Bert Freed

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1919-11-03

Deathday 1994-08-02 (74 years old)

Place of Birth The Bronx, New York USA

Bert Freed

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

Actor

1986
1982
Knight Rider

as Anthony Solan

1980
Skag

as Bishop

1979
Norma Rae

as Sam Dakin

1978
Barracuda

as Jack

1978
Till Death

as Dr. Sawyer

1978
1977
1977
Love and the Midnight Auto Supply

as Mayor John Randolph

1976
Charlie's Angels

as Stambler

1975
Death Scream

as Det. Ross

1975
1974
Lincoln

as Edwin Stanton

1973
Incident at Vichy

as Marchand, A Businessman

1973
Barnaby Jones

as Det. Capt. Ben Wyatt

1971
Evel Knievel

as Doc Kincaid

1971
Billy Jack

as Mr. Stuart Posner

1971
1970
Breakout

as Fletcher

1970
The Andersonville Trial

as Board of Military Judges

1969
Then Came Bronson

as Editor Carson

1968
Wild in the Streets

as Max Jacob Flatow Sr.

1968
Hang 'em High

as Schmidt

1968
Madigan

as Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch

1968
P.J.

as Police Lieutenant

1968
1967
1967
The High Chaparral

as Telford Burris

1966
The Swinger

as Police Captain

1966
Nevada Smith

as Quince

1966
Mission: Impossible

as Leon Chandler

1966
Mission: Impossible

as Gen. Brenner

1966
Shane

as Rufe Ryker

1966
The Green Hornet

as Police Sgt. Bert Clark

1966
1965
Hogan's Heroes

as Maj. Bernsdorf

1965
The Big Valley

as Judge Ben Coulter

1965
The Big Valley

as Henry Marvin

1965
The Big Valley

as Homer Roberts

1965
Run for Your Life

as Sheriff Parsons

1964
1964
Shock Treatment

as Frank Josephson

1963
Twilight of Honor

as Sheriff Buck Wheeler

1963
Petticoat Junction

as Detective Horton

1963
Mr. Novak

as Lorimer

1963
The Outer Limits

as Joe Hayden

1962
Combat!

as Sgt. Weber

1962
The Lucy Show

as Miller

1962
The Virginian

as Milo Henderson

1962
The Virginian

as Jason Ainsworth

1961
Dr. Kildare

as Dr. Donald White

1961
Dr. Kildare

as Director

1961
Cain's Hundred

as Dave Reed

1960
The Subterraneans

as Bartender

1960
1960
The Gazebo

as Lt. Jenkins

1960
The Chevy Mystery Show

as Lt. Columbo

1959
Adventures in Paradise

as Michael Dannora

1959
1959
Riverboat

as Kester

1958
1958
The Goddess

as Lester Brackman

1957
Paths of Glory

as Sgt. Boulanger

1957
Decoy

as Lieutenant Rosenberg

1957
Perry Mason

as Ken Woodman

1957
Perry Mason

as Harry Parker

1957
Perry Mason

as Carl Holman

1957
Perry Mason

as Joe Marshall

1955
The Desperate Hours

as Tom Winston

1955
The Cobweb

as Abe Irwin

1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents

as Capt. Harvey Ellison

1955
Gunsmoke

as Al Clovis

1955
Gunsmoke

as Chris Thornton

1955
The Millionaire

as M / Sgt. Matthew Brogan

1954
The Strike

as Chick

1954
Men of the Fighting Lady

as Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski

1954
1953
Take the High Ground!

as Sgt. Vince Opperman

1953
Invaders from Mars

as Police Chief A.C. Barrows

1953
1953
1953
1952
The Snows of Kilimanjaro

as American Soldier (uncredited)

1952
The Atomic City

as Emil Jablons

1951
Detective Story

as Det. Dakis

1951
Red Mountain

as Sgt. Randall

1951
The Company She Keeps

as Smitty (plainclothesman)

1951
Halls of Montezuma

as Slattery

1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Pete Johnson

1950
No Way Out

as Rocky Miller - Beaver Canal Resident (uncredited)

1950
Where the Sidewalk Ends

as Det. Sgt. Paul Klein

1950
711 Ocean Drive

as Steve Marshak (uncredited)

1950
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town

as Dutch (Third New York Henchman)

1950
Key to the City

as Emmy's Husband

1948
Studio One

as Chick

1948
Studio One

as Malone

1948
Studio One

as Mike Jannis

1948
Studio One

as Lt. Burke

1947
Boomerang!

as Herron, a Man in Alley Mob

Director

1966
T.H.E. Cat

as Director