Bert Freed
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Perry Mason
Ken Woodman
1957
Series
Perry Mason
Harry Parker
1957
Series
Perry Mason
Carl Holman
1957
Series
Perry Mason
Joe Marshall
1957
Series
Ironside
1967
Series
The Rifleman
1958
Series
Knight Rider
Anthony Solan
1982
Series
Hogan's Heroes
Maj. Bernsdorf
1965
Series
Charlie's Angels
Stambler
1976
Series
Mission: Impossible
Leon Chandler
1966
Series
Mission: Impossible
Gen. Brenner
1966
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
Series
Mannix
1967
Series
The Virginian
Milo Henderson
1962
Series
The Virginian
Jason Ainsworth
1962
Series
Get Smart
Badeff
1965
Series
The Lucy Show
Miller
1962
Series
Dr. Kildare
Dr. Donald White
1961
Series
Dr. Kildare
Director
1961
Series
Petticoat Junction
Detective Horton
1963
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
Al Rago
1948
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Series
The Fall Guy
1981
Series
Cannon
1971
Series
The Big Valley
Judge Ben Coulter
1965
Series
The Big Valley
Henry Marvin
1965
Series
The Big Valley
Homer Roberts
1965
Series
Peter Gunn
1958
Series
Gunsmoke
Al Clovis
1955
Series
Gunsmoke
Chris Thornton
1955
Series
Ben Casey
1961
Series
Studio One
Chick
1948
Series
Studio One
Malone
1948
Series
Studio One
Mike Jannis
1948
Series
Studio One
Lt. Burke
1948
Series
Combat!
Sgt. Weber
1962
Series
Route 66
1960
Series
Barnaby Jones
Det. Capt. Ben Wyatt
1973
Series
The High Chaparral
Telford Burris
1967
Series
Run for Your Life
Sheriff Parsons
1965
Series
The Outer Limits
Joe Hayden
1963
Series
Laramie
Sgt. Abe Jordan
1959
Series
The Munsters
1964
Series
The Rookies
1972
Series
The Partridge Family
Mr. Sharp
1970
Series
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
1959
Series
McCloud
Packy Keefe
1970
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Capt. Harvey Ellison
1955
Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Cooper
1955
Series
Tarzan
1966
Series
Vega$
1978
Series
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Series
77 Sunset Strip
1958
Series
Adventures in Paradise
Michael Dannora
1959
Series
Bourbon Street Beat
1959
Series
The Loner
1965
Series
The Millionaire
M / Sgt. Matthew Brogan
1955
Series
Police Story
1973
Series
The Detectives
1959
Series
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
Series
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
Series
The Mod Squad
1968
Series
Arrest and Trial
1963
Series
Lancer
1968
Series
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Capt. Akins
1974
Series
Mr. Novak
Lorimer
1963
Series
The Green Hornet
Police Sgt. Bert Clark
1966
Series
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Lieutenant
1959
Series
Startime
Couver
1959
Film
Paths of Glory
Sgt. Boulanger
1957
Series
Cain's Hundred
Dave Reed
1961
Series
Riverboat
Kester
1959
Series
The Thin Man
1957
Film
Hang 'em High
Schmidt
1968
Series
Law of the Plainsman
Benson
1959
Series
Target: The Corruptors!
1961
Series
Decoy
Lieutenant Rosenberg
1957
Series
The Sixth Sense
1972
Series
Tightrope
1959
Series
The Outsider
1968
Series
Bronk
1975
Series
Johnny Staccato
1959
Series
The Dakotas
Lloyd Mitchell
1963
The Chevy Mystery Show
Lt. Columbo
1960
Series
Shane
Rufe Ryker
1966
Series
Paper Moon
1974
Series
Darkroom
Charlie's Dad
1981
Film
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Ben Golden
1962
Film
Nevada Smith
Quince
1966
Series
Lincoln
Edwin Stanton
1974
Film
Madigan
Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch
1968
Film
The Desperate Hours
Tom Winston
1955
Film
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
American Soldier (uncredited)
1952
Film
Love and the Midnight Auto Supply
Mayor John Randolph
1977
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Pete Johnson
1951
Film
Invaders from Mars
Police Chief A.C. Barrows
1953
Film
Detective Story
Det. Dakis
1951
Film
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Det. Sgt. Paul Klein
1950
Film
Norma Rae
Sam Dakin
1979
Series
General Electric Theater
Mitch Green
1953
Series
General Electric Theater
Armstrong
1953
Film
No Way Out
Rocky Miller (uncredited)
1950
Film
The Gazebo
Joe Jenkins
1959
Film
The Cobweb
Abe Irwin
1955
Film
There Was a Crooked Man...
Skinner
1970
Film
The Long, Long Trailer
Foreman
1954
Film
Red Mountain
Sgt. Randall
1951
Film
Skag
Bishop
1980
Film
Halls of Montezuma
Slattery
1951
Film
Boomerang!
Herron, a Man in Alley Mob
1947
Film
Invitation to a Gunfighter
Sheriff
1964
Film
Billy Jack
Mr. Stuart Posner
1971
Film
The Company She Keeps
Smitty
1951
Film
P.J.
Police Lieutenant
1968
Film
Fate Is the Hunter
Dillon
1964
Film
Men of the Fighting Lady
Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski
1954
Film
Take the High Ground!
Sgt. Vince Opperman
1953
Film
In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan
Dr. Julius Korein
1977
Film
The Swinger
Police Captain
1966
Film
The Goddess
Lester Brackman
1958
Film
Evel Knievel
Doc Kincaid
1971
Film
711 Ocean Drive
Steve Marshak (uncredited)
1950
Film
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Dutch (Third New York Henchman)
1950
Film
Twilight of Honor
Sheriff Buck Wheeler
1963
Film
Why Must I Die
Adler
1960
Film
Barracuda
Jack
1978
Film
The Andersonville Trial
Board of Military Judges
1970
Film
Key to the City
Emmy's Husband
1950
Film
The Subterraneans
Bartender
1960
Film
Death Scream
Det. Ross
1975
Film
Wild in the Streets
Max Jacob Flatow, Sr.
1968
Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase
Carlo
1981
Film
Then Came Bronson
Editor Carson
1969
Film
Shock Treatment
Frank Josephson
1964
Film
Incident at Vichy
Marchand, A Businessman
1973
Film
The Atomic City
Emil Jablons
1952
Film
Tangier Incident
Kozad
1953
Film
The Plot to Kill Stalin
Sokolovsky
1958
Film
Are You My Mother?
Bert
1986
Film
The Strike
Chick
1954
Film
Breakout
Fletcher
1970
Till Death
Dr. Sawyer
1978
Film
Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers
Dayton Colonel
1956