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Cullen Landis
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…
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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
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1943
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Movie Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage)
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1940
Auto-Lite on Parade
Movie Director
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1939
Refreshment Through the Years
Movie Director
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1930
Convict's Code
Movie Kenneth Avery
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1928
The Little Wild Girl
Movie Jules Barbier
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1928
Lights of New York
Movie Eddie Morgan
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1928
Out with the Tide
Movie John Templeton
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1928
A Midnight Adventure
Movie Fred Nicholson
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1928
The Devil's Skipper
Movie John Dubray
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1928
On to Reno
Movie Bud
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1928
The Broken Mask
Movie Pertio
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1927
Two to One
Movie George Minafer
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1927
Broadway After Midnight
Movie Jimmy Crestmore
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1927
Finnegan's Ball
Movie Flannigan Jr.
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1927
We're All Gamblers
Movie Georgie McCarver
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1927
Life in Hollywood No. 5
Movie
More credits
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1926
The Fighting Failure
Movie Denny O'Brien
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1926
The Smoke Eaters
Movie Ed
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1926
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
Movie Victor McQuade
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1926
Frenzied Flames
Movie Danny Grovan
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1926
Christine of the Big Tops
Movie Bob Hastings
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1926
With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo
Movie Davy Crockett
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1926
The Dixie Flyer
Movie 'Sunrise' Smith
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1926
My Old Dutch
Movie Herbert Brown
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1926
With Buffalo Bill on the U. P. Trail
Movie Gordon Kent
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1926
Perils of the Coast Guard
Movie Coast Guard Captain Tom Norris
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1925
The Midnight Flyer
Movie David Henderson
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1925
Peacock Feathers
Movie Jerry Chandler
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1925
An Enemy of Men
Movie Doctor Phil
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1925
Wasted Lives
Movie John Grayson
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1925
A Broadway Butterfly
Movie Ronald Steel
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1925
Pampered Youth
Movie George Minafer
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1924
Cheap Kisses
Movie Donald Dillingham
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1924
Born Rich
Movie Jack Le Moyne
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1924
One Law for the Woman
Movie Ben Martin
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1924
A Girl of the Limberlost
Movie Hart Henderson
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1924
The Fighting Coward
Movie Tom Rumford
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1923
The Man Life Passed By
Movie Harold Trevis
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1923
The Midnight Alarm
Movie Chaser
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1923
Masters of Men
Movie Dick Halpin
