Stephen/Steve Harris Landesberg
[size=12]by John Armstrong
[/SIZE]
A number of JFK researchers, including author Carleton W. Sterling, Professor Stan Weeber (UNT, Denton, TX), attorney Carol Hewitt, and myself have written about Stephen Landesberg's real or imagined involvement with LHO in late 1961 or early 1962. (To read Mr. Sterling's article,
CLICK HERE. To see Prof. Weeber's essay,
USE THIS LINK.) If Landesberg was involved with (LEE) Oswald during this period it is very significant, because during this time (HARVEY) Oswald was living in the Soviet Union with his wife, Marina.
Stephen Landesberg (aka "Rizzuto" and "L'Eandes") was born Stephen Harris Landesberg on Sept., 24, 1940 in Queens, NY. After graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1957, he dropped the German/Jewish "berg" from his surname and thereafter often used the names "Steve, Steven or Stephen Landes." He attended Rutgers University from June, 1957 thru Feb., 1960 (where he was enrolled as Steve Landes and made the Dean's honor roll). According to attorney Carol Hewitt, whose practice is limited to Social Security, Landes/Landesberg received Social Security number 126-30-3500 between 1955 and 1957. This number was subsequently used by former German national Joseph Wiersch, who was born in 1900, lived in NYC, and died in 1985. Landesberg then began using SS number 126-30-3503--only one number ("3") different from his original SS number.
During the first 20 years of his life, there was no indication that Landes/Landesberg had mental issues. In Feb, 1960 he dropped out of college. His mother was concerned and asked him to visit a Park Ave. psychiatrist, Dr. Efhraim, which he did to appease his mother. For the next few months he traveled, and finally returned home on July 13. Four months later, on Nov 12, 1960, Landes/Landesberg joined the marines. Five days after joining he was interviewed by the Provost Marshall after refusing to sign a statement confirming that he had read and understood the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During the interview he continually stammered and stuttered profusely. The Provost Marshall referred him to the Psychiatric Unit where he made very revealing statements during interview. Landes/Landesberg told the psychiatrists, "I don't take stimulants or depressants. I don't believe in drugs, they are not right. You don't have to use me for a guinea pig." Guinea Pig? Landes/Landesberg was observed to be "suspicious of the physician's motivations and extremely apprehensive." They sedated him with Thorazine, diagnosed him with numerous psychiatric issues, and had him committed to the US Naval Hospital in Philadelphia. Seven months later, in June, 1961 he received an honorable discharge (for physical disability, diagnosed as a schizophrenic reaction, paranoid type, chronic) and returned home where he was treated by another Park Ave psychiatrist, Dr. Kalmanoff.
In the fall of 1961 Landes/Landesberg moved into an apartment on East 84th St, with no known employment. He later moved into an apartment at 165 E. 49th St, with roommate Michael Dunn, again with no known employment. It was during this time, according to statements given to the FBI, that he was acting as a paid agitator for the purpose of attending Jewish and liberal rallies in order to create disturbances. One year later, in Sept, 1962, it appears that his days as a paid agitator were over, and he returned to Rutgers. In Sept. 1963 Landes/Landesberg began attending Columbia and may have received an MBA in 1967. In 1978 Steve Landes was living in Florida. Information from the 1991 edition of Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives shows that "Stephen Landes," employed as Secretary of Rocky Mountain Undergarment Co., Inc., was living at 1259 N.W. 16th St. in Boco Raton. In 1998 he was living at 9775 Boca Gardens Circle, Boca Raton, and in 2000 he was living at 533 W. Gulf Beach Dr., in Eastpoint, FL. In the early 1990s Landes/Landesberg's parents (George and Edna) were living at 6100 S. Falls Circle in Ft. Lauderdale. A check with the Social Security database showed his SS number in 1993 to be 126 30 3503 (the last digit is now shown as "3," while the original SS number assigned to Landes/Landesberg in 1955-57 was 126 30 3500).
