 |
Laurene Landon | |
|---|---|
 Landon in 2008 | |
| Born | Laurene Landon Coughlin March 17, 1957 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1979–present |
Laurene Landon Coughlin (born March 17, 1957) is a Canadianfilm and television actress. She first began appearing in movies in the 1980s. She is best known for her roles in Maniac Cop (1988) and Maniac Cop 2 (1990), ...All the Marbles (1981), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), I, the Jury (1982) and Hundra (1983).
Born in Toronto, Ontario, she attended California State University and began training in their police academy program, but decided that law enforcement was not for her when she came to the realization that she might someday have to use a gun. [1] So she decided to try her hand at acting and began her career as an extra in films.
Landon began acting in a bit part in 1979's Bitter Heritage, also released as Naked in My Grave. She was cast as a featured skater in Roller Boogie in that same year. She gained a small role in 1981's Full Moon High , her first of many collaborations with director Larry Cohen. She spent part of her early career as a model and in 1980 was a runner-up in the Miss Black Velvet pageant in Las Vegas. There, a casting director told her to go see another casting director in Los Angeles, regarding a feature film called ...All the Marbles (alternate title, The California Dolls). As she found modeling boring and was unable to sit still for hours at a time, she took his suggestion and landed the role of "Molly" in the film. [2]
Landon starred as Mike Hammer's right-hand woman Velda in Larry Cohen and Richard T. Heffron's acclaimed 1982 Mickey Spillane movie adaptation I, the Jury . [3] She appeared in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Hundra (1983), Maniac Cop (1988), and Maniac Cop 2 (1990). She returned to film acting as "Birdy" in the 2005 television movie Masters of Horror: Pick Me Up , followed by small or uncredited roles in the films Stand Up (2007) and Drive (2011). She appeared in Alien Vampz and Alien Vampz 2, as well as the comedy Strap-Off. In 2015, she played Detective Higgins in Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance , had a supporting role in the feature film Day Out of Days , and appeared in Sky . She had a starring role in the 2017 film, Syndicate Smashers.
| Year | Film/TV Show | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Bitter Heritage | aka Naked in My Grave | |
| 1979 | Scoring | Marsha | |
| 1979 | Roller Boogie | Featured skater | |
| 1981 | ...All the Marbles | Molly | reissued as The California Dolls |
| 1981 | Full Moon High | Blondie | |
| 1982 | Airplane II: The Sequel | Testa, shuttle stewardess | |
| 1982 | I, the Jury | Velda | |
| 1983 | Hundra | Hundra | |
| 1984 | Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold | Yellow Hair | |
| 1985 | The Stuff | Cameo appearance in The Stuff commercial | |
| 1986 | Armed Response | Deborah Silverstein | |
| 1986 | America 3000 | Vena | |
| 1987 | It's Alive III: Island of the Alive | Sally | |
| 1988 | Maniac Cop | Teresa Mallory | |
| 1989 | Wicked Stepmother | Vanilla | |
| 1989 | A Hollywood Story | Guest star | |
| 1990 | The Ambulance | Patty | |
| 1990 | Maniac Cop 2 | Teresa Mallory | |
| 2005 | Masters of Horror: Pick Me Up | Birdy | |
| 2007 | Stand Up | Hippie Woman | |
| 2011 | Drive | actress | uncredited |
| 2013 | Knife to a Gunfight | Barry | |
| 2014 | Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films | Herself | Documentary on the story of The Cannon Group |
| 2015 | Hunter | Major Sintel | |
| 2015 | Day Out of Days | Anne Malone | |
| 2015 | Sky | Charlene | |
| 2015 | Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance | Detective Higgins | |
| 2016 | Enter the Samurai | Herself | Documentary on the creation of Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance |
| 2017 | Syndicate Smasher | Detective Carol Driscoll | |
| 2019 | Nation's Fire | Myra | |
| 2020 | Agramons Gate | Sharon Stann | |
| 2020 | Sorrow's Way | Opal | pre-production |
| 2022 | Staycation | Tabitha Musgraves | |
| 2022 | The Once and Future Smash | Herself | |
Linda Carroll Hamilton is an American actress. Known for portraying tough, resilient characters, she made her film debut in 1979 before achieving fame with her starring role as Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984) and two of its sequels, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Saturn Awards, two MTV Movie Awards, a Satellite Award and a Romy Award, as well as nominations for three Golden Globes and one Primetime Emmy.
Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver is an American actress. Prolific in film since the late 1970s, she is known for her pioneering portrayals of action heroines in science fiction and horror films. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.
Lesley-Anne Down is a British actress and singer. She made her motion picture debut in the 1969 drama film The Smashing Bird I Used to Know and later appeared in films Assault (1971), Countess Dracula (1971) and Pope Joan (1972). She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV period drama series, Upstairs, Downstairs (1973–75).
