Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesBarney Miller star Steve Landesberg has died at age 65, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The character actor with the hangdog face and laconic charisma had most recently starred as lazy psychiatrist Myron Finklestein in the Starz cable-TV comedy series Head Case, but also had a role in 2008′s Forgetting Sarah Marshall and a small turn in 2007′s Wild Hogs. His most famous part, though, was as Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich, the unflappable know-it-all policeman on the ’70s sitcom Barney Miller. Landesberg had fought a long battle with cancer.
Dec 20
2010
08:38 PM ET
Steve Landesberg, 'Barney Miller' co-star, dies at 65
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I’m sorry to hear this. I loved him on Barney Miller. I enjoyed his laid back delivery and his nonchalance. RIP Mr. Landesberg.
I was watching Barney Miller last night, remembering what a great show it was, with a great cast. Landesberg was always a joy to watch. RIP.
He was a wonderful actor! Loved his guest role on the Golden Girls, a very dry, slick comedic delivery!
that is exactly what I was thinking! He was a crack-up as Stan’s shrink. Totally funny guy – one of those people who makes comedy look easy, which it obviously isn’t.
I will never forget the episode where he brings his date by the girls’ house (a woman from another sitcom at the time). Stan and Dorothy discover that the shrink has been telling people about them (obviously pre-HIPPA) but using the pseudonyms “Dan and Morothy.” When he finds out that Stan slept with Dorothy’s sister, he says, “Hey, you’re off the monkey! Mazel tov!”
*
I have NO IDEA why that episode is stuck in my long-term memory, but it still cracks me up. In my family, when we are telling any kind of story that requires a pseudonym, we always add “and Morothy” to the name.
I still hear him doing ads on the radio all the time. I’m sorry to hear this.
“Star” of Forgetting Sarah Marshall? That is a bit of a stretch…
It says he had a role in Sarah Marshall, it didn’t say he was the star of the movie.
So why is this titled Forgetting Sarah Marshall acto instead of Barney Miller actor since he’s most famous for that? I barely remember him in Sarah. Anyway RIP–loved you on Barney Miller.
Probably because the majority of people who read EW weren’t alive when Barney Miller was on the tube and they don’t care about any TV show or movie from the 20th Century!!!!
So true.
Barney Miller forever!!!
Landesberg was great at funny voices. The first time I heard him was on a 1972 comedy album called “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Godfather”* *but Don’t Ask!!! He was a great comic and actor. RIP
So sad to hear RIP and God Bless
Heartbreaking news. Terrible.
As a kid growing up in the 70′s, Arthur Deitrich and by extension Steve Landesberg was one of my favorites. Landesberg took a character that could have been an insufferable know-it-all and made him warm, wry, humane and terrfically funny. Another great talent who will be missed.
Anyone in the Pacific Northwest remember him in those “U-nited furniture warehouse… BOMP BOMP” advertisements on TV?
That was HIM? I remember those well.
He was only 65?? It seemed like he was around forever. I loved Barney Miller and it’s starting to come back in reruns. R.I.P.
His character was great. It is sad they don’t make sitcoms like “Barney Miller” anymore. LT. DEITRICH LIVES.
I’ve loved Landesberg since his early stand-up days. He was incredibly versatile, with a huge array of accents and characters that he invariably nailed. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and his work. Condolences to his family and friends.
His dry wit and line delivery were spot on. RIP Dietrich.
Landesberg and Jack Soo were so very dry and so very funny. But Barney Miller was a magnificent show and I agree, they really don’t make that type of show any more and those that have not experienced that type of ensemble acting are missing a lot. Dietrich was wonderful.