In the early 1960s Barry Gray was an announcer for WMCA radio in NYC. In late 1961 Gray interviewed a man who identified himself as "Steve L'Eandes" on one of his programs, but who was this man? During the radio interview there was no indication of speech impairment or stuttering on the part of L'Eandes. Two years later, within hours of President Kennedy's assassination, a man who identified himself as "Jim Rizzuto" called Barry Gray at WMCA radio. This man told Gray that "Steve L'Eandes" had been seen with Lee Harvey Oswald in Greenwich Village in late 1961 and early 1962. Gray invited Rizzuto to his station for an interview, and then telephoned the FBI at 1:30 AM (11/23/63) to advise the bureau of his conversation with Rizzuto. While Rizzuto was en route to the radio station, FBI agents Leonard McCoy and Wayne Morse were dispatched to WMCA radio. Rizzuto arrived at the station at 3:00 AM and was interviewed by Gray, while the FBI agents listened (Rizutto would soon tell the FBI that his real name was Steven H. Landesberg, aka "L'Eandes" and it was noted that he stuttered profusely during the interview).
It is very possible that the man who identified himself as "L'Eandes" (who had a southern accent and did not stutter) to Barry Gray in late 1961-62 , was NOT the same person who identified himself as "Jim Rizzuto" (aka L'Eandes and Steven Landesberg) two years later on Nov 23, 1963 The fact that Barry Gray did not recognize "Jim Rizzuto" (aka L'Eandes) as the same man he previously interviewed as "L'Eandes," is reason to believe these were two different people. Readers should remember that when interviewed by the FBI on 12/5/63, L'Eandes/Landesberg said the information pertaining to Lee Oswald and Earl Perry was furnished to him by someone else. In other words, the "L'Eandes" interviewed by Barry Gray in 1961-62 could have known and associated with Oswald, but the L'Eandes/Landesberg (aka Rizzuto) was paid to furnish this information during the radio interview with Gray. So, which "L'Eandes" knew and associated with Oswald? Was it the "L'Eandes" interviewed by Barry Gray in 1961 or the "L'Eandes" (aka Rizzuto, Landes, Steven H. Landesberg) who was interviewed by Gray and the FBI in 1963?
During the Nov. 23, 1963 radio interview with Barry Gray, "Rizzuto" said that he met Steve L'Eandes and Lee Oswald in the Marine Corps at Camp LeJeune in the summer of 1956 (L'Eandes/Landesberg was only 15 year sold in the summer of 1956--too young to join the Marines). After his Marine Corps service he kept in touch with L'Eandes, Oswald, and a man named Earl Perry. In 1961 "Rizzuto" saw L'Eandes at the Hotel Tamiana, in Florida, and said that Oswald had gone back to Texas. In the fall (1961) a man who identified himself as "L'Eandes" appeared on the Barry Gray radio program in NYC. In December he ("Rizzuto") and L'Eandes attended a political rally for Mark Lane. In January, 1962 he (Rizzuto), L'Eandes, and Earl Perry attended a rally of the American Jewish Congress. Posing as right-wing activists these people created a disturbance while Oswald took photos, one of which was allegedly published in "Thunderbolt" magazine. Their disruptive behavior at liberal rallies was reported by the Village Voice, who reported that L'Eandes was connected to Pro-Facist and anti-Semitic groups. But these same reporters could not understand why L'Eandes/Landesberg, who they believed was Jewish, would want to create havoc among Jews in NYC while posing as a southern bigot from Mississippi. L'Eandes was quoted as describing himself as "a former US Marine who is trying to be heard on vital American issues." On March 7, 1962 L'Eandes attended a Democratic Party rally in the Village where he heckled Hubert Humphrey. A few weeks later L'Eandes attended a meeting of the NAACP in Greenwich Village, where he made anti-segregation remarks and a fight ensued. During the interview with Gray, "Rizzuto" described L'Eandes as a close personal friend of Oswald and said they were both professional agitators who attended meetings of the American Jewish Congress and other organizations and tried to disrupt meetings. Rizzuto said that he last saw L'Eandes on Tuesday, November 19, 1963 at a bar on west 10th St., and was told that Oswald and Perry were together in Texas.
