Michael Landon

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Michael Landon

Landon at the 1990 Emmy Awards. Photo by Alan Light.
Birth name Eugene Maurice Orowitz
Born October 31, 1936
Forest Hills, New York
Died July 1, 1991
Malibu, California
Height 5'9"
Other name(s) Michael Landon
Notable roles Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza
Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie
Jonathan Smith on Highway to Heaven

Michael Landon (October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor, producer and director who starred in three popular NBC TV series that spanned three decades. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959-1973), Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974-1982), and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven (1984-1989). He also hosted the annual long-running coverage of the "Tournament of Roses Parade" with Kelly Lange, also on NBC.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Landon was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz in the New York City borough in the Queens neighborhood of Forest Hills, New York. Landon's father, Eli Maurice Orowitz, was a Jewish American actor and movie theater manager, and his mother, Kathleen Ignatius O’Neill, was an Irish American Catholic dancer and comedienne. Eugene was the Orowitz' second child; his sister, Evelyn, was born three years earlier. In 1941, when Orowitz was 4 years old, he and his family moved to Collingswood, New Jersey. In Collingswood High School, he was not a good student, and felt estranged from his family [citation needed]. By the time Orowitz was a senior in high school, he was elected class president. His IQ was 159, yet he was the third-to-last student in his graduating class in 1954. He took on a couple of odd jobs working as a gas station attendant and at a warehouse.

In high school, he excelled at track and had a special talent for javelin. He held the national record for the longest throw by any high school athlete at the time. This earned him an athletic scholarship to USC. Unfortunately, he later tore a ligament in his shoulder, which made him unable to participate in further javelin throwing competitions, and he stopped competing.

He changed his name from Eugene Orowitz to Michael Landon after he decided to launch his acting career, as he did not feel that his given name was appropriate for an actor. It is believed that he chose the stage name by picking it out of a Los Angeles phone book.

[edit] Early career

After changing his last name, Landon became one of the more popular and enduring young actors of the late 1950s, making his first appearance in The Mystery of Casper Hauser. This part led to other roles, often as a moody, rebellious youth such as: Crossroads, The Rifleman, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Wire Service, Telephone Time, General Electric Theater, The Court of Last Resort, The Tales of Wells Fargo, Johnny Risk, among many others.

[edit] Bonanza

In 1959, at age 22, Landon had his first starring TV role as Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza, one the first TV series to be in color. Also starring on the show were Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, and Dan Blocker. Landon's character was the cocky, mischievous youngest brother of the Cartwright Family. The character evolved to be a "ladies' man" and Landon became an early TV sex symbol, often appearing shirtless on the show. During Bonanza's first season, it was a hit, and in its sixth season (1964-1965), the show topped the Nielsen Ratings, and remainined number one for three years.

Landon often performed his own stunts. In 1968, he was also permitted to write and direct episodes. In 1972, after the season finale, his co-star and best friend Dan Blocker died. Landon had originally written the 14th season's two hour premiere episode based on the marriage of Blocker's character Hoss. Landon, too grieved to do a memorial episode to honor his friend, instead cast himself in the groom's role of his already finished script. During its final season in 1973, Bonanza declined in the ratings and was cancelled that same year. Landon appeared in all 14 seasons of Bonanza.

[edit] Little House on the Prairie

The year after Bonanza was cancelled, Landon went on to star in the pilot of yet another successful western television series called Little House on the Prairie, again for NBC. The show was taken from a 1935 book that was published by Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose character in the show was played by a then-unknown actress, Melissa Gilbert. In addition to Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson played Mary Ingalls, the oldest daughter in the Ingalls family, and Karen Grassle also starred as Charles's wife, Caroline Ingalls. Landon served as executive producer, writer, and director of the show, making him one of the series' driving forces. The show, a success in its first season, emphasized family values and relationships. Little House became Landon's second longest running series. Above all, the entire cast shared a close bond with Landon, especially Gilbert.

Fatherhood on screen and off led him to team up with Oscar-winner Paul Newman, and First Lady Nancy Reagan, for a drug abuse foundation called, Just Say No. Landon's real-life daughter, Leslie, appeared as a plague victim in one episode and later as a recurring character.

Tremendously popular with viewers, the show was nominated for several Emmys and Golden Globes. After eight seasons, Little House was retooled by NBC in 1982. That same year, Landon produced and directed Little House: A New Beginning, which focused on the Wilder family and the Walnut Grove community. The series lasted one year.

Gilbert said of her mentor that Landon became a "second father" to her when she lost her own father, at age 11. It was uncertain to the actor hearing all about it at the time before he stepped in. She also got to spend most of the weekends visiting Landon's real-life family in 1976. Five years later in 1981, when Gilbert was only 17, she even took Michael Landon Jr. to the prom. After the series ended, Gilbert stayed connected with Landon for the next 8 years, until Landon's own death. After Landon's death, she named her son, Michael Garrett Boxleitner (1995), after Landon.

