John Landis

John Landis began his career in the mailroom of 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles. A high-school dropout, in 1969 the 18-year-old Landis made his way to the former Yugoslavia to work as a “gofer.” Remaining in Europe, Landis found work as an actor, dialogue coach, extra and stunt man in many of the “spaghetti” westerns being made in Spain at that time.

At 21 years old he made his debut as a writer-director of the very low-budget feature Schlock (1973), an affectionate tribute to monster movies. Clad in an ape suit and make-up designed by the 20-year-old Rick Baker, Landis starred as the “Schlockthropus” or ‘missing link.’ The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), directed by Landis and written by Jerry and David Zucker and Jim Abrahams, was a successful prelude to his next wildly popular comedy, the beloved National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978). With a record of enduring comedy classics such as The Blues Brothers (1980), Trading Places (1983), Spies Like Us (1985), Three Amigos! (1986), and Coming to America (1988), Landis has directed some of the most popular comedy blockbusters of all time.

Landis wrote and directed the 1981 horror classic An American Werewolf in London which so inspired Michael Jackson that he called on Landis to write and direct the groundbreaking theatrical short Michael Jackson: Thriller in 1983. In 2009 Thriller was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, the second film directed by John Landis to be honored in this way. National Lampoon’s Animal House achieved this honor in 2001.

He directed two notable documentaries, Slasher (2004), and the Emmy Award winning Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project (2007). His book Monsters in the Movies was published by DK in 2011.