From information provided during the radio interview the FBI launched a manhunt in NYC for Steve L'Eandes and also searched for Earl Perry. From a photograph taken at one of the rallies, the FBI soon learned that "L'Eandes" was actually Steven Harris Landesberg, who lived at 66 W. 10th in NYC. On Dec. 5 Landesberg was interviewed at the NYC office of the FBI, and spoke with a severe stutter and became incoherent. He admitted that he was the "Rizzuto" interviewed by Barry Gray, and also used the name "Steven Yves L'Eandes." He told the Bureau agents that the activities he had attributed to L' Eandes were actually his own activities. Landesberg's use of the name "L'Eandes" was a cleverly disguised version of the name "Landes," which he had adopted (dropping the "berg" from Landesberg) in 1957. However, Steven Harris Landesberg told the FBI that the information pertaining to Lee Oswald and Earl Perry was furnished to him by someone else. He also told the FBI that he was a "paid agitator" (NY Times, 12/6/63), but declined to say who was paying him.
It is worth remembering that somehow, within hours of the assassination, Steven Harris Landesberg (aka L'Eandes) said that he was given detailed knowledge about Oswald's life and background. And, within hours of Oswald's arrest, Landesberg (aka L'Eandes) was disseminating this information thru a NYC radio station--but this was long before information related to Oswald's background began to appear in newspapers and the media. The unanswered question is, Who provided information about Oswald's background to Landesberg (aka L'Eandes) and why?
In the weeks following the assassination reporters at the Village Voice could not understand why the information provided by L'Eandes/Steven Harris Landesberg showed Oswald to be a rightist, denouncing liberal causes, and a member of the "States Rights Party" when the government and media were proclaiming Oswald to be a Communist. This author cannot understand how anyone could have known much of anything about Oswald's background within hours of the assassination, unless they had previous contact with Oswald or were provided information about his background. Regarding Earl Sheldon Perry, the Bureau was advised that in order for his records to be released they would have to receive permission from TAG, the Pentagon. On Nov 26 those records were released to the FBI, and showed that Perry actively served in the Marines from April 24, 1954 to January 23, 1956 and then served in the US Army reserve until Jan 23, 1962. His military occupation while in the Marine Corps was listed as "chaplain's assistant."
Steven Harris Landesberg (aka L'Eandes) was charged with providing false information to the FBI and was committed by Federal Judge John Cannella to 10 days at Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric observation. Being locked up for providing false information to the FBI is understandable. But what is not understandable is the FBI's apparent reluctance to question Steven Harris Landesberg about any involvement he or his associates may have had with Oswald, especially in late 1961 or 1962, and who paid him to support right-wing causes.
In an attempt to learn more about Steven Harris Landesberg's possible involvement with Oswald the author travelled to the US District Court House for the Southern District of NY at 40 Foley Square in NYC. After locating an index card titled "USA vs. Stephen Harris Landesberg" I requested the court file from Rosemarie Fugnetti, supervisor of the Records Control Division. Ms. Fugnetti soon discovered that the microfilm file record had disappeared, and said that she would request the original "paper" file from their archives/warehouse. After learning that the paper file had also disappeared, she told the author that this was the first and only time she knew of a microfilm case record, and the original "paper copy," disappearing from US District Court files. If Landesberg was questioned by the FBI about his knowledge or involvement with Oswald in 1961-62, or about those who paid him to be an "agitator" at liberal rallies, those records disappeared. All federal records relating to his arrest and incarceration have disappeared. It is worth remembering that FBI official William Sullivan said, "If Hoover decided there were documents that he didn't want to come to the light of the public, then those documents would be destroyed and the truth would never be known." The disappearance of all the court records covering the Landesberg/Oswald affair may be the most significant smoking gun in the Landesberg story.