[edit] Highway to Heaven

After producing both the Father Murphy TV series and a movie, Sam's Son, Landon went on to star in another successful television series. On Highway to Heaven, he played Jonathan Smith, a probationary guardian angel whose job was to help people to earn his angel wings. His co-star on the show was Victor French (who previously co-starred on Landon's Little House on the Prairie). He played an ex-cop, Mark Gordon. NBC didn't feel the show had a prayer, but it too proved to be another hit for Landon. This was also the first religious fantasy drama series, starting a specialized subgenre which included later shows such as Touched by an Angel. On Highway, Landon served as executive producer, writer and director of the show. Though Landon felt that he liked writing the best, and acting the least, he continued to act because actors get more money than writers [citation needed].

By 1985, prior to hiring his son Michael Landon Jr. as a member of his camera crew, he also brought real-life cancer patients and disabled people to the set. His decision to work with disabled people led him to hire a couple of adults with disabilities to write episodes for Highway. He also revamped the classic 1957 film, I Was a Teenage Werewolf. By its fifth season, Highway took a nose dive in the ratings, and in June, co-star Victor French died of lung cancer. Before the series cancellation in 1989, he even invited his youngest daughter Jennifer Landon for the final episode.

[edit] Personal life

Landon was married three times.

  • Dodie Levy-Fraser (married in March 1956/divorced in December 1962)
  • Lynn Noe|(Marjorie) Lynn Noe (married on January 12, 1963/divorced 1980)
    • Leslie Ann Landon, born October 11, 1962
    • Michael Landon Jr., born June 20, 1964
    • Shawna Leigh Landon, born December 4, 1971
    • Christopher Beau Landon, born February 27, 1975

    (Landon at one point attempted to adopt Lynn's daughter, Cheryl Pontrelli, from her first marriage, but the girl's birth father wouldn't allow it.)

His second marriage ended in a very bitter and public divorce in 1980, but the final divorce decree did not address the division of assets. A separate battle over the division of the couple's community property took two years to settle and ended up costing Landon more than US$26 million in 1982. Many fans felt betrayed by Landon, who had always played morally upstanding characters on television. Defending himself in interviews, Landon replied, "Nobody's perfect. Not Charles Ingalls. Not Michael Landon."

In February 1959, Landon lost his father to a massive heart attack. In 1973, his step-daughter, Cheryl was involved in a serious car accident. She was hospitalized in a coma. Three years later in 1976, Cheryl suffered bouts of depression which led to an addiction to painkillers. In March 1981, Landon's mother, Peggy O' Neill, died.

Landon's shows were all on NBC, but after ending Highway, he moved to CBS and in 1991 starred in a two hour pilot called Us. This was meant to be another series for Landon, but on April 5, he was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, an inoperable pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver and lymph nodes. Doctors believe Landon's heavy cigarette smoking - four packs a day - contributed to this cancer.

On May 9, 1991, he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to speak of his illness, promising to fight the cancer and asking fans to pray for him. However, almost 2 months later, on July 1, 1991, Landon died in Malibu, California, aged 54.

He was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. Cindy and Michael's family were joined by 500 other mourners including former President Ronald Reagan (with whom Michael had once chopped wood) and his wife Nancy. Merlin Olsen, Ernest Borgnine, Brian Keith and many of Michael's costars, such as Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson, were present. Although Michael's first wife, Dodie, accompanied by her two sons were present, his second wife, Lynn, was absent.

After his death, Landon was again on the covers of weekly tabloids when it was revealed that he had done some last-minute changing to his will. Rather than giving his nine children an equal inheritance, he chose to give a larger portion to his and Cindy's two children.

For his contribution to the television industry, Michael Landon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 N. Vine Street. In 1998, he was inducted posthumously into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

[edit] Quotes

Michael about his times with his father: "I felt my father's presence with me, enlightening my memories, helping me to commit to paper the feelings I had. . . I really heard my father speaking to me from the other dimension, filling my mind with just the right words. The story came so fast and was so right. In three days, the script was complete." [1]

Michael: "I was grown before I realized that other mothers didn't put their heads in the oven."[1]

Michael: "Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows."[1]

Michael encouraging others to watch clean TV: "I want people to laugh and cry, not just sit and stare at the TV. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I think viewers are hungry for shows in which people say something meaningful."[1]

Michael's mother, Peggy O'Neill, talked about his irresponsible behavior: "I don't know where he lives. I never bother him because he doesn't like me asking questions. He's quite secretive. He keeps me at a distance. I don't even have his phone number. Why should I? I'm not very important. I'm just his mother."[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Michael Landon at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] External links

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