Cullen Landis
Acting • Born 1896-07-09 – Died 1975-08-26
Biography
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
68 credits
Convict's Code
Movie • 1930
Kenneth Avery
Wasted Lives
Movie • 1925
John Grayson
Gay and Devilish
Movie • 1922
Peter Armitage
The Little Wild Girl
Movie • 1928
Jules Barbier
Bunty Pulls the Strings
Movie • 1921
Rab
Two to One
Movie • 1927
George Minafer
One Law for the Woman
Movie • 1924
Ben Martin
Over the Garden Wall
Movie • 1918
Jack
Life in Hollywood No. 5
Movie • 1927
With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo
Movie • 1926
Davy Crockett
The Midnight Flyer
Movie • 1925
David Henderson
Born Rich
Movie • 1924
Jack Le Moyne
Crashin' Thru
Movie • 1923
Cons Saunders
Lights of New York
Movie • 1928
Eddie Morgan
Snowblind
Movie • 1921
Pete Garth
The Old Nest
Movie • 1921
Jim at 22-32
The Midnight Alarm
Movie • 1923
Chaser
Almost a Husband
Movie • 1919
Jerry Wilson
Pinto
Movie • 1920
Bob DeWitt
Who Is Number One?
Movie • 1917
Tommy Hale
Watch Your Step
Movie • 1922
Elmer Slocum
Remembrance
Movie • 1922
Seth Smith
Sunny Jane
Movie • 1917
Thomas
Upstairs
Movie • 1919
Lemuel Stallings
The Famous Mrs. Fair
Movie • 1923
Alan Fair
Soul of the Beast
Movie • 1923
Paul Nadeau
Somebody's Widow
Movie • 1918
Jack Random
Where's My Wandering Boy Tonight?
Movie • 1922
The Broken Mask
Movie • 1928
Pertio
Her Rustic Romeo
Movie • 1918
Jack
The Dixie Flyer
Movie • 1926
'Sunrise' Smith
My Old Dutch
Movie • 1926
Herbert Brown
With Buffalo Bill on the U. P. Trail
Movie • 1926
Gordon Kent
Christine of the Big Tops
Movie • 1926
Bob Hastings
The Ace of Hearts
Movie • 1921
Young Man in Restaurant (uncredited)
Voices of the City
Movie • 1921
Jimmy
A Girl of the Limberlost
Movie • 1924
Hart Henderson
The Fighting Coward
Movie • 1924
Tom Rumford
The Man Life Passed By
Movie • 1923
Harold Trevis
Peacock Feathers
Movie • 1925
Jerry Chandler
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Movie • 1919
Billy Lanyon / Tommy Oakhurst
Pampered Youth
Movie • 1925
George Minafer
Cupid In Quarantine
Movie • 1918
The Boyfriend
We're All Gamblers
Movie • 1927
Georgie McCarver
On to Reno
Movie • 1928
Bud
Where the West Begins
Movie • 1919
Ned Caldwell (as J. Cullen Landis)
The Devil's Skipper
Movie • 1928
John Dubray
A Broadway Butterfly
Movie • 1925
Ronald Steel
The Fighting Failure
Movie • 1926
Denny O'Brien
Frenzied Flames
Movie • 1926
Danny Grovan
The Voice That Thrilled the World
Movie • 1943
Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage)
The Fog
Movie • 1923
Nathan Forge
Pioneer Trails
Movie • 1923
Jack Dale / Jack Plains
Cheap Kisses
Movie • 1924
Donald Dillingham
It's a Great Life
Movie • 1920
Stoddard
Forsaking All Others
Movie • 1922
Oliver Newell
Jinx
Movie • 1919
Slicker Evans
Love in the Dark
Movie • 1922
Tim O'Brien
Masters of Men
Movie • 1923
Dick Halpin
The Smoke Eaters
Movie • 1926
Ed
The Infamous Miss Revell
Movie • 1921
Max Hildreth
An Enemy of Men
Movie • 1925
Doctor Phil
Perils of the Coast Guard
Movie • 1926
Coast Guard Captain Tom Norris
Broadway After Midnight
Movie • 1927
Jimmy Crestmore
Youth to Youth
Movie • 1922
Page Brookins
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
Movie • 1926
Victor McQuade
Going Some
Movie • 1920
J. Wallingford Speed
Finnegan's Ball
Movie • 1927
Flannigan Jr.