Steven Harris Landesberg's 10 day commitment to Bellevue makes it appear as though he was mentally unstable, just as the FBI tried to do with numerous troublesome JFK witnesses. When confronted with witness testimony that conflicted with the government's "official story," the bureau would often claim the witness was "incoherent, mentally unstable, delirious, confused, etc." This became the FBI's cover for leads the Bureau did not want to pursue. But Steven Harris Landesberg (aka Landes) was an honor role student, attended Rutgers, received an MBA from Columbia, and became a successful businessman in Florida--very different from the troublesome witness the FBI had committed to Bellevue in an apparent attempt to suppress his statements about Oswald or identify the people who paid him to make those statements or identify the people who paid him to cause disturbances at liberal political rallies.
The FBI successfully avoided Steven Harris Landesberg and any connection he may have had with (LEE) Oswald in 1961-62. Throughout their investigation of JFK's assassination the Bureau repeatedly avoided numerous "inconvenient" eyewitnesses to the double lives of LEE and HARVEY, including Sylvia Odio, Marita Lorenz, and Ralph Leon Yates. Odio met one Oswald, who visited her home in Dallas at a time when the other Oswald was allegedly boarding a bus to Mexico City. Lorenz knew LEE Oswald in Florida at a time when HARVEY Oswald was residing in the Soviet Union. Yates gave LEE Oswald (who was carrying a package that he said contained curtain rods) a ride to the TSBD at 10:00 AM, two days before the assassination, while HARVEY had been working in the same building since 8:00 AM. Desperate attempts were made to discredit these witnesses and expunge the documentary record. These people were treated with utter contempt by the Warren Commission and the HSCA, and their stories were nearly lost to history. Our national security network, including the FBI, CIA, and the Warren Commission, selectively drew upon eyewitnesses and documents that suited their purposes in order to craft the biography of one "Lee Harvey Oswald."
There is a distinct possibility that Steven Harris Landesberg (aka L'Eandes/Rizzuto/Landes) was a paid informant in 1961-62. This possibility is enhanced when we consider:
* Both Oswald and Landesberg were interviewed by radio stations concerning their political views-Oswald in New Orleans, and Landesberg in NYC.
* Both Oswald and Landesberg were involved with radical organizations-Oswald with the "FPCC" and Landesberg with the "Magnolia Rifles"
* Both Oswald and Landesberg had created "staged" confrontations in both New Orleans and NYC, designed to attract media attention
* Both Oswald and Landesberg used aliases.
* Both Oswald and Landesberg appear to have been used to take blame for the actions of others.
* Both Oswald and Landesberg had a second person who was using their name, in the same city, and at the same times.
* Both Oswald and Landesberg were discharged early from the Marines.
* Both Oswald and Landesberg's actions were so similar that one must consider the possibility that both were government agents.
Stephen Richard Landesberg
In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s there was another "Steve Landesberg" living in NYC. This was Stephen Richard Landesberg, the actor ("Barney Miller" TV show). He was born Nov. 23, 1936, grew up in the Bronx, and graduated from high school in 1954. According to Social Security attorney Carol Hewitt he received his Social Security number between 1952 and 1955. But from 1954 thru 1969 Landesberg provided virtually no information about his life to the press, including his correct birth year and middle name. It was not until 1989 that Landesberg finally provided his correct year of birth. And his middle name (Richard) appears only on property records.
Landesberg's acting career began in 1969 at age 33, with the NY Stickball Comedy Team, and continued throughout his adult life (Barney Miller TV show). But throughout most of his forty-year acting career he provided virtually no information to the press about his life prior to 1969. In 1997 he told the Detroit Free Press, "Before getting into show business I worked in a lot of hotels, as an assistant credit manager." In 2003 Landesberg told the Alameda (Calif.) Times-Star newspaper that he had served in the military. He said, "When I was in the service I was quiet, but in the barracks I'd get crazy." The branch of service, his length of service, his rank, his locations during military service and the dates of his service were not mentioned. The most likely dates of service would have been after graduation from high school (1954) and prior to the early 1960s. Was he in the Marines in Camp LeJuene and Barstow, CA during the summer of 1956? Was this the "L'Eandes" described by Stephen Harris Landesberg to radio announcer Barry Gray on Nov 23, 1963?
