Steve Landesberg

For the American economist, see Steven Landsburg.

Steve Landesberg
Landesberg in 1979
Born	Stephen Landesberg (1936-11-23)November 23, 1936 The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Died	December 20, 2010(2010-12-20) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian, voice actor
Years active	1971–2009
Spouse	Nancy Ross ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	1

Steve Landesberg (November 23, 1936 – December 20, 2010) was an American actor, comedian, and voice actor known for his role as the erudite, unflappable police detective Arthur P. Dietrich on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller, for which he was nominated for three Emmy Awards.

Life and career

Landesberg was born November 23, 1936, in the Bronx, New York, to Ann Landesberg, a milliner, and Abraham Landesberg, a grocery store-owner. He was part of improv group New York Stickball Team, which performed several shows that were aired on cable television shortly after Barney Miller went off the air.

Landesberg was a member of the cast of the 1974 CBS situation comedy Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers. He made guest appearances on the TV shows The Tonight Show, The Rockford Files, Law & Order, Saturday Night Live, The Golden Girls, Ghost Whisperer, That '70s Show and Everybody Hates Chris. He starred in Starz's original show Head Case as Dr. Myron Finkelstein. He appeared in the motion pictures Wild Hogs, Leader of the Band, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He appeared in 124 episodes of Barney Miller as Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich starting from the last episode of the 1975 season until the end of the series in 1982. He was a remarkably gifted dialectician which played heavily in his standup comedy. Landesberg can be historically noted as the last successful dialect comic before that particular vein of comedy was branded inappropriate.

Landesberg also co-starred in the TV movie Black Bart, a spin-off of Blazing Saddles.

In the mid-1980s, he was the spokesman in television and print advertisements for Northwestern Bell's long-distance telephone services.

He and his wife Nancy Ross Landesberg had a daughter Elizabeth.

Death

Landesberg died from colon cancer on December 20, 2010, aged 74. He was cremated.

Age

Throughout his career, Landesberg was noncommittal about his age and year of birth. At the time of his death, many news outlets mistakenly reported his age as 65; some never corrected that story. In acknowledging that he was actually nine years older than he had long claimed, his daughter Elizabeth said he had provided varying birth dates over the years. "He got kind of a late start in show business," she explained, "so he tried to straddle the generations. He fooled the whole world. People were surprised to think he was even 65." Landesberg commented on the issue in a 1979 Washington Post profile for which he refused to give his age:

Let's just say I started late. It hurts you with casting directors... If you tell them your age–let's say you're middle-aged–and they've never heard of you, they figure you're no good, or else they would've heard of you already. I tell my friends not to tell their ages.

Partial filmography

• You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat (1971) - Men's Room Attendant
• Blade (1973) - Debaum
• Barney Miller (1975–1982, TV Series) - Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich / Father Paul
• Leader of the Band (1987) - Eddie Layton
• Doubles (1991) - George
• Ladybugs (1992) - Dr. Von Kemp (uncredited)
• Little Miss Millions (1993) - Harvey Lipschitz
• Marsupilami (1993) - Eduardo (voice)
• The Crazysitter (1994) - Detective Bristol
• The Souler Opposite (1998) - Himself
• Puppet (1999) - Charles
• Gas (2004) - Sam
• A Lousy 10 Grand (2004) - Prosecutor
• Wild Hogs (2007) - Accountant
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) - Dr. Rosenbaum
• Everybody Hates Chris (2009, TV Series) - Mr. Levine

External links

• Steve Landesberg at IMDb
• Steve Landesberg at the Comedy Hall of Fame
• Steve Landesberg at Find a Grave