Edie Landau

Edythe Landau (née Rudolph; July 15, 1927 – December 24, 2022) was an American film and television producer and executive, known for such films as Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Pawnbroker, King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis, The Chosen and the fourteen movies of the American Film Theatre[1][2] which she produced with her husband Ely Landau.[3]

Early life and career

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Landau was born to a Jewish family and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Rose and Harry Rudolph (former president of the Eastern Basketball League)[4][5] and sister to Mendy Rudolph (2007 inductee to the Basketball Hall of Fame).[6] She received her B.A. in Education from Wilkes University.[7] In 1948, Landau moved to New York City, where she served as production coordinator for Phillips H. Lord,[8] on such popular radio shows as Gangbusters and Mr. District Attorney, among others.[9]

In 1953, Landau joined (and later married) Ely Landau in his start-up company National Telefilm Associates[10] which owned television station WNTA Channel 13 in NYC, considered the "fourth TV network" in the early days of television.[11] Until 1961, Edie Landau served as the company's Executive Vice President,[12][13] overseeing the station's original programming including the anthology drama series The Play of the Week,[14] The Mike Wallace Show, The David Susskind Show,[15] Open End, The Bishop Sheen Show, and One Night Stand, among others.[citation needed]

In 1962, the Landaus produced Long Day's Journey Into Night,[16] an adaptation of the Eugene O'Neill play directed by Sidney Lumet,[17] which won Best Actor awards for all its leading actors at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival,[18] as well as an Academy Award nomination for Katharine Hepburn as Best Actress.[19] This was followed in 1964 by The Pawnbroker[20][21][22] (Golden Globe Award winner and Academy Award nomination for Rod Steiger as Best Actor), The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) also with Hepburn,[23] and the documentary King: a Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis (1970).[24][25] The film about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. played in 663 theaters as a one-night benefit for King's charities,[26] was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature,[27] and in 1999 was added to the National Film Registry.[28]

In 1973, the Landaus launched the American Film Theatre,[29][30] bringing two seasons of outstanding stage plays to the motion picture screen as part of a subscription series.[31] The fourteen movies of the American Film Theatre included Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (the Landaus' third collaboration with Katharine Hepburn), O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, Pinter's The Homecoming, and Robert Shaw's The Man in the Glass Booth (with a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for Maximilian Schell).[29]

Later career

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From the late 1970s through the 1980s, Landau produced such films as Hopscotch (with Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson),[32][33] Beatlemania, Chaim Potok's The Chosen,[34][35][36] Robert Ludlum’s The Holcroft Covenant (with Michael Caine),[37] in addition to a number of award-winning productions for HBO, including The Deadly Game (with George Segal and Robert Morley),[38] Separate Tables (with Alan Bates and Julie Christie),[39][40] Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson (with Laurence Olivier and Jackie Gleason)[41] and The Christmas Wife (with Jason Robards and Julie Harris).[42][43][44]

In 1982, while continuing her producing career, Landau graduated from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, and became a member of the State Bar of California.[45]

In 1989, Landau also began operating Nannies Unlimited Agency, an exclusive Beverly Hills placement service with clientele including numerous celebrities of the entertainment world.[46][47][48] In 2014, she published an original volume of poems, Smiles for Seniors: And Anyone Else Who Can Poke Fun at Themselves.[49]

Personal life and death

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In addition to the two young sons her husband Ely A. Landau brought to the marriage (Neil and Les Landau), the Landaus had three children together: Jon Landau (producer of such films as Titanic and Avatar),[50] Tina Landau (renowned theater writer and director),[51] and Kathy Landau (Executive Director of Symphony Space in New York City).[52]

Landau passed away from natural causes on December 24, 2022, at the age of 95.[53][54]

