Character Actor Steve Landesberg Dies
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 8:35PM Best known for his role on "Barney Miller", longtime actor Steve Landesberg died at the age of 65.
Cause of death is not known.
More recently, Landesberg played a doctor in the 2008 hit movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."
Landesberg appeared in dozens of TV shows, his quick comedic timing and bespectacled face easily recognizable. Recent credits included "Everybody Hates Chris," ''Just Jordan," ''That 70s Show" and "American Dad."
His most successful role was that of Arthur Dietrich on "Barney Miller, which was set in a New York City police station populated by the oddballs and eccentrics of the NYC police force. It aired from 1975 to 1982.
Landesberg's Dietrich was noted for his endless knowledge and expertise on seemingly every obscure subject imaginable, which was coupled with a sometimes patronizing attitude. He once refused to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to a fellow officer, explaining he was an agnostic and wouldn't know who to thank.
In "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," he listened patiently as Marshall's former boyfriend described a sexual tryst, then revealed he was really a pediatrician.
Here's the "Sarah Marshall" trailer with Landesberg in it.
