Landis Admits Hiring Illegal Child Actors

Movie director John Landis, testifying in his defense in the “Twilight Zone” manslaughter trial, admitted today that he illegally hired two children to act in a night scene in which they and actor Vic Morrow were killed.

“We decided to break the law,” Landis said, during questioning by his attorney, James Neal. “We decided wrongly to violate the labor code.”

Landis and four associates are on trial in Los Angeles Superior Court for involuntary manslaughter in connection with the July 23, 1982, deaths of Morrow and the two children, Myca Dinh Lee, 7, and Renee Chen, 6. The three were killed when a helicopter crippled by special effects explosions crashed on top of them during filming of “Twilight Zone: The Movie.”

Calls It His Idea

Landis, turning in the witness chair to face jurors, testified that it was his idea to have Morrow rescue two Vietnamese youngsters from a hut beside a river in a mock Vietnamese village. Many jurors took copious notes as he spoke.

He had added the youngsters to the movie to soften the harshness of Morrow’s character--Bill, a bigot forced to confront his prejudices--after the studio financing the film, Warner Bros., asked him to soften the character, he testified.

“I invented a scene where Bill finds himself in Southeast Asia and finds a deserted village. He’s been pretty beat up by now, and he staggers into a hut. He is discovered by two Vietnamese children, and in dialogue with the children he comes to the realization that these children are in the position he’s in; they are victims too,” Landis said.

Heroic Rescue Planned

He then described how a helicopter was scripted to come over the village, mistaking the Morrow character for a Viet Cong, and to begin shooting. Amid explosions, Bill was to heroically rescue the children, Landis said.

Landis also countered previous testimony by a casting director’s assistant, who had said she told Landis she felt the scene was dangerous.

“Did she say that?” defense attorney Neal asked Landis.

“Absolutely not,” Landis replied.

He was calm on the witness stand in a courtroom so packed with reporters and spectators that many would-be attendees were barred for lack of space.

Landis’ wife, Deborah, sat in a front-row seat. Before he took the stand--out of the presence of the jury--she kissed him.