Bert Freed
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Bert Freed (November 3, 1919 — August 2, 1994) was a prolific American character actor, voice over actor, and the first actor to portray "Detective Columbo" on television.
Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, Freed began acting while attending Penn State University, and made his Broadway debut in 1942. Following World War II Army service in the European Theatre, he appeared in the Broadway musical The Day Before Spring in 1945 and dozens of television shows between 1947 and 1985. His film debut occurred, oddly enough, in a musical Carnegie Hall (1947). A prominent role was as the villainous Ryker in the television series Shane, in which Freed added a unique touch of realism by beginning the show clean-shaven and growing a beard from one week to the next, never shaving again through the season.
Freed played Columbo in a live 1960 episode of the "Chevy Mystery Theatre" seven years before Peter Falk played the role. Thomas Mitchell also played the part on stage prior to Falk's version, which is probably where many of the eccentric Columbo traits originated; only a few were visible in Freed's straightforward interpretation, although the character as played by Freed is recognizably Columbo.
He appeared (sometimes more than once) in television shows such as The Rifleman, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley,The Virginian, Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Charlie's Angels, Then Came Bronson, Run For Your Life, Get Smart, The Lucy Show, Hogan's Heroes, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, Combat!, Petticoat Junction, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Ironside, The Green Hornet, The Munsters, and many, many more. He directed one episode of T.H.E. Cat.
Freed appeared as a racist club owner in No Way Out (1950), a gangster in Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950), a Marine private in Halls of Montezuma (1951 film), an Army sergeant in Take the High Ground! (1953), the Police Chief in Invaders From Mars (1953), Sgt. Boulanger in Paths of Glory (1957), the hangman in Hang 'Em High (1968), Max's father in Wild in the Streets (1968), as Chief of Detectives in Madigan (1968), a homosexual prison guard in There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) and Bernard's father in Billy Jack (1971) in which he got "whumped" on the side of the face by Billy Jack's right foot "just for the hell of it."
He retired from acting in 1986, and died of a heart attack in Canada in 1994 while on a fishing trip with his son.
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Acted in
Are You My Mother?
1986
as Bert
Knight Rider
1982
as Anthony Solan
The Fall Guy
1981
Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase
1981
as Carlo
Skag
1980
as Bishop
Norma Rae
1979
as Sam Dakin
Barracuda
1978
as Jack
Vega$
1978
Till Death
1978
as Dr. Sawyer
In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan
1977
as Dr. Julius Korein
Love and the Midnight Auto Supply
1977
as Mayor John Randolph
Charlie's Angels
1976
as Stambler
Death Scream
1975
as Det. Ross
Bronk
1975
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
1974
Paper Moon
1974
Lincoln
1974
as Edwin Stanton
Incident at Vichy
1973
as Marchand, A Businessman
Police Story
1973
Barnaby Jones
1973
as Det. Capt. Ben Wyatt
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
The Rookies
1972
The Sixth Sense
1972
Cannon
1971
Evel Knievel
1971
as Doc Kincaid
Billy Jack
1971
as Mr. Stuart Posner
Breakout
1970
as Fletcher
There Was a Crooked Man...
1970
as Skinner
The Andersonville Trial
1970
as Board of Military Judges
McCloud
1970
Then Came Bronson
1969
as Editor Carson
The Mod Squad
1968
Lancer
1968
The Outsider
1968
Wild in the Streets
1968
as Max Jacob Flatow Sr.
Hang 'em High
1968
as Schmidt
Madigan
1968
as Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch
P.J.
