Alan Landsburg: TV Producer/Legend Tripper 1933-2014

Alan Landsburg

1933-2014

Hey Legend Trippers,

A great man and legend tripper has passed away. I wanted to take this opportunity and pay respect to him. Alan Landsburg, The creator and producer of the ground breaking television show “In Search Of” died Aug. 13 at the age of 81 from natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills, said his personal assistant, Luanne Keifer.



Along with “In Search of”, Mr. Landsburg had produced hundreds of documentaries, starting with the National Geographic series "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau".

                   He is noted for being the first to introduce pseudo-science tales that speculated "ancient astronauts" from other worlds visited Earth. He wrote and produced two of the first movies on subject called “In Search of Ancient Astronauts” in 1973 and “The Outer Connection” in 1975. He would later expand into the subject of the Unexplained with the 1973 movie “In Search of Ancient Mysteries” and Cryptozoology with the 1978 movie “Man-Beast: Myth or Monster”.

In 1977 Mr. Landsburg wrote and created one of television's best documentary style shows on the unexplained called “In Search of”. This ionic show explored every kind of mystery to include the paranormal, missing persons, cryptozoology, UFO’s and extraterrestrials, magic, witchcraft, lost civilizations and hidden treasures. The show ran for six years.

Many critics thought that "In Search of" slipped wholly into fiction at times, as when it suggested that beings from other planets visited Earth thousands of years ago and boosted human progress. Landsburg defended the show in a 1974 Los Angeles Times interview. "If we made all the progress that we know we have made in the recorded 35,000 years of our history," he said, "what did we do and what happened to us in the unrecorded 4 billion years before that?"

 Another hit television show that he produced was “That's Incredible!" TV series, which was much in line with “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” theme and featured death defying stunts. "He was the king of the one-line pitch," said his daughter, actress Valerie Landsburg. "If he kept doing the same thing, he would get bored."

 

Landsburg was born May 10, 1933, in White Plains, N.Y. He finished high school early at the age of 16 and graduated from New York University in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in communications. He served in the Army in Germany, where he produced and directed an information radio show for troops in Europe.

               After his discharge, he moved to Manhattan and embarked upon a career in writing and directing television programs, drawing upon his experience at the Army Radio Network. Landsburg moved his family to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, first working as a producer on Wolper's popular "Biography" series that profiled world leaders, entertainers and other notables.

 

He went on to produce, write and direct "A Thousand Days: A Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy," which aired in 1964 on the first anniversary of the president's assassination and received a standing ovation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. From the early-1960s to the mid-70s, he established himself as a documentary producer.  Along with David Wolper, he pioneered the television documentary series format he worked for an NBC-affiliated station, then made the leap to TV through his friendship with fledgling director Mel Stuart, who had gotten a job with documentary film producer David Wolper in Los Angeles.



            The one Emmy win of his career came for producing the 1970 drama "A Storm in Summer," directed by Buzz Kulik, written by Rod Serling and starring Peter Ustinov as a crotchety delicatessen owner who ends up taking in an African American boy. He also produced issue-driven TV-movies such as "The Ryan White Story," "The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal" and "Bill," which was based on the true story of a mentally challenged man trying to adjust to life outside an institution.



Landsburg wanted to expand into fictional, dramatic films and produced two movies for the screen, "Porky's II" and "Jaws 3-D."

               In the 1990’s, when his TV career began to wound down, he became more involved in horse racing and owned more than 400 racing horses.. He became prolific in the horse racing world and he also served as chairman of the California Horse Racing Board and was founding director of Thoroughbred Owners of California

              In addition to his daughter Valerie, who lives in Rocklin, Maine, he is survived by daughter Shana of Sherman Oaks; son Michael of North Hollywood; sister Barbara Barsky of Boulder, Colo.; and seven grandchildren.

 

             “In Search of” is and will continue to be my favorite television show of all time. I remember when at the end of one of the episodes, they advertised books that tied with the show. I road my bike to a book store about five miles from home. The store only had one of the books, which I bought. The manager, who was also a fan of the television show, ordered the other five for me. I still own the books, as well as the hard back edition which encompasses all six into one volume.

               I also remember, after watching one of my friends record a Star Trek episode with a cassette recorder, I began taping “In Search of’ episodes. I would later sit in my room and listen to the episodes. I can't really pick a favorite episode. I enjoyed watching them all. This was before VCR’s or DVD players. In 2012, Universal finally released all the episodes on DVD collection, which my wife purchased for me for Christmas.
              When I read on the internet that he had died, I felt like a part of my childhood had died as well. I remember how I felt watching those shows, and sense of wonderment I had. "In Search of" was what got me into legend tripping and  I knew back then, that I wanted to do with my life. I will always remember him and what he did for legend tripping. Alan Landsburg was a  true legend tripper.

Loren Coleman, who worked as a senior consultant for the 2000 version of “In Search of” wrote an excellent article on the passing of this great man. You can read it at http://www.cryptozoonews.com/landsburg-obit/