Sonny Landham

• Name — Sonny Landham • Birth Name — William Marion Landham III • Born — 11 February 1941 • Birthplace — Canton, Georgia, U.S. • Died — 17 August 2017 • Place of death — Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1969–2009

Landham was born February 11, 1941, in Canton, Georgia, and raised in Rome, Georgia. He was half Cherokee descent, one-eighth Seminole descent, and speculated the rest as German, English, and Irish descent. He also stated he had Jewish heritage. Landham had at least one sibling, a sister, Dawn. He attended Saint Mary's Catholic School and Darlington School before playing football for a year at the University of Georgia. Subsequently, he transferred to and graduated from Oglethorpe University. After college, he did a stint in the U.S. Army, worked in an oil field, as an ordained Baptist minister, and a model.

Landham studied acting for two years at Pasadena Playhouse before moving to New York in 1968 to pursue a career in acting. At the beginning of his acting career, Landham was an actor in pornographic films for financial reasons. He also posed for nude layout for Playgirl. He then became a mainstream movie actor and appeared in a number of Hollywood films, including The Warriors (1979) as a subway policeman whose leg gets broken by a baseball bat-wielding Michael Beck, 48 Hrs. (1982), Predator (1987), Action Jackson (1988), and Lock Up (1989).

In 2003, Landham ran in the Republican Party primary election for the post of Governor of Kentucky, hoping to repeat the success of his Predator castmate Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura; later that same year, Arnold Schwarzenegger (another Predator castmate) was elected governor of California. He based his candidacy on opposition to an amendment which endorsed the Kentucky Family Court, saying his bad experiences at the hands of the family court had convinced him it was for the benefit of lawyers rather than families or children. He was unsuccessful in gaining the party's nomination. He ran briefly as an independent candidate, but withdrew on June 18, 2003, and endorsed the Republican slate. In January 2004, Landham announced his candidacy for the 27th State Senate District of Kentucky. That year he was the keynote speaker at the official launch party of the radio show, The Political Cesspool. In 2005, Landham spoke at the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC) convention. On June 25, 2008, Landham announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell, as a Libertarian. On July 23, 2008, Landham appeared on the political radio show The Weekly Filibuster, where he was asked, in relation to past comments of his quoted in the Louisville Courier-Journal, if he was calling for the genocide of Arab people. He replied, "I call for outright bombing them back into the sand until they surrender and if they don't surrender, then you continue the war. Because if you don't, you will never have peace in the United States. Now do you want peace in the United States or do you want to live to some utopian ideals that are impossible in a world?" He further called for Arabs to be banned from entering the United States, and referred to that ethnic group as "camel dung-shovelers", and when questioned on this, suggested using the epithets "rag-heads" and "camel jockeys". On July 28, the Kentucky Libertarian Party asked Landham to withdraw his nomination, citing those comments and explaining that his politics did not agree with their platform and values.

Landham was married twice. He had two children, including a son named William, and a daughter named Priscilla. After being convicted on federal charges of making threatening and obscene phone calls to his wife, Landham spent three years in prison. However, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the conviction in May 2001.

Landham died on August 17, 2017, aged 76, from congestive heart failure.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1981 — B. J. and the Bear — Football Player — Episode: "Beauties and the Beasts" • 1984 — The A-Team — Ryker — Episode: "The Island" • 1984–1985 — Call to Glory — Willy Nighthawk — 2 episodes • 1985 — The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission — Sam Sixkiller — Television film • Hardcastle and McCormick — Sheriff Billy Blackstone — Episode: "You Don't Hear the One that Gets You" • 1986 — Fortune Dane — Episode: "Fortune Dane" • The Fall Guy — Jake — Episode: "War of the Wheel" • North Star — Becker — Television film • 1987 — Miami Vice — "Toad" — Episode: "Viking Bikers from Hell" • 1992 — Three Days To A Kill — Pepe — Television film • 1993 — Extralarge: Condor Mission — Indian — Television film

Sonny Landham was recorded at birth as William M. The authorities additionally record the headings Bill Ashley, Tex Miller, Doug Jackson and Sonny Landam. His recorded language was English.

Sonny Landham is recorded with the occupation pornographic actor. Recorded with the occupation stunt performer. Classed in the genre pornographic film. Recorded as actor, politician, stunt performer, film producer and film director. Recorded at birth as William M.