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My Take
John Landis represents a filmmaking confidence we have nearly lost: the belief that entertaining an audience is a noble end in itself. The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Trading Places are comedies built like freight trains, then he pivots to An American Werewolf in London and practically invents the modern horror-comedy, then directs the Thriller video, the most influential music film ever made. That range is not dabbling; it is a unified theory of showmanship. His career has its shadows and I do not ignore them, but as pure craft, his run from the late seventies through the eighties is staggering. Few directors gave popular cinema that much joy.
Overview
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 Movi…
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- John Landis
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョン・ランディス
- Reading
- じょん・らんでぃす
- Born
- August 3, 1950 (age 75)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Tiger
- Origin
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film director / screenwriter / film producer / actor / film actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2004 Time Machine Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Film director — see all → · Screenwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.