Cast & creator
Bert Freed
Best known for Perry Mason, Perry Mason, Perry Mason
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.
54
film credits
90
television credits
143
1947–1986 · acting roles
6.7
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (144)
Showing 144 of 144 credits
Perry Mason
Ken Woodman
1957Perry Mason
Harry Parker
1957Perry Mason
Carl Holman
1957Perry Mason
Joe Marshall
1957
Mannix
1967
Knight Rider
Anthony Solan
1982
Ironside
1967
Mission: Impossible
Leon Chandler
1966Mission: Impossible
Gen. Brenner
1966
Get Smart
Badeff
1965
Charlie's Angels
Stambler
1976
The Rifleman
1958
Cannon
1971
Dr. Kildare
Dr. Donald White
1961Dr. Kildare
Director
1961Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
The Virginian
Milo Henderson
1962The Virginian
Jason Ainsworth
1962
Hogan's Heroes
Maj. Bernsdorf
1965
Petticoat Junction
Detective Horton
1963
Studio One
Chick
1948Studio One
Malone
1948Studio One
Mike Jannis
1948Studio One
Lt. Burke
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
Al Rago
1948The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Ben Casey
1961
The Lucy Show
Miller
1962
Combat!
Sgt. Weber
1962
Route 66
1960
The Big Valley
Judge Ben Coulter
1965The Big Valley
Henry Marvin
1965The Big Valley
Homer Roberts
1965
Barnaby Jones
Det. Capt. Ben Wyatt
1973
The Rookies
1972
Gunsmoke
Al Clovis
1955Gunsmoke
Chris Thornton
1955
The Munsters
1964
The Fall Guy
1981
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Run for Your Life
Sheriff Parsons
1965
McCloud
Packy Keefe
1970
The High Chaparral
Telford Burris
1967
77 Sunset Strip
1958
The Outer Limits
Joe Hayden
1963
Peter Gunn
1958
The Detectives
1959
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
1959
The Partridge Family
Mr. Sharp
1970
Adventures in Paradise
Michael Dannora
1959
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Capt. Harvey Ellison
1955Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Cooper
1955
Vega$
1978
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
Laramie
Sgt. Abe Jordan
1959
Police Story
1973
The Mod Squad
1968
The Millionaire
M / Sgt. Matthew Brogan
1955
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Capt. Akins
1974
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Lieutenant
1959
Mr. Novak
Lorimer
1963
Lancer
1968
Tarzan
1966
Arrest and Trial
1963
Riverboat
Kester
1959
The Green Hornet
Police Sgt. Bert Clark
1966
Startime
Couver
1959
The Thin Man
1957
Law of the Plainsman
Benson
1959
Tightrope
1959
The Loner
1965
Target: The Corruptors!
1961
Cain's Hundred
Dave Reed
1961
Bourbon Street Beat
1959
The Dakotas
Lloyd Mitchell
1963
Bronk
1975
Decoy
Lieutenant Rosenberg
1957
The Sixth Sense
1972
Johnny Staccato
1959
Paths of Glory
Sgt. Boulanger
1957
Darkroom
Charlie's Dad
1981
The Outsider
1968
The Chevy Mystery Show
Lt. Columbo
1960
Shane
Rufe Ryker
1966
T.H.E. Cat
Director
1966
Paper Moon
1974
Hang 'em High
Schmidt
1968
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Pete Johnson
1951
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Ben Golden
1962
Lincoln
Edwin Stanton
1974
General Electric Theater
Mitch Green
1953General Electric Theater
Armstrong
1953
The Desperate Hours
Tom Winston
1955
There Was a Crooked Man...
Skinner
1970
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
American Soldier (uncredited)
1952
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Det. Sgt. Paul Klein
1950
Nevada Smith
Quince
1966
Madigan
Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch
1968
Fate Is the Hunter
Dillon
1964
Norma Rae
Sam Dakin
1979
The Long, Long Trailer
Foreman
1954
No Way Out
Rocky Miller (uncredited)
1950
Invaders from Mars
Police Chief A.C. Barrows
1953
Detective Story
Det. Dakis
1951
Key to the City
Emmy's Husband
1950
Wild in the Streets
Max Jacob Flatow, Sr.
1968
Red Mountain
Sgt. Randall
1951
The Cobweb
Abe Irwin
1955
Invitation to a Gunfighter
Sheriff
1964
The Gazebo
Joe Jenkins
1959
Men of the Fighting Lady
Lt. (jg) Andrew Szymanski
1954
Take the High Ground!
Sgt. Vince Opperman
1953
The Swinger
Police Captain
1966
P.J.
Police Lieutenant
1968
Halls of Montezuma
Slattery
1951
The Company She Keeps
Smitty
1951
Skag
Bishop
1980
Billy Jack
Mr. Stuart Posner
1971
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Dutch (Third New York Henchman)
1950
Love and the Midnight Auto Supply
Mayor John Randolph
1977
In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan
Dr. Julius Korein
1977
The Plot to Kill Stalin
Sokolovsky
1958
Then Came Bronson
Editor Carson
1969
The Goddess
Lester Brackman
1958
Why Must I Die
Adler
1960
Boomerang!
Herron, a Man in Alley Mob
1947
The Atomic City
Emil Jablons
1952
Death Scream
Det. Ross
1975
Are You My Mother?
Bert
1986
Evel Knievel
Doc Kincaid
1971
The Subterraneans
Bartender
1960
The Andersonville Trial
Board of Military Judges
1970Charlie and the Great Balloon Chase
Carlo
1981
Twilight of Honor
Sheriff Buck Wheeler
1963
Incident at Vichy
Marchand, A Businessman
1973
Barracuda
Jack
1978
711 Ocean Drive
Steve Marshak (uncredited)
1950
Shock Treatment
Frank Josephson
1964
Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers
Dayton Colonel
1956
Tangier Incident
Kozad
1953
The Strike
Chick
1954
Breakout
Fletcher
1970Till Death
Dr. Sawyer
1978