly's Heroes. It was another commercial success for Landis and inspired studios to put comedic elements in their horror films.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
