John Landis

Lambasted by critics and revered by fans, John Landis began his outrageous Hollywood ascent while still a teenager, working as a mailboy at 20th-Century Fox. He brought his adolescent sensibilities to the screen in such cult hits as the horror-film spoof Schlock (1976), which he wrote, directed, and starred in, Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Soon afterward he cowrote (with Dan Aykroyd) and directed the classic Blues Brothers (1980), and wrote and directed An American Werewolf in London (1981). Landis also cowrote, produced, and directed Michael Jackson's groundbreaking Thriller video (1985).