References

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  1. ^ Reason, Matthew (September 22, 2006). Documentation, Disappearance and the Representation of Live Performance. Springer/Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 97. ISBN 978-0-230-59856-0.
  2. ^ Schickel, Richard (April 13, 2003). "THEATER; Famous Plays, Famous Players, Forgotten Films". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  3. ^ Pace, Eric (November 8, 1993). "Ely Landau, Producer, 73, Dies; Filmed Plays for TV and Theaters". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  4. ^ Postal, Bernard; Silver, Jesse; Silver, Roy (1965). "Harry Rudolph". Encyclopedia of Jews in Sports. New York: Bloch Publishing Co.
  5. ^ Pat Sierchio (March 1, 2010). "Producer Landau: Interpreter of Dreams". JewishJournal.com. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
  6. ^ Blevins, David (2012). "Mendy Rudolph". The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia: Baseball, Basketball ... 1. Rowman & Littlefield: 836.
  7. ^ "Graduate of Wilkes". The Wilkes-Barre Record. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. June 23, 1948. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Edythe Rein". Radio Annual and Television Year Book. Indiana University: Radio Daily Corporation: 1050. 1959.
  9. ^ Dunning, John (1998). Philiips H. Lord. Oxford University Press. pp. 128–129. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Charline, Aeron, ed. (2011). National Telefilm Associates. Onym Press. ISBN 978-613-7-83449-7.
  11. ^ ""Fourth TV Network, for Films, is Created"". Boxoffice: 8. July 7, 1956.
  12. ^ "KMGM-TV SOLD TO NATL. TELEFILM" (PDF). Broadcasting Telecasting the Business Weekly of Radio and Television: 79–80. August 26, 1957.
  13. ^ "No.36-52". Sponsor. 11. Sponsor Publications, Inc. September–December 1957.
  14. ^ Gould, Jack (November 1, 2002). Watching Television Come of Age: The New York Times Reviews. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-72846-2.
  15. ^ Battaglio, Stephen (2010). David Susskind: A Televised Life. Macmillan. pp. 42, 63–65, 67–68, 259–260. ISBN 978-1429946148.
  16. ^ Sylbert, Richard; Townsend, Sylvia (September 30, 2006). Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood Artist. Praeger. pp. 71–73. ISBN 978-0275986902.
  17. ^ Rapf, Joanna E. (2006). Sidney Lumet: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 28–43. ISBN 1578067243.
  18. ^ "Awards 1962 : Competition". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  19. ^ "The 35th Academy Awards | 1963". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  20. ^ Leff, Leonard J. (2003). "Remembering The Pawnbroker". The American Experience in World War II: The United States and the Road to War in Europe. Taylor & Francis: 131–138. ISBN 041594029X.
  21. ^ Harris, Mark (2008). Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood. New York, NY: Penguin Group. pp. 173–176. ISBN 978-1-59420-152-3.
  22. ^ "The Pawnbroker (1965) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  23. ^ Edwards, Anne (1985). Katharine Hepburn: A Remarkable Woman. Macmillan. ISBN 0688045286.
  24. ^ Rollins, Peter C. (June 5, 2004). The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies Have Portrayed the American Past. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. pp. 341–342. ISBN 978-0231112239.
  25. ^ Niemi, Robert (2006). History in the Media: Film and Television. ABC-CLIO. pp. 364. ISBN 157607952X.
  26. ^ "Movie Review - - Screen: The Pilgrimage of Martin Luther King Jr. - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  27. ^ "The 43rd Academy Awards | 1971". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  28. ^ Eagan, Daniel (2010). America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0826429773.
  29. ^ a b Benson, Raymond (April 16, 2009). "Remember...The American Film Theatre!". Cinema Retro. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013.
  30. ^ Caute, David (September 22, 1994). Joseph Losey: A Revenge on Life. Oxford University Press. pp. 181. ISBN 978-0195064100.
  31. ^ Glover, William (October 11, 1974). "Better Season Expected by American Film Theater". Associated Press.
  32. ^ "Hopscotch". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  33. ^ "Movie Review - - 'HOPSCOTCH' STARS JACKSON-MATTHAU TEAM - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  34. ^ Shepard, Richard F. (May 16, 1982). "BRINGING BROOKLYN OF THE 1940S BACK TO LIFE FOR 'THE CHOSEN'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  35. ^ "Movie Review - - 'THE CHOSEN' - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  36. ^ "The Chosen (1981)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  37. ^ "The Holcroft Covenant | Blu-ray Review | Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  38. ^ "The Deadly Game". Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials. 2. VNR AG: 107. 1985.
  39. ^ Mann, William J. (September 1, 2006). Edge of Midnight: The Life of John Schlesinger. Billboard Books. p. 490. ISBN 0823084698.
  40. ^ O'connor, John J. (April 4, 1983). "TV: BATES AND JULIE CHRISTIE IN 'SEPARATE TABLES'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  41. ^ Lovers, C. Gerald Fraser Music (August 28, 1983). "TELEVISION WEEK". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  42. ^ "Christmas Wife, The (1988) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  43. ^ O'connor, John J. (December 12, 1988). "Review/Television; For the Holidays, Family and Romance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  44. ^ Heffley, Lynne (December 12, 1988). "Television Reviews : A Juggernaut of Talent in Holiday Offerings". Los Angeles Times.
  45. ^ California, The State Bar of. "State Bar of CA :: Edythe Landau". members.calbar.ca.gov. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  46. ^ Elias, Merle (July 1, 2001). L.A. First Class. Globe Pequot. p. 36. ISBN 0762707860.
  47. ^ Communications, Emmis (July 1, 1999). Los Angeles Magazine. Emmis Communications.
  48. ^ BYRNE, BRIDGET (October 23, 1996). "Perfect Home Help for Celebs? Only the Very Discreet". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  49. ^ Landau, Edie (April 23, 2014). Smiles for Seniors: And Anyone Else Who Can Poke Fun at Themselves. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1494821272.
  50. ^ "Titanic and Avatar producer Jon Landau speaks to Newsweek about what all great movies have in common". Newsweek. October 4, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  51. ^ Dominus, Susan (September 4, 2005). "The 9 Habits of Highly Creative Directors". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  52. ^ BWW News Desk. "Symphony Space Welcomes Kathy Landau as New Executive Director". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  53. ^ Reul, Katie. "Edie Landau, Producer and National Telefilm Associates Executive, Dies at 95". Variety. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  54. ^ Carly Thomas (December 27, 2022). "Edie Landau, 'Hopscotch' and 'The Deadly Game' Producer, Dies at 95". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
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