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person_profile-Bert Freed

Bert Freed Died at age: 74

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Bert Freed

Date of Birth:

Nov 03, 1919

Country of birth:

New York USA

Died:

Aug 02, 1994

Biography of

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.

Photos of

Bert Freed

Photos ( 2 Photos

Filmography of

Bert Freed

Found 51 Movies in total

Are You My Mother?

Bert ( Actor )

... 1986

Skag

Bishop ( Actor )

... 1980

Norma Rae

Sam Dakin ( Actor )

... 1979

Barracuda

Jack ( Actor )

... 1978

In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan

Dr. Julius Korein ( Actor )

... 1977

Love and the Midnight Auto Supply

Mayor John Randolph ( Actor )

... 1977

Death Scream

Det. Ross ( Actor )

... 1975

Incident at Vichy

Marchand, A Businessman ( Actor )

... 1973

Evel Knievel

Doc Kincaid ( Actor )

... 1971

Billy Jack

Mr. Stuart Posner ( Actor )

... 1971

... 1970

The Andersonville Trial

Board of Military Judges ( Actor )

... 1970

Then Came Bronson

Editor Carson ( Actor )

... 1969

Wild in the Streets

Max Jacob Flatow Sr. ( Actor )

... 1968

Hang 'em High

Schmidt ( Actor )

... 1968

Madigan

Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch ( Actor )

... 1968

P.J.

Police Lieutenant ( Actor )

... 1968

The Swinger

Police Captain ( Actor )

... 1966

Nevada Smith

Quince ( Actor )

... 1966

Fate Is the Hunter

Dillon ( Actor )

... 1964

... 1964

Shock Treatment

Frank Josephson ( Actor )

... 1964

Twilight of Honor

Sheriff Buck Wheeler ( Actor )

... 1963

... 1962

The Subterraneans

Bartender ( Actor )

... 1960

Why Must I Die

Adler ( Actor )

... 1960

The Gazebo

Lt. Jenkins ( Actor )

... 1960

The Plot to Kill Stalin

Sokolovsky ( Actor )

... 1958

The Goddess

Lester Brackman ( Actor )

... 1958

Paths of Glory

Sgt. Boulanger ( Actor )

... 1957

... 1956

The Desperate Hours

Tom Winston ( Actor )

... 1955

The Cobweb

Abe Irwin ( Actor )

... 1955

The Strike

Chick ( Actor )

... 1954

Men of the Fighting Lady

Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski ( Actor )

... 1954

The Long, Long Trailer

Foreman ( Actor )

... 1954

Take the High Ground!

Sgt. Vince Opperman ( Actor )

... 1953

Invaders from Mars

Police Chief A.C. Barrows ( Actor )

... 1953

Tangier Incident

Kozad ( Actor )

... 1953

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

American Soldier (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1952

The Atomic City

Emil Jablons ( Actor )

... 1952

Red Mountain

Sgt. Randall ( Actor )

... 1951

Detective Story

Det. Dakis ( Actor )

... 1951

The Company She Keeps

Smitty (plainclothesman) ( Actor )

... 1951

Halls of Montezuma

Slattery ( Actor )

... 1951

No Way Out

Rocky Miller - Beaver Canal Resident (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1950

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Det. Sgt. Paul Klein ( Actor )

... 1950

711 Ocean Drive

Steve Marshak (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1950

Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town

Dutch (Third New York Henchman) ( Actor )

... 1950

Key to the City

Emmy's Husband ( Actor )

... 1950

Boomerang!

Herron, a Man in Alley Mob ( Actor )

... 1947