Actor Steve Landesberg, who played Det. Dietrich on ABC's 'Barney Miller,' dies [Updated]

 

 

This is a corrected version of an earlier post. See note below.

Steve Landesberg, a comic actor who played Det. Arthur Dietrich on the long-running ABC sitcom "Barney Miller," has died in Los Angeles.

Landesberg's agent, Jeff Leavitt, confirmed the death.

Landesberg was part of a solid crew of actors playing New York Police Department detectives in the ensemble cast that included Hal Linden as Miller, Abe Vigoda as Fish, Ron Glass as Harris, Max Gail as Wojo and Jack Soo as Yemana. Landesberg appeared on the show from 1976 to 1982.

More recently he had a role in the 2008 film "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

A full obituary will follow at www.latimes.com/obits.

For the record, 6:10 p.m. Dec. 20: An earlier version of this post and its headline gave Landesberg's age as 65. In fact, there is some uncertainty about his date of birth. We will report that information in a future post.

 -- Claire Noland

Photo: Steve Landesberg, back row center, played Dietrich on "Barney Miller." Credit: ABC

Comments

[Ernie Ayala]

I remember seeing Landesberg first at Kelly's Steak House on the loop in Chicago in 1971. His sense of humor was wry but I imagined him as a teacher talking to us and impressed with his routine. I immediately remembered him when he first came out on Barney Miller, my favorite show at the time. I always felt he should have had more work because he was unique in his presentation. Doesn't leave much of the cast left. Barney, Wojo and Harris surviving.

[CV]

Ernie: don't forget about Abe Vigoda (Fish). He's very much alive and almost 90!

[Ernie Ayala]

Oh, that's right. I was looking at the picture and counting who was still around. The rumors of Abe Vigoda's demise were indeed exagerated. He is a very fit Novagenerian. His wife and adopted son on the spin-off show have also passed.