# Sydney Pollack and Barney Miller

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 30, 2005, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842 "2005-04-30T07:08:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/1 "2005-04-30T07:08:09Z")

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Was Sydney Pollack a (semi)regular on the sitcom “Barney Miller”?

Every time I see this fine producer/actor/playwright(?) I say to myself…hey, wasn’t he on Barney Miller back in the 70s?

I checked out some sites about the show, but the name wasn’t listed.

There IS some actor wearing glasses…but I can’t match a face to any of the actor lists.

It aint Hal Linden, Jack Soo, Phil Glass, or Abe Vigoda

Not “Wojo” or the old guy other than Fish.

Not the little guy either.

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/2 "2005-04-30T07:25:06Z")

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You’re thinking of Steve Landesberg, who played Detective Arthur Dietrich. He looks somewhat like Sydney Pollack, but he’s nine years younger. What sites did you check? The only one you need to check for most purposes is the Internet Movie Database. Landesberg is number 8 in the cast list on the IMDb, although he doesn’t have a picture, unlike most actors.

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**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/3 "2005-04-30T07:28:19Z")

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Could it be [James Gregory](http://www.timem.com/starwebs/jamesgregory/)?

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/4 "2005-04-30T07:46:27Z")

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No, James Gregory is the one that Enola Straight is referring to as “the old guy other than Fish.” It’s Steve Landesberg. Trust me on this.

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**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/5 "2005-04-30T07:53:52Z")

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Sorry, Wendell, I would not have posted if I’d seen that you had already answered. I agree that Steve Landesburg is a much more likely candidate.

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**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/6 "2005-04-30T07:55:10Z")

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Auggh. **Landesberg**. Dunno why I always want to spell that name wrong. :smack:

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**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/7 "2005-04-30T15:08:01Z")

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Here’s [Sydney Pollack](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001628/).

Here’s [Steve Landesberg](http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/24027/sort/2/cat/706/page/1) (not a good picture).

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sydney-pollack-and-barney-miller/301842/8 "2005-04-30T16:10:40Z")

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[http://www.nndb.com/people/696/000024624/](http://www.nndb.com/people/696/000024624/)

Yeah, that’s the guy.