Lew Landers
Louis Friedlander (January 2, 1901 – December 16, 1962), known by the stage name Lew Landers, was an American film and television director. He was active from the silent era to the early 1960's, directing over 170 productions.
Also recorded as Louis Friedlander
Lew Landers

RKO Pictures · eBay, card · Public domain
- Name
- Lew Landers
- Birth Name
- Louis Friedlander
- Born
- 2 January 1901
- Birthplace
- New York City, U.S.
- Died
- 16 December 1962
- Place of death
- Palm Desert, California, U.S.
- Occupation
- Film and television director
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
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Louis Friedlander (January 2, 1901 – December 16, 1962), known by the stage name Lew Landers, was an American film and television director. He was active from the silent era to the early 1960's, directing over 170 productions.
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Note VALÉORINE
Lew Landers (1901–1962) was an actor and director, of American nationality. The actor was born in New York City and died in Palm Desert. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Lew Landers • Birth Name — Louis Friedlander • Born — 2 January 1901 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Died — 16 December 1962 • Place of death — Palm Desert, California, U.S. • Other Names — Louis Friedlander Louis Friedländer Louis Friendlander • Occupation — Film and television director
Biography
Biography
Born Louis Friedlander in New York City in 1901, Landers began his movie career as an actor. In 1914, he appeared in two features: D.W. Griffith's drama The Escape and the comedy short Admission – Two Pins, under his birth name. He became an assistant director at Universal Pictures in 1922. He began making films in the 1930s, one of his early ones being the Boris Karloff / Bela Lugosi thriller The Raven (1935). After directing a few more features, he changed his name to Lew Landers and directed more than 100 films in a variety of genres, including Westerns, comedies, and horror movies. He worked for every major film studio—and many minor ones—during his career. Since 1943, he began to alternate his movie work with directing television series, including two episodes of Adventures of Superman and the campy Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.
Death
Death
On December 16, 1962, Landers died of a heart attack in Palm Desert, California. His grave is located at Chapel of the Pines Crematory.
In popular culture
In popular culture
Actor Jim McKrell played a TV news reporter named Lew Landers in two films directed by Joe Dante: The Howling (1981) and Gremlins (1984).
Partial filmography
Partial filmography
• The Vanishing Shadow (1934) • The Red Rider (1934) • Tailspin Tommy (serial) (1934) • Rustlers of Red Dog (1935) • The Call of the Savage (1935) • The Raven (1935) • Without Orders (1936) • Night Waitress (1936) • Flight from Glory (1937) • Living on Love (1937) • Danger Patrol (1937) • You Can't Buy Luck (1937) • The Man Who Found Himself (1937) • Border Cafe (1937) • They Wanted to Marry (1937) • Annabel Takes a Tour (1938) • Blind Alibi (1938) • The Affairs of Annabel (1938) • Crashing Hollywood (1938) • Double Danger (1938) • Law of the Underworld (1938) • Smashing the Rackets (1938) • Sky Giant (1938) • Condemned Women (1938) • Fixer Dugan (1939) • Bad Lands (1939) • Conspiracy (1939) • The Girl and the Gambler (1939) • Twelve Crowded Hours (1939) • Pacific Liner (1939) • Enemy Agent (1940) • La Conga Nights (1940) • Ski Patrol (1940) • Harvard, Here I Come! (1941) • Back in the Saddle (1941) • The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942) • The Man Who Returned to Life (1942) • Junior Army (1942) • Stand By All Networks (1942) • Submarine Raider (1942) • Atlantic Convoy (1942) • Power of the Press (1943) • After Midnight with Boston Blackie (1943) • Doughboys in Ireland (1943) • The Return of the Vampire (1943) • Stars on Parade (1944) • The Ghost That Walks Alone (1944) • Crime, Inc. (1945) • The Power of the Whistler (1945) • The Mask of Diijon (1946) • A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946) • The Truth About Murder (1946) • Death Valley (1946) • Devil Ship (1947) • The Son of Rusty (1947) • Danger Street (1947) • Public Prosecutor (TV series, 1947–48) • Adventures of Gallant Bess (1948) • My Dog Rusty (1948) • Inner Sanctum (1948) • Stagecoach Kid (1949) • Barbary Pirate (1949) • Air Hostess (1949) • Law of the Barbary Coast (1949) • Chain Gang (1950) • Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) • State Penitentiary (1950) • Revenue Agent (1950) • Last of the Buccaneers (1950) • Beauty on Parade (1950) • Dynamite Pass (1950) • Tyrant of the Sea (1950) • Girls' School (1950) • Jungle Manhunt (1951) • When the Redskins Rode (1951) • The Magic Carpet (1951) • The Big Gusher (1951) • Arctic Flight (1952) • Aladdin and His Lamp (1952) • California Conquest (1952) • Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952) • Terry and the Pirates (9 episodes, 1953) • Run for the Hills (1953) • Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953) • Tangier Incident (1953) • Meet Corliss Archer (1 episode, 1954) • Science Fiction Theatre (1 episode, 1955) • Tales of the Texas Rangers (10 episodes, 1955–1957) • Casey Jones (4 episodes, 1957–1958) • Highway Patrol (10 episodes, 1955–1959) • Mackenzie's Raiders (9 episodes, 1958–1959) • Tombstone Territory (2 episodes, 1959–1960) • The Alaskans (1 episode, 1960) • Sugarfoot (2 episodes, 1961) • Bat Masterson (4 episodes, 1959–1961) • Terrified (1962)

Poster for the 1945 film Crime, Inc.. At bottom right is Made in USA.
Prc=Producers Releasing Corporation · Original text: eBay poster)

Poster for the American film Living on Love (1937).
RKO Radio Pictures · Original text: eBay card)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1962
Lew Landers died in 1962 at Palm Desert.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
New York City.
Birth place
Palm Desert.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Lew Landers”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
institutional register
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3237273: Lew Landers
General reference · Wikimedia Foundation
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
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References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessinstitutional register
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3237273: Lew LandersWikimedia Foundation
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,604 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Levi KreisPerson
- Levon MkrtchyanPerson
- Lew AyresPerson
- Lew CodyPerson
- Lew TemplePerson
- Lewis AllenPerson
- Lewis ArquettePerson
- Lewis BlackPerson
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