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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bert Freed, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Paths of Glory
(Sgt. Boulanger)
The Goddess
(Lester Brackman)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
(Ben Golden)
Billy Jack
(Mr. Stuart Posner)
Detective Story
(Det. Dakis)
Madigan
(Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch)
Nevada Smith
(Quince)
The Company She Keeps
(Smitty (plainclothesman))
There Was a Crooked Man...
(Skinner)
Barracuda
(Jack)
Wild in the Streets
(Max Jacob Flatow Sr.)
Halls of Montezuma
(Slattery)
Where the Sidewalk Ends
(Det. Sgt. Paul Klein)
The Desperate Hours
(Tom Winston)
Men of the Fighting Lady
(Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski)
The Cobweb
(Abe Irwin)
The Atomic City
(Emil Jablons)
Why Must I Die
(Adler)
Fate Is the Hunter
(Dillon)
P.J.
(Police Lieutenant)
Red Mountain
(Sgt. Randall)
Evel Knievel
(Doc Kincaid)
Skag
(Bishop)
Norma Rae
(Sam Dakin)
Then Came Bronson
(Editor Carson)
The Subterraneans
(Bartender)
Key to the City
(Emmy's Husband)
The Gazebo
(Lt. Jenkins)
Till Death
(Dr. Sawyer)
Invitation to a Gunfighter
(Sheriff)
The Andersonville Trial
(Board of Military Judges)
The Plot to Kill Stalin
(Sokolovsky)
Invaders from Mars
(Police Chief A.C. Barrows)
In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan
(Dr. Julius Korein)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
(American Soldier (uncredited))
Boomerang!
(Herron, a Man in Alley Mob)
No Way Out
(Rocky Miller - Beaver Canal Resident (uncredited))
Are You My Mother?
(Bert)
Breakout
(Fletcher)
Hang 'em High
(Schmidt)
Love and the Midnight Auto Supply
(Mayor John Randolph)
711 Ocean Drive
(Steve Marshak (uncredited))
The Strike
(Chick)
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
(Dutch (Third New York Henchman))
Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase
(Carlo)
Tangier Incident
(Kozad)
Death Scream
(Det. Ross)
Incident at Vichy
(Marchand, A Businessman)
Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers
(Dayton Colonel)
Shock Treatment
(Frank Josephson)
Take the High Ground!
(Sgt. Vince Opperman)
The Long, Long Trailer
(Foreman)
Twilight of Honor
(Sheriff Buck Wheeler)
The Swinger
(Police Captain)
77 Sunset Strip
Cain's Hundred
(Dave Reed)
The Rookies
Bourbon Street Beat
The Munsters
Knight Rider
(Anthony Solan)
Route 66
The Streets of San Francisco
Petticoat Junction
(Detective Horton)
Charlie's Angels
(Stambler)
Mannix
The Mod Squad
Gunsmoke
(Al Clovis)
Perry Mason
(Ken Woodman)
Arrest and Trial
Studio One
(Chick)
Combat!
(Sgt. Weber)
General Electric Theater
(Mitch Green)
Mission: Impossible
(Leon Chandler)
Cannon
Lincoln
(Edwin Stanton)
Johnny Staccato
Get Smart
Hallmark Hall of Fame
(Pete Johnson)
Ironside
The Fall Guy
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
(Capt. Akins)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
(Capt. Harvey Ellison)
Target: The Corruptors!
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Vega$
Run for Your Life
(Sheriff Parsons)
Police Story
The High Chaparral
(Telford Burris)
The Millionaire
(M / Sgt. Matthew Brogan)
The Virginian
(Milo Henderson)
Lancer
Peter Gunn
McCloud
The Thin Man
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
The Big Valley
(Judge Ben Coulter)
Adventures in Paradise
(Michael Dannora)
The Loner
Tarzan
The Philco Television Playhouse
(Al Rago)
The Sixth Sense
Decoy
(Lieutenant Rosenberg)
The Rifleman
The Dakotas
Ben Casey
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Mr. Novak
(Lorimer)
Law of the Plainsman
(Benson)
Riverboat
(Kester)
The Detectives
Tightrope
Dr. Kildare
(Dr. Donald White)
Shane
(Rufe Ryker)
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
(Lieutenant)
Paper Moon
The Outsider
The Green Hornet
(Police Sgt. Bert Clark)
Bronk
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
Hogan's Heroes
(Maj. Bernsdorf)
Dr. Kildare
(Director)
The Big Valley
(Henry Marvin)
The Big Valley
(Homer Roberts)
The Virginian
(Jason Ainsworth)
Gunsmoke
(Chris Thornton)
The Outer Limits
(Joe Hayden)
General Electric Theater
(Armstrong)
The Lucy Show
(Miller)
The Chevy Mystery Show
(Lt. Columbo)
Perry Mason
(Harry Parker)
Perry Mason
(Carl Holman)
Perry Mason
(Joe Marshall)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
(Cooper)
Studio One
(Malone)
Studio One
(Mike Jannis)
Studio One
(Lt. Burke)
The Philco Television Playhouse
Mission: Impossible
(Gen. Brenner)
Barnaby Jones
(Det. Capt. Ben Wyatt)
