Rollin Hand

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Rollin Hand is an agent of the Impossible Missions Force in the Mission: Impossible TV series. He was played by actor Martin Landau.

[edit] Role

Rollin Hand's role as an IMF agent was that of an actor and disguise expert. In a theatrical brochure that headed his dossier, he was described as a quick-change artist and billed as "The Man Of A Million Faces." As such, he had formidable skills in mimicry and voice imitation as well as a mastery of make-up that rivaled that of Lon Chaney. Rollin is willing to do solo missions as well as help with personal missions for the IMF leader.

[edit] Landau's tenure

Even though the role of Hand had been created with him in mind, Landau refused to commit to the series for longer than one season at a time. When the producers tried to convince him and his by-then wife, Barbara Bain, to renew their commitment on a multi-season basis, Landau and Bain instead resigned from the cast. In the first season Landau was a guest star in every episode he was in.

It proved to be a testament to Landau's acting ability that when he impersonated Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood, he won an Academy Award for his performance.