Eugene Landy, psychologist who treated Brian Wilson, dies at 71

[jonathan anderle]

i got this news in a very brief e-mail earlier this evening...

L.A. Times obit

[pavlos brenos]

Interesting: more interesting is how Brian is going to react...............

[Charles LePage @ ComicList]

Eugene Landy, psychologist who treated Brian Wilson, dies at 71
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Eugene Landy, the psychologist who gained notoriety for his controversial treatment of and control over Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, has died. He was 71.

Landy died March 22 in Honolulu of respiratory complications of lung cancer, said his longtime colleague, William Flaxman.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/14212276.htm

Well now.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

more interesting is how Brian is going to react

Yeah, I could see something like this having a big emotional impact on him, either sending him into a depression or really freeing him up.  Hopefully the latter, but what a complicated relationship.

[carlydenise2]

Wow, is this a rumor or true?  Saw it on the blueboard
Carly

[Mitchell]

I didn't know that Brian was 300 pounds in 1975! 

[Mark H.]

I'm sure Brian's emotional reaction will be complex.  Despite Landy's outragious and unethical dealings, he saved Brian's life IMO.

[Charles LePage @ ComicList]

Here's a link to info on his "longtime colleague William Flaxman":

http://www.gpasc.org/memberpages/Bill_Flaxman_memberpage.htm

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Holy merdae. I'm torn on this one. After all, he did save Brian's life, and it's against my beliefs to wish ill on someone, but....yeah...you know.

edit

and how ironic he died of the same thing that killed Gary Usher, considering the mutual dislike the two had.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Wow. You know, I often have these sort of weird psychic flashes. Just last night I thought to myself, “Gee, doctor Landy must be getting old”.

I feel kinda sad about it. I wish he had spoken publicly following the breakup.

[nosticker]

Whatever the truth is about Landy--and I feel he saved Brian--I'm more concerned about Brian's reaction to this.  I hope he can tap into that inner strength he has gathered these past years.



Dan

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Well, he hasn’t seen him in 15 years, so it seems like it shouldn’t destroy him. He realizes that he was mistreated. And he’s lost those much closer to him (Carl, Dennis, Audree). So hopefully he’ll be able to move on, although I’m sure he does feel some sadness about losing someone that was involved with a large chunk of his life.

I wish Landy had written his memoirs so we could hear his side of things….oh wait, he did, it was called “Wouldn’t it be Nice? My Own Story” by Brian Wilson.

Still, the situation was so peculiar. I don’t think we’ll ever truly understand what happened. But we must be thankful to Landy for keeping Brian alive. Without Landy we wouldn’t be listening to the complete Smile today. It’s just too bad the good work he did got corrupted by greed.

[SurferGirl7]

Mixed feelings over here. 

[Chris Brown]

Mixed feelings for me too...of course I appreciate what he did for Brian in terms of saving his life (twice).  But the damage he caused was pretty severe, and it's a good thing Brian got out when he did or else who knows what may have transpired.  I'm curious about Brian's reaction to this too...I'm hoping he's emotionally strong enough and far enough removed from those days to say "that's a bummer" and move on.

[Murry Wilson]

I am devastated

[Surfer Joe]

RIP, Eugene Landy.  Condolences to family and friends.

[voxnut]

Mixed feelings on my end. Not that it's ever a joyous occassion when someone passes, mind you. I sort of wonder if in retrospect Landy had some regrets about letting the relationship cross the line and owned up to that not being the most responsible behaviour on his part. I'd hope so, but I guess we'll never know.

In reading the obit, I was surprised to see that Alice Cooper was a patient of his as well. I wonder how extensive the treatment was and if Mr. Cooper has ever publicly commented on Dr. Landy.

Dean

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I didn't know him. So like anyone else in the world, it's sad that he died yet inevitable.

[Ron]

Brian's comments on this surely will be an interesting read.

I can't wish any ill will on Landy, at least when he finally got out of Brian's life, he had the decency to stay away knowing it was everyone's wishes.  I've seen Brian say in even recent interviews (sometime last year) that he was sad to see Landy go and that he was his best friend.  I don't know for sure that Landy thought or knew he was hurting and manipulating brian, maybe he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he was doing.  I've certainly heard stories about some pretty quacked out psychologists.  Ultimately his license was taken away, so at least (hopefully!) he wasn't able to harm any others. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

As bad as the stuff with Brian was, what really got me about Landy was him giving cocaine to a female patient and then allegedly raping her.   

Alice Cooper...and also Rod Steiger. Also, didn't he claim to co-write Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" and manage and/or produce George Benson?

[Sheriff John Stone]

Some rambling thoughts ...

It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since Dr. Landy started treating Brian, and almost 15 years since he stopped...another one who Brian out-lived...didn't Gary Usher and Carl Wilson die from lung cancer; was Landy a smoker?...I'm not expecting any revealing comments from Brian regarding the passing...oh how I wish Brian and the guys would get together and do something, anything that would help heal some wounds...I get paranoid when I pull up the board; you never know who is going to have R.I.P. next to their name...I'm in no way disputing that Dr. Landy did irreparable damage to Brian with his (over)prescription of drugs. But can anybody post an article from a non-Beach Boy-related source who could shed some concrete light on this issue. I would be interested in reading it...I think Dr. Landy only had his license revoked for a year or two, but I'm not sure...I feel old(er)  tonight...

[Surfer Joe]

Brian has lost a lot of best friends...

[mike thornton]

i'm surprised some people have mixed feelings on this board. i only had indirect contact with him. here's what i saw. 1) he was a total control freak. 2) he wanted to be famous and didn't have a truly creative bone in his body (oddly, many people who have gotten close to brian don't have a creative bone in their bodies). 3) he manipulated events to his gain or just plain fabricated what, when, and where he wanted to. 4) he got in waaaaaay over his head with brian. 5) this saving brian's life thing is overrated. he helped brian to some extent initially, but hurt him far worse over the years. *this is a fact, folks.*

i believe that landy himself was mentally ill and brian certainly didn't need "friends" like him. he was just another hanger-on, taking advantage of brian's sweet, guileless-though not blameless-nature. brian is a producer, landy was a consumer.
 

[Ron]

^ Mixed feelings because even when someone who wasn't a very good person dies, most people commonly react by searching out the positive instead of the negative.  So even if you didn't like somebody, when you hear they're dead... you kind of go "well... am I happy about that? I didn't like the guy.. .but... dead?"

[Surfer Joe]

Exactly, Ron.

There's a lot I could say, but I won't say it in this thread, or at this time, for a respectful period, other than Rest In Peace, and condolences to his family and friends.  This is not a time of judgement.