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Cullen Landis
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Occupation
Actor, director
Name
Cullen Landis
Role
Actor
Siblings
Margaret Landis
Full Name
James Cullen Landis
Born
July 9, 1896 (
1896-07-09
)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died
August 26, 1975, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States
Spouse
Jane Grenier (m. ?–1975), Mignon Le Brun (m. ?–1927)
Parents
Lulan Landis, Margaret Cullen Landis
Movies
Lights of New York, Soul of the Beast, Forsaking All Others, Watch Your Step, Davy Crockett at the Fall of
Similar People
Margaret Landis, James Cruze, William Beaudine, Rupert Hughes, William Bertram
"Lights of New York" clip 2
Cullen Landis (July 9, 1896 – August 26, 1975) was an American motion picture actor and director whose career began in the early years 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 a 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 (left).
Cullen began working in the fledgling film industry at age 18 around the time his older sister, Margaret Landis, appeared in her first film.
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.
In 1928 Cullen Landis starred in the first ‘all talking’ motion picture, Lights of New York. He 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.
World War II
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.
Death
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 (née Greiner).
Filmography
Actor
1930
Convict's Code as
Kenneth Avery
1928
The Little Wild Girl as
Jules Barbier
1928
Lights of New York as
Eddie Morgan
1928
Out with the Tide as
John Templeton
1928
The Midnight Adventure as
Fred Nicholson
1928
The Broken Mask as
Pertio
1928
The Devil's Skipper as
John Dubray
1927
Life in Hollywood No. 5 (Short)
1927
On to Reno as
Bud
1927
Broadway After Midnight as
Jimmy Crestmore
1927
Finnegan's Ball as
Flannigan Jr
1927
We're All Gamblers as
Georgie McCarver
1927
The Crimson Flash
1927
On Guard as
Bob Adams
1927
Heroes of the Night as
Joe Riley
1926
The Fighting Failure as
Denny O'Brien
1926
The Smoke Eaters as
Ed
1926
A Horse on Broadway as
Jeffrey
1926
Sweet Rosie O'Grady as
Victor McQuade
1926
Frenzied Flames as
Danny Grovan
1926
Jack O'Hearts as
Jack Farber
1926
Christine of the Big Tops as
Bob Hastings
1926
With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo as
Davy Crockett
1926
The Dixie Flyer as
'Sunrise' Smith
1926
Then Came the Woman as
Bob Morris
1926
My Old Dutch as
Herbert Brown
1926
Winning the Futurity as
Luke Allen
1926
Perils of the Coast Guard as
Coast Guard Captain Tom Norris
1926
With Buffalo Bill on the U. P. Trail as
Gordon Kent
1925
The Midnight Flyer as
David Henderson
1925
Peacock Feathers as
Jerry Chandler
1925
Sealed Lips as
Alan Howard
1925
The Three Way Trail
1925
An Enemy of Men as
Doctor Phil
1925
Wasted Lives as
John Grayson
1925
A Broadway Butterfly as
Ronald Steel
1925
The Mansion of Aching Hearts as
Bill Smith
1925
Pampered Youth as
George Minafer
1925
Easy Money as
Bud Parsons
1924
Cheap Kisses as
Donald Dillingham
1924
Born Rich as
Jack Le Moyne
1924
One Law for the Woman as
Ben Martin
1924
A Girl of the Limberlost as
Hart Henderson
1924
The Fighting Coward as
Tom Rumford
1923
The Man Life Passed By as
Harold Trevis
1923
Pioneer Trails as
Jack Dale / Jack Plains
1923
The Midnight Alarm as
Chaser
1923
The Fog as
Nathan Forge
1923
Masters of Men as
Dick Halpin
1923
Soul of the Beast as
Paul Nadeau
1923
Crashin' Thru as
Cons Saunders
1923
The Famous Mrs. Fair as
Alan Fair
1923
Dollar Devils as
Jim Biggers
1922
Forsaking All Others as
Oliver Newell
1922
Love in the Dark as
Tim O'Brien
1922
Youth to Youth as
Page Brookins
1922
Remembrance as
Seth Smith
1922
Gay and Devilish as
Peter Armitage
1922
Man with Two Mothers as
Dennis O'Neill
1922
Watch Your Step as
Elmer Slocum
1922
Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight? as
Garry Beecher
1921
Voices of the City as
Jimmy
1921
The Infamous Miss Revell as
Max Hildreth
1921
The Ace of Hearts as
Young Man in Restaurant (uncredited)
1921
The Old Nest as
Jim at 22-32
1921
Snowblind as
Pete Garth
1921
Bunty Pulls the Strings as
Rab
1920
It's a Great Life as
Stoddard
1920
Going Some as
J. Wallingford Speed
1920
Mary's Nightmare (Short) as
Mary's Sweetheart
1920
Pinto as
Bob DeWitt
1919
Jinx as
Slicker Evans
1919
The Girl from Outside as
The Curly Kid
1919
Almost a Husband as
Jerry Wilson
1919
Upstairs as
Lemuel Stallings
1919
The Outcasts of Poker Flat as
Billy Lanyon / Tommy Oakhurst
1919
Where the West Begins as
Ned Caldwell (as J. Cullen Landis)
1918
All Kinds of a Girl (Short)
1918
Cupid in Quarantine (Short) as
Jack
1918
Taking the Count (Short)
1918
Her Friend, the Enemy (Short)
1918
Winnie's Wild Wedding (Short)
1918
The High Cost of Weddings (Short) as
Jack
1918
What Will Father Say? (Short) as
Jack
1918
She Almost Proposed (Short)
1918
On Her Account (Short) as
Jack
1918
Like Mother Made (Short) as
Jack
1918
Her Disengagement Ring (Short) as
Jack
1918
Miss Informed (Short) as
Jack
1918
Her Spooney Affair (Short) as
Jack
1918
Beware of Blondes (Short) as
Jack
1918
By Fowl Means (Short) as
Jack
1918
What the Wind Did (Short) as
Jack
1918
Her Rustic Romeo (Short) as
Jack
1918
My Lady Nicotine (Short) as
Jack
1918
Her Terrible Time (Short) as
Jack
1918
Over the Garden Wall (Short) as
Jack
1918
Mary's Frame-Up (Short) as
Jack
1918
Her Helping Hand (Short) as
Jack
1918
For Art's Sake (Short) as
Art Gordon
1918
She Couldn't Grow Up (Short)
1918
His Quaker Girl (Short) as
Jack
1918
Waltzing Around (Short)
1918
Miss Cinderella (Short) as
Jack
1918
Three Times and Out (Short) as
Jack
1918
Her Friend Brown (Short) as
Jack Random
1918
Somebody's Widow (Short) as
Jack Random
1918
Their Little Kid (Short) as
Jack
1918
Burglars (Short) as
Jack
1918
A Peach and a Pill (Short) as
Jack
1918
Her Awful Fix (Short) as
Jack
1917
Mary's Boomerang (Short) as
Cullen
1917
Little Miss Fixer (Short) as
Cullen
1917
Who Is Number One? as
Tommy Hale
1917
The Mainspring (Short) as
Bellamy Hardor (as J. Cullen Landis)
1917
The Checkmate as
Bill Meyer
1917
Sunny Jane as
Thomas
1916
Joy and the Dragon as
Slinky Joe (as J. Cullen Landis)
Director
1940
Auto-Lite on Parade (Documentary short) (as J. Cullen Landis)
1939
Refreshment Through the Years (Documentary short) (as J. Cullen Landis)
Self
1924
The City of Stars (Short) as
Self
1923
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 25 (Documentary short) as
