Oscar-winning actor Martin Landau dead at 89

Actor Martin Landau arrives for the European premiere of the film Frankenweenie, on Oct 10, 2012. PHOTO: REUTERS

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Martin Landau, a star of the 1960s television series Mission: Impossible who made a late-career comeback with an Academy Award-winning performance in the 1994 film Ed Wood, died on Saturday (July 15) at age 89, his publicist said on Sunday.

Landau died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles from unexpected complications during a short hospitalisation for an undisclosed illness, publicist Dick Guttman said in a statement.

Landau won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of horror movie star Bela Lugosi in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood. He had been nominated for an Academy Award twice before, first for his performance in Francis Coppola's Tucker and again for Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors.

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