Bert Freed
Although Peter Falk will always be the best known "Lieutenant Columbo," he was not the first, as that distinction goes to actor Bert Freed. Freed's acting career began while attending Penn State University, and continued with Broadway roles during the early 1940s. By the end of the decade, Freed had made the transition to film roles, which he would accumulate regularly throughout the 1950s (in addition to television appearances). But it was in 1960 that Freed landed the role of Columbo in "The Chevy Mystery Show." Although he would play the role for only a single episode, it was a full eight years before Falk claimed the role for himself in the hit television series "Columbo." Freed continued to play one-off roles on television, as well as a few multi-episode runs (including "Perry Mason," "Shane," "The Virginian"), for the remainder of his career, before retiring from acting during the mid 1980s.
Photos
Bert Freed
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase | Carlo (Character) | - | 1981 |
91% |
|
Norma Rae | Sam Dakin (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet |
|
Barracuda | Papa Jack (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Till Death | Dr. Sawyer (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Love and the Midnight Auto Supply | Mayor John Randolph (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet |
|
Death Scream | Detective Ross (Character) | - | 1975 |
40% |
|
Evel Knievel | Doc Kincaid (Character) | - | 1971 |
63% |
|
Billy Jack | Stuart Posner (Character) | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Breakout | Fletcher (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Then Came Bronson | Bert Freed (Character) | - | 1968 |
67% |
|
Wild in the Streets | Max Jacob Flatow Sr. (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet |
|
Invitation to a Gunfighter | Sheriff (Character) | - | 1964 |
40% |
|
Fate Is the Hunter | Charles J. Dillon (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Shock Treatment | Frank Josephson (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet |
|
Twilight of Honor | Sheriff B.L. "Buck" Wheeler (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Why Must I Die? | Adler (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Gazebo | Lt. Joe Jenkins (Character) | - | 1959 |
57% |
|
The Goddess | Lester Brackman (Character) | - | 1958 |
96% |
|
Paths of Glory | Sgt. Boulanger (Character) | - | 1957 |
88% |
|
The Desperate Hours | Tom Winston (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
|
Men of the Fighting Lady | Lt. Andrew Szymanski (Character) | - | 1954 |
55% |
|
The Long, Long Trailer | Foreman (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet |
|
Take the High Ground | Sgt. Vince Opperman (Character) | - | 1953 |
No Score Yet |
|
Atomic City | Emil Jablons (Character) | - | 1952 |
71% |
|
Detective Story | Det. Dakis (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Black Hand | Prosecutor (Character) | - | 1950 |
86% |
|
No Way Out | Rocky Miller (Character) | - | 1950 |
100% |
|
Where the Sidewalk Ends | Det. Paul Klein (Character) | - | 1950 |
88% |
|
Halls of Montezuma | Slattery (Character) | - | 1950 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Riptide | Unknown (Character) | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Fall Guy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1984 |
No Score Yet | 80% | Knight Rider | Anthony Solan (Guest Star) | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | One Day at a Time | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Barnaby Jones | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1973 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Charlie's Angels | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Streets of San Francisco | Mr. Jenks (Guest Star) | 1976-1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bronk | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1976 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cannon | Lt. Asher (Guest Star) | 1972 1976 |
100% | 82% | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | McCloud | Packy Keefe (Guest Star) | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Paper Moon | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Shaft | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Partridge Family | Mr. Sharp (Guest Star) | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Sixth Sense | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Getting Together | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Longstreet | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mod Squad | Paul Laker (Guest Star) | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mannix | R. Eberhard (Guest Star) | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Name of the Game | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The High Chaparral | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Big Valley | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966-1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bonanza | Solomon Belcher (Guest Star) | 1960 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tarzan | Bonacci (Guest Star) | 1967 |
No Score Yet | 83% | The Green Hornet | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1967 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Iron Horse | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1967 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Shane | Rufe Ryker (Character) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Man Called Shenandoah | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | 84% | Get Smart | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lucy Show | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | 100% | Hogan's Heroes | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Loner | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gunsmoke | Al Clovis (Guest Star) | 1959 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Combat! | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
83% | 92% | The Munsters | Mr. Dennison (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Petticoat Junction | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Perry Mason | Joe Marshall (Guest Star) | 1960-1962 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mr. Novak | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1964 |
92% | 92% | The Outer Limits | Joe Hayden (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ben Casey | Detective Bradley (Guest Star) | 1963-1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Virginian | Milo Henderson (Guest Star) | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Dakotas | Lloyd Mitchell (Guest Star) | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dr. Kildare | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dick Powell Theatre | Joe Vista (Character) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cain's Hundred | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rifleman | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1959 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dante | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1961 |
No Score Yet | 87% | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Capt. Harvey Ellison (Character) | 1960-1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Startime | Unknown (Character) | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Johnny Staccato | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1959-1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Law of the Plainsman | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Laramie | Sgt. Abe Jordan (Guest Star) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Thin Man | Charley Healy (Guest Star) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Alcoa Hour | Manager (Character) | 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Studio One | Unknown (Character) | 1954 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The United States Steel Hour | Sears (Character) | 1955 |