Airplane II: The Sequel is a 1982 American parody film written and directed by Ken Finkleman in his directorial debut and starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett, William Shatner, Rip Torn, and Sonny Bono. A sequel to the 1980 film Airplane!, it was released on December 10, 1982.
Julie Beth Hagerty is an American actress. She starred as Elaine Dickinson in the films Airplane! (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982). Her other film roles include A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), Lost in America (1985), What About Bob? (1991), She’s the Man (2006), A Master Builder (2014), Instant Family (2018), Noelle, Marriage Story, and A Christmas Story Christmas (2022).
Lawrence George Cohen was an American filmmaker. He originally emerged as the writer of blaxploitation films such as Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem, before becoming known as an author of horror and science fiction films — often containing police procedural and satirical elements — during the 1970s and 1980s. His directorial works include It's Alive (1974) and its sequels, God Told Me To (1976), The Stuff (1985) and A Return to Salem's Lot (1987).
Maniac Cop is a 1988 American slasher film directed by William Lustig, written by Larry Cohen, and starring Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon, Richard Roundtree, William Smith, Robert Z'Dar, and Sheree North. Z'Dar plays the title character, a murderous ex-police officer returned from the dead, and seeks revenge on the people who wronged him. It is the first installment in the Maniac Cop film series. Maniac Cop was released on May 13, 1988 and grossed $671,382 worldwide on a budget of $1.1 million. The film was followed by two sequels, Maniac Cop 2 (1990) and Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence (1993).
Maniac Cop 2 is a 1990 American slasher film directed by William Lustig and written by Larry Cohen. It is the second installment in the Maniac Cop film series. It stars Robert Davi, Claudia Christian, Michael Lerner, and Bruce Campbell, with Robert Z'Dar returning as Matthew Cordell, an undead police officer-turned-serial killer following his own murder.
Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence is a 1992 American slasher film written by Larry Cohen and directed by William Lustig. It is the third and final installment in the Maniac Cop film series.
The Hidden is a 1987 American science fiction film directed by Jack Sholder, written by Jim Kouf, and released by New Line Cinema. It stars Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri, along with Clu Gulager, Chris Mulkey, Ed O'Ross, Clarence Felder, Claudia Christian and Larry Cedar, and received mostly positive reviews. A sequel, The Hidden II, was directed by Seth Pinsker and released in 1993.
I, the Jury is a 1982 American neo-noir crime thriller film based on the 1947 best-selling detective novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. The story was previously filmed in 3D in 1953. Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay and was hired to direct, but was replaced when the film's budget was already out of control after one week of shooting. He was replaced at short notice by veteran TV director Richard T. Heffron.
Xtro is a 1983 British science fiction horror film written and directed by Harry Bromley Davenport. The film stars Bernice Stegers, Philip Sayer, Simon Nash, and Maryam d'Abo. The film focuses on a man who was abducted by aliens and returns back to his wife and son three years later.
Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not "black enough" for certain roles.
God Told Me To is a 1976 science fiction horror film written, directed, and produced by Larry Cohen. Like many of Cohen's films, it was shot on location in New York City and incorporates aspects of the police procedural.
The Ambulance is a 1990 American comedy thriller film written and directed by Larry Cohen. It stars Eric Roberts, Megan Gallagher, James Earl Jones, Janine Turner, Red Buttons, and Eric Braeden as the Doctor. Kevin Hagen plays a cop. In his first film role, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics has a small role as himself.
...All the Marbles is a 1981 American comedy-drama film about the trials and travails of a female wrestling tag team and their manager. It was directed by Robert Aldrich and stars Peter Falk, Vicki Frederick and Laurene Landon. The Pittsburgh Steeler hall of famer "Mean" Joe Greene plays himself.
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon, based on a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. It follows a spaceship crew who investigate a derelict spaceship and are hunted by a deadly extraterrestrial creature. The film stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto. It was produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill through their company Brandywine Productions and was distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Giler and Hill revised and made additions to the script; Shusett was the executive producer. The alien creatures and environments were designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, while the concept artists Ron Cobb and Chris Foss designed the other sets.
El Condor is a 1970 American Western film directed by John Guillermin.
Hundra is a 1983 Italian-American-Spanish fantasy film co-written and directed by Matt Cimber and starring Laurene Landon.
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive is a 1987 American science fiction horror film written and directed by Larry Cohen. It is the sequel to the 1978 film It Lives Again. The film stars Michael Moriarty, Karen Black, Laurene Landon, James Dixon, Gerrit Graham, Macdonald Carey and Neal Israel. The film was released by Warner Bros. in May 1987.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
