Bert Freed
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- November 3, 1919
- Died
- August 2, 1994 (aged 74)
- Birthplace
- The Bronx, New York USA
Biography
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Are You My Mother?
Movie · as Bert
Knight Rider
TV · as Anthony Solan · 1 ep
Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase
Movie · as Carlo
The Fall Guy
TV · 1 ep
Darkroom
TV · as Charlie's Dad · 1 ep
Skag
Movie · as Bishop
Norma Rae
Movie · as Sam Dakin
Barracuda
Movie · as Jack
Till Death
Movie · as Dr. Sawyer
Vega$
TV · 1 ep
In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan
Movie · as Dr. Julius Korein
Love and the Midnight Auto Supply
Movie · as Mayor John Randolph
Charlie's Angels
TV · as Stambler · 1 ep
Death Scream
Movie · as Det. Ross
Bronk
TV · 1 ep
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
TV · as Capt. Akins · 1 ep
Paper Moon
TV · 1 ep
Lincoln
TV · as Edwin Stanton · 2 eps
Incident at Vichy
Movie · as Marchand, A Businessman
Police Story
TV · 1 ep
Barnaby Jones
TV · as Det. Capt. Ben Wyatt · 1 ep
The Rookies
TV · 1 ep
The Streets of San Francisco
TV · 2 eps
The Sixth Sense
TV · 1 ep
Billy Jack
Movie · as Mr. Stuart Posner
Evel Knievel
Movie · as Doc Kincaid
Cannon
TV · 2 eps
There Was a Crooked Man...
Movie · as Skinner
The Andersonville Trial
Movie · as Board of Military Judges
Breakout
Movie · as Fletcher
The Partridge Family
TV · as Mr. Sharp · 1 ep
McCloud
TV · as Packy Keefe · 1 ep
Then Came Bronson
Movie · as Editor Carson
Madigan
Movie · as Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch
Wild in the Streets
Movie · as Max Jacob Flatow, Sr.
P.J.
Movie · as Police Lieutenant
Hang 'em High
Movie · as Schmidt
The Mod Squad
TV · 1 ep
Lancer
TV · 1 ep
The Outsider
TV · 1 ep
Mannix
TV · 1 ep
Ironside
TV · 2 eps
The High Chaparral
TV · as Telford Burris · 1 ep
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV · 1 ep
Nevada Smith
Movie · as Quince
The Swinger
Movie · as Police Captain
Mission: Impossible
TV · as Leon Chandler, Gen. Brenner · 2 eps
Tarzan
TV · 1 ep
Shane
TV · as Rufe Ryker · 15 eps
The Green Hornet
TV · as Police Sgt. Bert Clark · 1 ep
Get Smart
TV · as Badeff · 1 ep
Run for Your Life
TV · as Sheriff Parsons · 1 ep
The Big Valley
TV · as Judge Ben Coulter, Henry Marvin, Homer Roberts · 1 ep
The Loner
TV · 1 ep
Hogan's Heroes
TV · as Maj. Bernsdorf · 1 ep
Fate Is the Hunter
Movie · as Dillon
Invitation to a Gunfighter
Movie · as Sheriff
Shock Treatment
Movie · as Frank Josephson
The Munsters
TV · 1 ep
Twilight of Honor
Movie · as Sheriff Buck Wheeler
Petticoat Junction
TV · as Detective Horton · 1 ep
Arrest and Trial
TV · 1 ep
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV · 1 ep
Mr. Novak
TV · as Lorimer · 1 ep
The Outer Limits
TV · as Joe Hayden · 1 ep
The Dakotas
TV · as Lloyd Mitchell · 1 ep
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Movie · as Ben Golden
Combat!
TV · as Sgt. Weber · 1 ep
The Virginian
TV · as Milo Henderson, Jason Ainsworth · 1 ep
The Lucy Show
TV · as Miller · 1 ep
Cain's Hundred
TV · as Dave Reed · 1 ep
Target: The Corruptors!
TV · 1 ep
Ben Casey
TV · 2 eps
Dr. Kildare
TV · as Dr. Donald White, Director · 1 ep
Why Must I Die
Movie · as Adler
The Subterraneans
Movie · as Bartender
Route 66
TV · 1 ep
The Chevy Mystery Show
TV · as Lt. Columbo · 1 ep
The Gazebo
Movie · as Joe Jenkins
Bourbon Street Beat
TV · 1 ep
Johnny Staccato
TV · 2 eps
Adventures in Paradise
TV · as Michael Dannora · 1 ep
Law of the Plainsman
TV · as Benson · 1 ep
Riverboat
TV · as Kester · 1 ep
The Detectives
TV · 1 ep
Tightrope
TV · 1 ep
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
TV · as Lieutenant · 1 ep
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
TV · 1 ep
Startime
TV · as Couver · 1 ep
Laramie
TV · as Sgt. Abe Jordan · 1 ep
The Goddess
Movie · as Lester Brackman
The Plot to Kill Stalin
Movie · as Sokolovsky
77 Sunset Strip
TV · 1 ep
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV · 1 ep
Peter Gunn
TV · 1 ep
The Rifleman
TV · 2 eps
Paths of Glory
Movie · as Sgt. Boulanger
Perry Mason
TV · as Ken Woodman, Harry Parker, Carl Holman, Joe Marshall · 1 ep
The Thin Man
TV · 1 ep
Decoy
TV · as Lieutenant Rosenberg · 1 ep
Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers
Movie · as Dayton Colonel
The Desperate Hours
Movie · as Tom Winston
The Cobweb
Movie · as Abe Irwin
Gunsmoke
TV · as Al Clovis, Chris Thornton · 1 ep
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV · as Capt. Harvey Ellison, Cooper · 1 ep
The Millionaire
TV · as M / Sgt. Matthew Brogan · 1 ep
Men of the Fighting Lady
Movie · as Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski
The Strike
Movie · as Chick
The Long, Long Trailer
Movie · as Foreman
Invaders from Mars
Movie · as AC Barrows
Tangier Incident
Movie · as Kozad
Take the High Ground!
Movie · as Sgt. Vince Opperman
General Electric Theater
TV · as Mitch Green, Armstrong · 1 ep
The Atomic City
Movie · as Emil Jablons
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Movie · as American Soldier (uncredited)
Detective Story
Movie · as Det. Dakis
The Company She Keeps
Movie · as Smitty
Halls of Montezuma
Movie · as Slattery
Red Mountain
Movie · as Sgt. Randall
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV · as Pete Johnson · 1 ep
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Movie · as Det. Sgt. Paul Klein
Key to the City
Movie · as Emmy's Husband
No Way Out
Movie · as Rocky Miller (uncredited)
711 Ocean Drive
Movie · as Steve Marshak (uncredited)
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Movie · as Dutch (Third New York Henchman)
Studio One
TV · as Chick, Malone, Mike Jannis, Lt. Burke · 1 ep
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV · as Al Rago · 1 ep
Boomerang!
Movie · as Herron, a Man in Alley Mob