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He earned notoriety in the late 1970s after he began treating Wilson, the songwriting genius behind the iconic California band, whose career had disintegrated in a haze of drugs and phobias after a decade at the top of the musical charts.

Hired in 1975 by Wilson's wife, Landy took control of the rock star's life, monitoring him 24 hours a day with a team of assistants to keep him off drugs and junk food; Wilson's weight by then had ballooned to more than 300 pounds.

Landy grew so close to Wilson that he participated in Wilson's comeback as his manager and artistic collaborator - an ethical breach that eventually caused the psychologist to give up his license to practice in California.

Born in Pittsburgh, Landy was the only child of Jules, a physician, and Frieda, a psychology professor.

He claimed to have dropped out of school after the sixth grade because of severe dyslexia and worked odd jobs, eventually winding up in radio as producer of a program aimed at teenagers.

He later became a record promoter.

He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and shifted career goals.

He studied chemistry at Los Angeles City College before earning a bachelor's in psychology at California State, L Angeles, in 1964.

By 1968 he had a master's degree and a ...

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