1968
as Police Lieutenant
Mannix
1967
The High Chaparral
1967
as Telford Burris
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
Ironside
1967
The Swinger
1966
as Police Captain
Mission: Impossible
1966
as Leon Chandler
Mission: Impossible
1966
as Gen. Brenner
Shane
1966
as Rufe Ryker
The Green Hornet
1966
as Police Sgt. Bert Clark
Tarzan
1966
Nevada Smith
1966
as Quince
Get Smart
1965
The Loner
1965
Hogan's Heroes
1965
as Maj. Bernsdorf
The Big Valley
1965
as Judge Ben Coulter
The Big Valley
1965
as Henry Marvin
The Big Valley
1965
as Homer Roberts
Run for Your Life
1965
as Sheriff Parsons
Fate Is the Hunter
1964
as Dillon
Invitation to a Gunfighter
1964
as Sheriff
The Munsters
1964
Shock Treatment
1964
as Frank Josephson
Twilight of Honor
1963
as Sheriff Buck Wheeler
Petticoat Junction
1963
as Detective Horton
Mr. Novak
1963
as Lorimer
The Outer Limits
1963
as Joe Hayden
Arrest and Trial
1963
The Dakotas
1963
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
as Ben Golden
Combat!
1962
as Sgt. Weber
The Lucy Show
1962
as Miller
The Virginian
1962
as Milo Henderson
The Virginian
1962
as Jason Ainsworth
Ben Casey
1961
Target: The Corruptors!
1961
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Dr. Donald White
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Director
Cain's Hundred
1961
as Dave Reed
Route 66
1960
The Subterraneans
1960
as Bartender
Why Must I Die
1960
as Adler
The Chevy Mystery Show
1960
as Lt. Columbo
The Gazebo
1960
as Lt. Jenkins
The Detectives
1959
Bourbon Street Beat
1959
Adventures in Paradise
1959
as Michael Dannora
Law of the Plainsman
1959
as Benson
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
1959
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959
as Lieutenant
Riverboat
1959
as Kester
Johnny Staccato
1959
Tightrope
1959
77 Sunset Strip
1958
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
The Rifleman
1958
The Plot to Kill Stalin
1958
as Sokolovsky
Peter Gunn
1958
The Goddess
1958
as Lester Brackman
Paths of Glory
1957
as Sgt. Boulanger
Decoy
1957
as Lieutenant Rosenberg
Perry Mason
1957
as Ken Woodman
Perry Mason
1957
as Harry Parker
Perry Mason
1957
as Carl Holman
Perry Mason
1957
as Joe Marshall
The Thin Man
1957
Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers
1956
as Dayton Colonel
The Desperate Hours
1955
as Tom Winston
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Capt. Harvey Ellison
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Cooper
Gunsmoke
1955
as Al Clovis
Gunsmoke
1955
as Chris Thornton
The Cobweb
1955
as Abe Irwin
The Millionaire
1955
as M / Sgt. Matthew Brogan
The Strike
1954
as Chick
Men of the Fighting Lady
1954
as Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski
The Long, Long Trailer
1954
as Foreman
Take the High Ground!
1953
as Sgt. Vince Opperman
Invaders from Mars
1953
as Police Chief A.C. Barrows
Tangier Incident
1953
as Kozad
General Electric Theater
1953
as Mitch Green
General Electric Theater
1953
as Armstrong
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
1952
as American Soldier (uncredited)
The Atomic City
1952
as Emil Jablons
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Pete Johnson
Red Mountain
1951
as Sgt. Randall
Detective Story
1951
as Det. Dakis
The Company She Keeps
1951
as Smitty (plainclothesman)
Halls of Montezuma
1951
as Slattery
No Way Out
1950
as Rocky Miller - Beaver Canal Resident (uncredited)
Where the Sidewalk Ends
1950
as Det. Sgt. Paul Klein
711 Ocean Drive
1950
as Steve Marshak (uncredited)
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
1950
as Dutch (Third New York Henchman)
Key to the City
1950
as Emmy's Husband
Studio One
1948
as Chick
Studio One
1948
as Malone
Studio One
1948
as Mike Jannis
Studio One
1948
as Lt. Burke
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
as Al Rago
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Boomerang!
1947
as Herron, a Man in Alley Mob