Alan Landsburg was a producer, director and writer whose credits included dozens of acclaimed television series, miniseries and made-for-TV movies.
A native of White Plains, New York, he graduated from New York University with a degree in communications and then honed his skills in the U.S. Army as a writer, director and producer of special events for the American Forces Network in Europe. Following his discharge in 1956, when he was just 21, Landsburg became one of the youngest directors in radio when he joined the NBC affiliate in New York.
In 1961, Landsburg moved to Los Angeles to work at the production company of renowned producer David Wolper. During his tenure with Wolper, he wrote, produced and/or directed numerous televison projects, including the Peabody Award-winning series Biography, hosted by Mike Wallace.
From 1965-70, he was executive producer of the National Geographic Specials, and he created and executive-produced the award-winning Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. In addition, Landsburg produced the documentary A Thousand Days: A Tribute to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, which elicited a standing ovation from the delegates at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
He established his own production company in 1970, and in the years that followed, The Landsburg Company gained recognition for a wide range of entertaining and socially relevant programing, including the TV dramas Adam, Fear on Trial, Bill, The Triangle Factory Fire, The Ryan White Story and The Charlie Wedemeyer Story. He also became one of the first to produce successful reality television with the shows In Search Of and That's Incredible.
Over the course of his career, Landsburg was responsible for over 2,000 hours of network programing. He was a five-time Emmy nominee, and in 1970 he won the Emmy for outstanding dramatic program for the television movie A Storm in Summer. In 1972 he was nominated for an Oscar for the documentary feature Alaska Wilderness Lake.
Landsburg purchased his first share in a thoroughbred race horse in 1977 and went on to own and race more than 400 horses. In 1993, he became a founding director of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. In addition, from 2001-02, he served as chairman for the California Horse Racing Board.
With his late wife, Linda Otto-Landsburg, who passed away in June 2004, Landsburg founded the charity Find the Children and served as chairman of the board from 2004-13.
His professional affiliations included membership in the Television Academy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America.
Landsburg died August 14, 2014, in Los Angeles. He was 81.
