Klaus Landsberg Klaus Landsberg, a German-born electronics whiz, is considered to be the father of KTLA. On May 13, 1985, a star on the Walk of Fame was dedicated posthumously to Klaus, in honor of all his pioneering work in broadasting, much of which is directly related KTLA.
Klaus grew up in Germany and developed a keen sense for electronics. He fled to the United States just before World War II, bringing his knowledge with him. In the laboratory of Dr. Allen B. Dumont, Klaus continued experiements in television he had begun in Germany. Paramount Pictures was an investor in that lab, and by 1939, he had been sent to Hollywood to help built a TV station for the movie studio. Klaus oversaw the young television channel, then called W6XYZ, and helped nurture it to the point that it could become the first commercial television station West of the Mississippi: KTLA.
One of Landsberg's most notable achievements was establishing a method to transmit a TV signal all the way from the Nevada desert back to KTLA in California, which resulted in the first live telecast of a nuclear bomb explosion in 1952. It worked so well they televised a second blast a week later.
While he was very technically adept, Klaus also had a wonderful grasp of what made good television. He was largely responsible for launching Lawrence Welk's television career, and also put Hopalong Cassidy and beloved puppets Beany and Cecil on TV for the first time.
Klaus succumbed to cancer in 1956 when he was just 40 years old. Though he is gone, he left behnd a strong and vibrant tradition of excellence at KTLA that continues to this day.
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