During the 1970s and 1980s, he earned a reputation as one of the favorite hairstylists of Chicago's socialites, where his customers included celebrities such as Bette Midler, Jane Fonda, and Rita Hayworth.
[1] He worked with the fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski and had his own studio with partner Hank Blankenship on Chicago's Oak Street.
[4] A lover of animals, Lanzendorf kept Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen dogs as well as rare parrots, cockatoos and macaws.
[1] Lanzendorf had begun collecting dinosaur-related items as a child, when he found a small plastic dinosaur toy in a cereal box.
[5] After recovering from cancer in the early 1990s, he started purchasing sculptures, paintings, and drawings from some of the best-known paleoartists, such as James Gurney, John Gurche, and Michael Skrepnick.