After Landesberg's (the actor) death in 2010 a former acquaintance "Marty Z," posted the following on the Hollywoodland web site (12/21/2010): "Steve and I served in the same NY National Guard Reserve Unit in the early 60's. At the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, NY. It was the 742 Ord Battn."
At first glance it seems as though the actor, Stephen Richard Landesberg, had no connection with Stephen Harris Landesberg/L'Eandes, the paid agitator who was paid to report that "L'Eandes and Oswald were together in 1961-62. But the future actor provided very, very little biographical information from age 17 thru 33. He continually refused to provide his correct date of birth and continually refusal to acknowledge or use his middle name. But during a television interview, witnessed by Dallas reporter Earl Golz, Landesberg made a comment that could explain his reluctance to provide information about his past. During the television interview Landesberg said, "he was sorry he ever got mixed up with Oswald."
It remains unknown if the actor, Stephen Richard Landesberg (using the name "L'Eandes"), was the individual interviewed by radio announcer Barry Gray in 1961. And it remains unknown if Stephen Harris Landesberg, when interviewed by Barry Gray on 11/23/63, knew the identity of the man who he said associated with Oswald in 1961-62. We may never know the extent of Landesbeg's (the actor) involvement with Oswald, if any. But if Landesberg (the actor) and Oswald were "mixed up" together, then this could explain the actor's reluctance to provide information about his life from 1954-1969. Following the assassination, any prior association with Oswald could have quickly ended an acting career, or worse.
In 1993 I wrote to the actor (address obtained thru voter registration in Calif), identified myself and my interests, and asked him for a response. I (and fellow researcher Jack White) soon received phone calls from a man who identified himself as Tom Walker, and said that he was head of security for Mr. Landesberg. Mr. Walker, or whoever made the call (could have been the actor Landesberg), told me and fellow researcher Jack White to stop researching Landesberg "or else." "OR Else?" Something about Steve Landesberg's past was important enough to threaten JFK researchers to stop investigating the actor's background.
Whatever connection there may have been between Stephen Harris Landesberg the agitator, Stephen Richard Landesberg the actor, and LEE Oswald in 1961-62 (while HARVEY Oswald was in the Soviet Union) remains unknown. But the similarities in character and appearance between Landesberg the agitator and Landesberg the actor are worth remembering:
* Both Steve L'Eandes/Landesberg and Steve Landesberg (the actor) were close to the same age
* Both Steve L'Eandes/Landesberg and Steve Landesberg (the actor) had very similar physical characteristics (height, weight, hair color, etc.)
* Both Steve L'Eandes/Landesberg and Steve Landesberg (the actor) had the ability to speak with a convincing southern dialect.
* Both Steve L'Eandes/Landesberg and Steve Landesberg (the actor) were born, grew up, and lived in the NYC area.
* Both Steve L'Eandes/Landesberg and Steve Landesberg (the actor) made comments relating to involvement and/or knowledge of Oswald.
* But there are very distinct differences between these men. L'Eandes/Landesberg (the agitator) had a life-long speech impediment, while Steve Landesberg the actor did not. L'Eandes/Landesberg's (the agitator) biographical history is well known and documented, while Steve Landesberg's (the actor) biographical history from age 17 thru age 33 is entirely and completely missing. L'Eandes/Landesberg (the agitator) always gave his correct birth date, while Steve Landesberg the actor gave multiple birth dates throughout his life.
Clearly the story of the two "Steve Landesbergs" and their relationship with Oswald, whether real or imagined, raises more questions than it answers. But the intriguing questions it raises are not easily forgotten, and perhaps some day these questions may be answered by further research. We may never fully understand the identities and activities of Stephen Harris Landesberg/Stephen Richard Landesberg/Landes/L'Eandes/Rizzuto. But if either or both of these men were involved with Oswald in NYC in late 1961 and/or early 1962 (while the other Oswald was in Russia), it would once again demonstrate the existence of the two Oswalds.
