Steven Landesberg

 Steven Landesberg (November 23, 1936 – December 20, 2010)

He was an actor, comedian, and voice actor known for his role as the police detective Arthur P. Dietrich on the series Barney Miller, for which he was nominated for three Emmy Awards. 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. 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. In addition, Landesberg was a television spokesman for AAMCO Transmissions in the 1980s and early 1990s.

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. According to his daughter Elizabeth, Lanesberg had a late start to his acting career, and felt that being middle age hurt you with casting directors. He made people believe he was nine years younger, and advised his friends not to reveal their ages. Landesberg died from colon cancer on December 20, 2010, aged 74. He was cremated.